Philip: the man on Word and Fire

“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:43-45).

Bethesaida: House of fish.

1. A town in Galilee, on the west side of the sea of Tiberias, in the "land of Gennesaret." It was the native place of Peter, Andrew, and Philip, and was frequently resorted to by Jesus #Mr 6:45 Joh 1:44 12:21 It is supposed to have been at the modern 'Ain Tabighah, a bay to the north of Gennesaret.
2. A city near which Christ fed 5,000 #Lu 9:10 comp. #Joh 6:17 Mt 14:15-21 and where the blind man had his sight restored #Mr 8:22 on the east side of the lake, two miles up the Jordan. It stood within the region of Gaulonitis, and was enlarged by Philip the tetrarch, who called it "Julias," after the emperor's daughter. Or, as some have supposed, there may have been but one Bethsaida built on both sides of the lake, near where the Jordan enters it. Now the ruins et-Tel.


1) Philip The Apostle {#Mt 10:3 Joh 1:43 6:5 12:21 14:8}

One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, "the city of Andrew and Peter" #Joh 1:44 He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him #Joh 1:43 and forthwith brought Nathanael also to Jesus #Joh 1:45,46 He seems to have held a prominent place among the apostles #Mt 10:3 Mr 3:18 #Joh 6:5-7 12:21,22 14:8,9 Ac 1:13 Of his later life nothing is certainly known. He is said to have preached in Phrygia, and to have met his death at Hierapolis.

1a) A Personal Worker {#Joh 1:45 12:21,22}

The interesting part of the life of Philip is his aggression to lead people into the Truth of Life which He has got to know by himself. When Jesus called Him, he didn’t follow himself but also led Nathanael to Christ.
Generally, people need to think before taking any serious decision of their lives. Even for us, when we get the word of Truth, many times we can’t fully make decision because our culture, practices, traditions, doctrines, religion and society comes in between the Truth and us. Many times the religions and traditions don’t cover only our spiritual eyes but make our hearts heart so that not only we can’t see, but even we can’t think of truth.
Philip, the man got the call of God through Christ while Jesus said him follow me. There was no question, nor doubt nor any hesitation but he simply followed Jesus. This action symbolizes the Christian’s reaction to the word and truth. The perfect model of Christian life is not the doubt or questioning God, but to trust and obey when we hear the call of God.
Philip, when got the divine call to follow Christ, completely dedicated himself to the call and without any questions he followed him. On the first step of his Christian life itself, he found the Nathanael and shared the good news to him that whom Moses and prophets have foretold and whom the Jews are waiting to come, Messiah has come. Philip didn’t wait till he will be a mature Christian, or he will get the perfect knowledge about the scriptures, but as soon as his own life was transformed in and through Christ, he started to witness the good news that he heard and accepted. Many people think that they need to be mature Christians for the ministries. In fact the greatest ministry is to lead a sinner to salvation and the greatest qualification of the minister is the man or women who have assurance of salvation. There is no greater qualification of Christian minister then to know that he was the wretch sinner and Christ is the Greatest Savior. Today the problem of Christianity is, many times people has good head knowledge of Scripture, but they have no assurance of this greatest salvation. Because of that, many people today are good scholars of the Bible, but not really good minister to lead people into way of salvation.
Where as, Philip first came to know divine call of God for life and came to the point of realization, that Jesus is the Anointed one whom they are waiting for. The very simple plan of God for salvation is just to have faith and because of his plain faith in Jesus he was first saved by himself. And, as a saved sinner, he started to lead others whom he found on his way.