John 1:35-51 / Jesus between the Synagogue and the Palace
A Community in Exile
The Gospel of John wasn’t just written as a record of Jesus’ life and ministry—it was shaped by the Johannine community, a group of Jesus followers who had been kicked out of the synagogue, struggling to make sense of their new reality. As a response, they did what many exiled people do: they clung to what they had left, and in doing so, they made Jesus bigger than the rejection and the institution that had cast them out.
For this exiled community, Jesus wasn’t just a teacher or a messiah anymore—he was the preexistent Word, the very center of creation, the one who stands between the synagogue and the palace. You can see this evolution of understanding play out in John 1:35-51, where the first disciples slowly start piecing together who Jesus really is. Each encounter peels back another layer, revealing a deeper understanding of Jesus’ role in and around them.
Comunidades Eclesiales De Base
In the late 1960s when marginalized Christians throughout Latin America no longer had answers for the oppression they were facing, decided to break away from the religious establishment and form their own communities called Comunidades Eclesiales de Base (CEBs). Together, they prayed, worshiped, fasted, and read scripture—not through the lens of their former tradition, but through the reality of their suffering. In response to corruption, economic oppression, civil war, and their eventual exile, they chose to elevate Jesus far above the institutions that harmed them. Their understanding of Jesus grew deeper just like the disciples in John 1:35-51.
A Growing Understanding
In today’s reading, we find the first disciples expanding upon their understanding of Jesus one encounter at a time. First, we find Andrew (v40-42) who sees Jesus as the Messiah, a long-awaited political leader who would come to overthrow the world’s oppressive rulers. Then, Philip goes a step further, saying Jesus is the fulfillment of the entire Hebrew scriptures, yet still anchoring Jesus to human origin (v43-45). Then comes Nathanael who questions Jesus at first (“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?) but after Jesus describes a daydream that Nathanael had earlier in the day, his perception of Jesus is widened, proclaiming Him the “Son of God”, the one who stands far above every authority in Rome (v46-51). But Jesus pushes Nathanael’s revelation one final step further—“You’re going to see greater things than these…you’re going to see heaven open up and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” The big reveal for these disciples, and for the exiled Johannine community is that Jesus is the divine authority through which all of creation “came into being” (John 1:3) — the bridge between their old story and the new one.
The takeaway for us is that when we lose what we thought made up our identity—when we’re cast out, wandering, and questioning our faith—it’s in that space that Jesus meets us and invites us to stay on the road, to see deeper, to keep searching, and to hopefully arrive at the realization that He is bigger than what we came out of.
Discussion Questions:
What are some painful experiences that have caused you to question whether anything good can come from it?
Have you experienced a deeper understanding of the role that Jesus plays in your life?
How has this first chapter of John’s Gospel and the community behind it caused you to reflect on your own faith journey?