Under The Fig Tree

What if the God who spoke galaxies into being also sees you in your quiet place of prayer? We walk through John 1 from “In the beginning was the Word” to the moment Jesus tells Nathanael, “I saw you under the fig tree,” and the story turns from big theology to a personal encounter that changes everything. The shift is subtle but seismic: knowledge gives way to knowing, and repentance becomes a doorway into Spirit-empowered life.

We unpack how John the Baptist prepared people for the Messiah, why his water baptism pointed forward to Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit, and how that difference fuels real change. You’ll meet Andrew, Simon, and Philip, and watch Jesus rename Simon to Peter—an identity anchored not in hustle but in revelation. The path from scheming to surrender is messy and familiar, and it’s exactly where grace does its best work. Skepticism shows up too. Nathanael’s jab at Nazareth becomes a masterclass in honest inquiry answered by a simple, disarming invitation: come and see.

From the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world to the promise of “greater things,” we follow the thread that ties heaven’s logic to everyday lives. Jesus hints at Jacob’s ladder and reveals himself as the true meeting place between God and humanity. That means your hidden prayers are heard, your work can be led by the Spirit, and your next step of faith is more than wishful thinking—it’s participation in a story where heaven touches earth. If you’ve grown numb or restless, this conversation might be the nudge back to trust, to wonder, and to inviting a friend to see for themselves.

If this resonates, share it with someone who needs hope, subscribe for more Bible-rich, practical messages, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your voice helps more people hear the invitation to come and see.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com.

Chapters

• 26:00 Marker 01

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00: 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02: 0:20

You know the Lord is hearing your prayers when you're under that fig tree as well. He is listening, and he is desiring to work in your life. His desire is that you would turn away from your old life and seek after him. But his desire is to work in and through you and me together. Are we seeking after him? Is the question.

SPEAKER_00: 0:45

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and or. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for grace to trust him more. Do those lyrics to, It's so sweet to trust in Jesus, speak to you? In today's message, Pastor Carl teaches that Jesus hears your prayers, that he walks with you. But do you walk with him? Do you trust him to lead you and guide your every step? He wants to work in your life and turn you into something beautiful and new. But it's going to take a little faith on your part. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02: 1:28

We are in the book of John. We'll be finishing up chapter one of the book of John. John, the apostle, uh, opened up by saying, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and everything that was created was created by the word. He uses this phrase, the word, which in Greek is logos, because where he was in the town of Ephesus, there was a big movement of the Gnostics. And the Gnostics had this idea that knowledge was everything, and the logos was what you're after. Just knowing more and the knowing the deeper truths are what was most important about life. But John is saying, you know what's most important? Not just about knowing, but that the word from the beginning. I go back to, he goes back to Genesis. In the beginning was God, in the beginning was the word, and and this God spoke and things happened. He he is the creator of all things. When the Lord speaks, things happen, things change. It's powerful. And this is the word who became flesh and dwelt among us. And you need to know this word. And uh, and and then he began to uh introduce John the Baptist, who came before the word, who became before Jesus, before the Messiah, to get people ready. He had a baptism of repentance. He says, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And and the Sanhedrin, which was the court of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they came to him challenging him because there was no baptism of repentance in the Old Testament. There were a couple of baptisms, but this wasn't it. And he wasn't really one that was set aside to do that. Uh, it was really the job of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to bring people in to Judaism. That's the one baptism that there was, where you you were a Gentile and you want to join the fold, then you can be baptized and brought in. But this baptism that they were, they were trying to figure it out, they were trying to catch him in in his words, because there were a lot of people that were coming after him and following him. And that's where we uh where we come up to verse 29. So the day before John was being challenged by the the Sanhedrin, and now the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and he said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. This is he whom I said, After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me. Now, this was uh what he said the day before it to the Sanhedrin. Now Jesus shows up as the Lamb of God. Now, just putting things into a chronological order here, uh many times John puts a lot of ideas together and concepts, and he doesn't worry too much about the order of things. But as we take a step back, we can realize that this is after John had baptized him. Forty days before Jesus had been baptized by John, and then Jesus was sent forth into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Um, the Lord, Father, God, sent Jesus out into the wilderness to be tested by the devil, and and he came out victorious. And because he did, we have hope, right? And and now he's come back, and John sees him walking by and he says, There, there he is, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I was talking to you about yesterday. He's the one that comes before me. And we know that John was actually six months older than Jesus. So when he says he comes before me, he's not talking about his earthly existence. He's talking about who he was before. That Jesus was with God for eternity, because he is God and he doesn't have a beginning. So he was before John, he was before everything, and he's greater than me. And I'm calling everybody to come and prepare themselves for him. And John bore witness, saying, I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. And it's not that he didn't know him because it was his cousin, and he did need him growing up at certain times, but he did not know for sure that this was the Messiah. Uh, he might have had some ideas, but he didn't know for sure until verse 32. And John bore witness, saying, I saw the spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon him. I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, Upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. When he came some forty year forty days ago to be baptized, and the Holy Spirit came upon him, then I knew for sure this was the one. This was the one that God called me to prepare the way for, to call people to prepare themselves for, to repent, to turn from their sins and to turn to Jesus. Now that's not to say you need to clean yourself up to come to the Lord, because you can't clean yourself up. But you do need to realize that you're in trouble, that you're dead in your sin, and you need to turn from that sin to him who could pull you out of that sin. And that's what John did. And he baptized with water as a symbol of that cleansing that Jesus would bring as you turn from your sin and turn to him. But then see what he says about Jesus. Jesus is coming and he has a greater ministry than me. He's before me and he'll be greater than me. I baptized with water, but he's going to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now, when you come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit baptizes you into Jesus. And you're given the Holy Spirit as a seal, uh as a as a down payment of swords. Uh, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit to signify that you are his now. But there is this other filling of the Holy Spirit that Jesus does. He baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, with power, with with grace, with all that we need to accomplish the work that he gives for us to do. And as we move later on into the book of John, we'll see these instances that there is a differentiation. Sometimes they happen together. But the point is we we need the Holy Spirit. We can't do the work that the Lord has called us to do in our own strength. We need his power, we need his grace, we need him to move in and through us. And John was not giving that power, but he was leading us to the one that would. And that one was Jesus. Again, verse 35, on the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold, the Lamb of God. Not only does he point out the Lamb of God to the Sadducees and the Pharisees, but he points them out to those that are disciples of his that are following him and are learning from him and looking for the Messiah as well. And he said, There he is. And the dude, the two disciples heard him speak and they followed after Jesus. And John didn't have a problem with them leaving him and following after the Messiah because that is his hope, that is his call, that is his desire that people would come and find the Messiah that he is pointing people to. And so there are two disciples that were following after John the Baptist that are now following after Jesus. And Jesus turned and seeing them following, said to him, Um, what do you seek? What are you looking for? Who who do you think I am? What are you trying to get from me? And they said to him, Rabbi, which is to say, teacher. Um they didn't know what else to say, so they say, Where are you staying? Where are you staying? What are you doing? And he said to them, Come and see. And he invites them to be a part of what he is doing. And they came and saw where he was staying and remained with him that day, and it was about the tenth hour. The tenth hour is is four in the afternoon. So sometime in the morning he came, they followed after him, and they spent most of the day until four o'clock in the afternoon just getting to know Jesus, spending time with him. Verse 40. Now one of the two who heard John speak and followed after him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. So Simon and Andrew were fishermen up in the Galilee, but it seems like one of them came and followed after John the Baptist, and the other stayed to work. And I'm sure that wasn't for a prolonged period of time. They would come and go and see what was going on. And you know that Simon, Peter, and Andrew, they fished with James and John as well. John, the author of this gospel. Now he found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which is translated to Christ. We've been waiting for him, he's here. I know him, I found him, I spent the day with him. You've got to come and see this Messiah. His name is Jesus, Yeshua, God saves. And it's interesting because Andrew spent one day with Jesus, and it was enough for him to be convinced that this was the Messiah, even though as we go on in the gospel, we'll understand that the disciples understood some of these things, but they didn't fully understand it either. There was so much more to be understood that they were not grasping. And he brought him to Jesus, and Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah, you shall be called Cephas, which is translated a stone. And the stone, the word for stone is translated Peter. So even from the very beginning, Jesus looked at Simon and he said, Your name is Peter. But he didn't call him Peter until much later. He didn't again call him Peter until, do you remember what moment that was? When Jesus said, Who do you say that I am? All these people say who they think they are. You're Elijah or you're the prophet or this or that. Who do you say that I am? And Peter stood up and said, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. And the Lord praised him. He said, Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but the Spirit of God, the Father, has revealed this to you. And upon this faith, upon this confession, I'm gonna, which is which is another name for this pebble or stone, I will build my church, the rock. And and that is when he started calling Peter uh Simon Peter. Sometimes he calls him Simon Peter, and sometimes he calls him Peter. Peter is the name that was given to the man who has that faith, that revelation, that walks in the knowledge of who Jesus is. Simon is the one who tries to contort and twist and manipulate to accomplish something with somewhat of a good heart, but trying to twist things to make them happen in his own strength, in his own way. Now, an interesting point to bring up at this point, as we go through the book of John, you will notice that John never refers to himself as John, as himself. Later on in the book, you'll see him as the disciple that Jesus loved. And I'd like to make a proposal that of these two that were following after John the Baptist, he names Andrew, he doesn't name the other. Could it be that he was the other? So it was him and Andrew that went and followed after Jesus at the very beginning. Very possible. Um when he doesn't refer to one, it could be that he is not wanting to bring attention to himself, but bring attention to the Lord and to others that are are uh in in the narrative here in learning and growing with Jesus. So he is uh we have uh John and we have Andrew and we have Simon following after Jesus at this point. And this was even before the official call of follow after me as your rabbi. I have chosen you to follow after me. That still comes. These are the introductory times where we get to know that I am interested in in learning more about you, Jesus, and will you be interested in teaching me and bringing me along uh in the gospel that you have to share with us? Verse 43 said, The following day Jesus went to go, uh wanted to go to Galilee, and he found Philip, and he said to him, Follow me. Now, Philip was another person that was up in that area, and and I we don't know why, we're not told, but uh he has this desire to find Philip. Jesus has a specific call for this one man to come and follow after him. Now Philip was from Bethia, uh the city of Andrew and Peter, and uh and so they were familiar with each other, they were they were friends in that area, uh, but Jesus had a particular call. I need to go find Philip. He found Philip, and then after he found Philip, Philip went and found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Philip said the same thing that Jesus said to Andrew and John, Come and see. Don't just write it off, but come and find out for yourself. I'm telling you, I'm convinced. You come, he came and looked for me, Nathaniel, and I want you to come and see him too. And this is kind of how the Lord desires for us to build his church is to be changed by him and then to go invite others to come and see. Let me introduce you to Jesus so you can be changed as well, so you can have this new call on your life, so so you can have this realization that there is hope and it's it's found in Jesus Christ. Now his friend Nathaniel here, he was from the area of um um well that same area probably, Bethia, which is near Nazareth. So Nazareth had this um this stigma about it. Their main industry was the the dump where they came and they burned everything, and it was just a mess, and it was just a crazy town where what good can come out of Nazareth? And he wasn't being ugly about it, he was just saying, Wow, really? He's from Nazareth? Well, I'll come and see. And so, verse 47, Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him, and he said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. That's an interesting phrase. Nathaniel just kind of insulted Jesus to his friend, and now he comes to Jesus, and Jesus is praising him and lifting him up. Isn't that how we do a lot of times? So often we in in our actions and in our thoughts and and sometimes in our words we curse God because he isn't doing things the way we think we should they should be done, and and and and so forth. And so and he comes and he blesses us and he says, I love you. You're the best I've ever seen. Why don't you come and follow after me? Interesting, isn't it? Behold, an ins an Israelite indeed in whom there is no deceit. And and that has always been a mystery to me. Maybe he's maybe he's referring to Simon Peter, because Simon was kind of a guy who who twisted and turned to make things happen until he became Peter when he walked by faith. Maybe Nathaniel, he's talking to I could see that you are somebody who's who's really seeking after God. You're you're somebody who is not trying to make your will happen, but you're seeking the will of God in your life. Maybe that's what he meant. Behold, an Israelite indeed, an Israelite, a son or a daughter of Abraham, who by faith believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness, and those that come after him by faith are truly Israel. Israel indeed, in whom is no deceit. And Nathaniel said to him, How do you know me? You know, what do you what do you mean? How how how can you say that? And Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. And I always thought, this is wow, what an interesting, interesting story here. And and I imagine that you know Nathaniel is there under the fig tree, just seeking the Lord. Um, many times uh young students of of the Torah would go and to meditate under a fig tree. Uh the fig tree represented the nation of Israel, and there was this idea that in part of your meditating and Bible study and pray, prayer is that you would be asking for the Messiah to come because Israel needs help, Israel needs to be saved, Israel needs to be set free from her enemies, and and so someone who is seeking after God, uh a student of God's word, uh seeking his way in life, would go under the fig tree and just spend time praying, meditating, studying God's word, and and asking for the Messiah to come with nobody else around because it's it's between me and between God. And Jesus said, I saw you, and you go. And you think, wow, if I was Nathaniel, what would that look like? So I'm out here on the side of a hill, far away from everybody else. I can see all around. I know there's nobody else here. But Jesus said he saw me under the fig tree. Maybe he was praying something along the lines of, Lord, do you really see me? Lord, do you really hear my prayers? Do you feel that way sometimes? Lord, I I'm I want your will to be done, but I don't see you doing anything. Would you come and and save us? I don't know about you, but I've been praying for our nation. We need repentance. We need we need the Lord to move in hearts. And and I'm praying and praying, and I'm seeing it a little bit here and there, but I'm not seeing it happen. I say, Lord, are do you hear our prayers? Are we praying the right thing? Is this what you want from us? Maybe that's what Nathaniel was praying. And and maybe the Lord was saying, I did hear you. You were praying, and I heard you, and I am here. And we do have work to do here, and and I will guide and direct you in the work that you're seeking if you believe and you follow after me. But it didn't take much, did it? Nathaniel, verse verse 49, answered and said to him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel. I was praying for you, and here I was at the at the at the fig tree, and I was praying these exact same things, and now you say, I'm here, I've showed up, and and here I am to to choose me, to to follow after you. Wow. Isn't that something? Do you know the Lord is hearing your prayers when you're under that fig tree as well? He is listening and he is desiring to work in your life. His desire is that you would turn away from your old life and seek after him. But his desire is to work in and through you and me together. Are we being like Simon, who is a schemer and trying to manipulate things to get what he thinks is the right thing to accomplish in his life? Or are we seeking after the Lord, saying, Not my will, but yours be done? I mean, the Lord even said, anyone who wants to come after me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow after me. It's not our agenda, it's his agenda that we are now seeking after. Which camp do we fall in? Hopefully we're falling into the camp of Nathaniel, and we're falling into the camp of Simon too, that comes along that even though he's going his own way, Jesus has chosen him to come and follow after him and to be changed by him. We all need to be changed by the Lord. And now we enter into an interesting part. The rest of the chapter here, the last couple verses here. Um let me just read it. Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? I mean, that's cool. I think it's wonderful that you've come and you believe me so quickly, but is that all it took? Because I tell you something, you ain't seen nothing yet. You will see greater things than these. And then he said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. And it's like, wow, that's pretty wild. And as we just read this in the first take, we go, that's interesting. What does that all mean, Lord? Where did that come from? And may I say this might be a clue that John has given to us to give us a little more insight as to what was going on underneath that fig tree.

SPEAKER_00: 24:07

You've been listening to Pastor Carl on Come On Up. We're in the book of John. John had been a simple fisherman before meeting Jesus. He was actually a disciple of John the Baptist before realizing that John the Baptist was just paving the way for Jesus to enter the scene. There were so many examples for John to observe, where Jesus made something out of nothing. He fed the 5,000, he brought about a boatload of fish when there had been no bites all night. These miraculous happenings were all around them, and John couldn't help but be enamored by Jesus Christ. What about you? Has the newness of knowing or following Jesus worn off? Are you apathetic about what God's doing in your life or how he's working and how he's trying to speak to you? Keep that spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. John lived a full life devoted to the Lord, and even though he was persecuted and tortured, he never swayed from telling people about the hope and faith he had in Jesus. After all, he had lived with Jesus for three and a half years and had learned much about the heart of God. A way for you to keep learning about the heart of God is by joining us on Sunday mornings at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville for Bible study. We also have a faith film night the first Monday of every month. We offer quality Christian entertainment that challenges your faith and spurs good conversation. Learn more at themountaincross.com or search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. That's all for today. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.