There was another man from Bethsaida who had come down to hear John. His name was Philip. Jesus found him and said, "Follow Me." And he not only followed Jesus, but he went joyfully to find his friend, Nathanael, and tell him that they had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
Nathanael could not believe that the Messiah would be a man of Nazareth, because the prophets had said that He would come from Bethlehem.
So he said, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
"Come and see," said Philip, urgently, and he went.
As he came to Jesus he met the deep, kind look that had searched Peter's heart and heard Jesus say,
"Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile!" He saw innocence in the heart of Nathanael, but Nathanael wondered how Jesus could know him.
"Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee," said Jesus.
Then Nathanael's whole heart went over to Jesus, and he cried, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!"
He needed nothing more to prove that Jesus was the Christ, but Jesus told him that he should see greater things, angels out of the open heaven ascending and descending upon Him.
Nathanael became the fifth disciple. His name was afterward called Bartholomew.