Ch. 455 - Hidden From View

My mom and I were grocery shopping today. Among a few other items, we were looking for shelled sunflower seeds. We eventually found them. Amidst the unit of shelves they were on, we saw bags of figs. My mom saw them and decided to buy some for my dad. As we set out to find the rest of our items, my mom reminded me that when he was a boy, my dad would visit his grandfather's house in California. She said that his grandfather's yard contained some fig trees. My dad had enjoyed playing in the trees when he visited. This may sound strange, because one does not usually play "in" trees. However, fig trees are unique. Their branches grow away and down from the trunks, creating a hollow space around the trunk. The branches, then, are curtain-like and hide the trunk and the area around it. When my mom learned of this from my dad, she thought of an exchange between Jesus and Nathanael in the gospel of John (the calling of Philip and Nathanael):

'The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
[John 1:43-50]

What greater meaning this passage has, knowing more of fig trees! If one is under a fig tree, under its branches, one is hidden from view. And yet Jesus knew Nathanael was under the fig tree, even before Philip called him. He was able to see him. What a magnificent God we have to rule over us.