John 1:43-51

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”  Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.  Philip 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.”  Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”  Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”  Nathanael 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.”  Nathanael 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.”

John 1:43-51

Yeah... I don't really know about this one.  We see Philip called.  He's called differently because he is found by Jesus instead of the first two disciples hearing from John the Baptist and going after Jesus.  Though, you might argue that Jesus is still the one who calls even if it seemed like we or they took the "first step".  In any case, we see Philip bringing Nathanael to Jesus.  This is similar to Andrew bringing Simon Peter to Jesus.  However, this time there is some resistance.  Nathanael objects at first, asking "can anything good come out of Nazareth?".  I guess this means that he (and perhaps people in general) had a low view of Nazareth.  In any case, he is told "come and see" and he does.  He is met by Jesus who says "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit".  Now, the fact that Jesus said this about Nathanael was a surprise to him, which is why he asks "How do you know me?".  To this, Jesus replies "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you".  I it because Jesus says this that Nathanael is no longer skeptical of Jesus.  He replies "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!".  What was so significant about the fig tree?  How did this translate into Nathanael suddenly proclaiming that Jesus is "the Son of God" and "the King of Israel"?  The text doesn't tell us much.  However, we see a sudden transformation in someone who meets Jesus.  We see Jesus' inside knowledge of someone that wasn't expected.  This may not prove anything with regards to the purpose of this book.  However, it does point towards it.