Jesus: The Branch and Ladder

Read the series.

(Matthew 2:23, Genesis 28:10-17 with John 1:43-51)

Jesus as Netzer

Jesus was just beginning to assemble His band of key disciples. The first chapter of John’s Gospel introduces us to Nathaniel (probably also known as Bartholomew). During their initial meeting, Yeshua dazzles Nathaniel and then shares a midrash to describe the nature of His ministry.

Philip was excited about his realization that Jesus was the Messiah. He sought and found Nathaniel to tell him about “Yeshua ben Yosef”—Jesus, the Son of Joseph. In contrast, Nathaniel is anything but enthused at Philip’s claims; he asks a puzzling question: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

This question reflects a negative bias on Nathaniel’s part. What was so awful about Nazareth? To answer this question, we need to ponder another puzzling quotation from Matthew 2:23 that seems to connect.

And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

The reason this quotation is puzzling is because we cannot find its source. Which prophet actually said these words? Given that Matthew knew what he was talking about, what goes on here?

One common line of thought is that the Nazarenes were despised, and that this is a paraphrase of Isaiah 53:3a, “He was despised and rejected by men.” Thus to be called a “Nazarene” was to be called “despised.”

There is merit to that concept, but only indirectly so.

The better alternative (and what I consider the main meaning) has to do with the origin of the name, “Nazareth”—and the history of Nazareth itself. Nathaniel is predisposed against Jesus, even before He meets Him, simply because He is from Nazareth.

The Matthew 2:23 passage does not purport to be a quotation; it lacks the formula, “as it is written,” but is, instead, a paraphrase of Jeremiah 23:5 IMO (we will expand on this below). Before we go there, we need to set the stage and discuss Nazareth.

Consider Paul Wallace’s explanation, based upon the work of Bargil Pixner:

Fr. Bargil Pixner … has concluded from archaeological discoveries that the city of Nazareth was inhabited by families from the royal line of David from which the Messiah was to come. The name of the city comes from the Hebrew word for a branch or sprout, netzer. When the Scriptures tell us that Jesus was a Nazarene (Matthew 2:23), they aren’t referring to the sect that didn’t cut their hair or drink wine, but the family line of David. Isaiah 11:1 predicts the coming of Messiah. “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots a Branch (netzer) will bear fruit.” That is why the blind beggar Bartimaeus upon hearing that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by, knew his lineage and cried, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” (Mt.20:29) One can quite justly assume that Nazara–Nazareth (Little-Netzer) acquired its name from a Davidic clan, that presumably came from Babylon around the year 100 BC.¹ Nevertheless, we find this phrase from the future disciple Nathaniel, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Excavations show that Nazareth was only a village of about 150 people at the time. It may be that the inhabitants had some arrogance attached to their Davidic lineage that was despised by other Galileans. Perhaps Nathaniel was saying, “Oh no! Not another one!” A word from Jesus and Nathaniel quickly changed his mind and even called Jesus the Son of God. (John 1:49)²

Craig Keener adds this bit of useful information:

Pottery samples suggest a recent migration of the people from Bethlehem area to Nazareth around this time; Joseph’s legal residence is apparently still Bethlehem, where he had been raised.³

Human arrogance being what it is, it is possible (perhaps even likely) that several men from Nazareth—being in direct Davidic lineage—may have imagined (or wondered) if they were the Messiah. This is probably how Nazareth gained such a bad reputation—as implied by Nathaniel. It may have been the “messiah-claimant center” of its day.⁴

If Nazareth does in fact mean “Little Netzer (Branch),” then to be called a Nazarene is to be called a branch. Several prophecies associate the imagery of a branch with the Messiah. I will refer to two.

Jeremiah 23:5 reads:

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

Isaiah 11:1-3 reads:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear…

The Son of Man and Jacob’s Ladder

The narrative of John 1:43-51 then describes how Nathaniel was almost instantly transformed from a skeptic to a firm believer in Jesus. Philip told Nathaniel about Jesus, but Nathaniel was not impressed. How and why did this transformation take place?

Sometime before his discussion with Philip, Nathaniel had been reading and meditating upon the patriarch Jacob and how Jacob—the patriarch noted for guile and craftiness—experienced a life-changing dream at Bethel. In his dream, he saw angels ascending and descending to and from heaven on a ladder (Genesis 28:10-19). He likely tried to ponder the implications of that vision.

Jesus overwhelmed Nathaniel! Why? Because He knew two things a mere man could not have known: He knew where Nathaniel had been meditating (under a fig tree), and He knew what passage Nathaniel had been pondering (Jacob’s ladder as per Genesis 28:10-17). He contrasted the deceitfulness of Jacob with the sincere honesty of Nathaniel. Nathaniel was, in a sense, Jacob’s opposite.

Nathaniel was astonished at what Jesus knew, and all doubts were gone. But besides persuading Nathaniel to trust Him, Yeshua also used the incident to teach a midrash about Himself. Jacob’s ladder was a picture of Yeshua’s mission: to provide those on earth a way to dwell in heaven with God, to connect heaven and earth. With this background, note the text itself (John 1:47-49):

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathaniel said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Jesus Himself bridges the chasm between heaven and earth! Jacob’s dream was becoming a reality, with Jesus as the ladder. Much of the world today has yet to realize what Nathaniel realized in just a few moments.