John 1:43-51 "The Unique Call of Jesus"

The next day He decided to leave for Galilee. Jesus found Philip and told him, “Follow Me!”
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.  Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law 
(and so did the prophets ): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth!”
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him.
“Come and see,” Philip answered.
Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him and said about him, “Here is a true Israelite; no deceit is in him.”
“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
“Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered.
“Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe only because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”  Then He said, “I assure you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
  
 Philip is the first disciple that Jesus specifically sought out.  You might remember that John the Baptist introduced Jesus as the Messiah; Andrew had been a follower of John, and chose to begin following Jesus.  Andrew went and found his brother, Peter, and Peter also followed Jesus.  Later, Jesus will officially call both Andrew and Peter to be disciples, but as of yet, they are simply following Jesus of their own accord.


This tells us, however, that Jesus went looking and found Philip and told him, "Follow Me."  Philip responded by bringing a friend, Nathanael.  Nathaniel, it seems, was a skeptic by nature.  Philip appealed to him, though, based upon Nathaniel's study and knowledge of Scripture:
"This is the one Moses and the prophets wrote about..."  So, Nathaniel went along to meet Jesus.


Here is where things get interesting.  Jesus sees Nathaniel (the skeptic) and says, "Now here is a true Israelite; no deceit is in him."  We can understand this to mean something like, "Here is a true patriot."  Nathaniel (the skeptic) is non-committal and perhaps a little cynical, "How do you know me?"  To which Jesus replies with a prophetic, divine, supernaturally revealed response, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”  Or "I knew you before I met you and I saw you when nobody was around to see."  Nathaniel quit being a skeptic.

I think we can see a glimpse of Father's heart as revealed here in Jesus.  Andrew only required to know that Jesus was the Messiah.  Peter only required his brother's testimony.  Philip required a personal invitation.  Nathaniel required proof.  Jesus gave each of them exactly what they needed in order to believe and follow.  I believe the principle is still in play.  He wants us to believe.  He desires that we follow Him.  And, importantly, He gives us whatever we need to make that possible. When Jesus invites us to believe and follow, He is merciful and thoughtful. He calls us uniquely, giving to each whatever is needed to believe.