John 1:49

‘Nathaniel answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are King of Israel”.'

This awareness of Jesus convinces Nathaniel that his friend Philip is right. ‘Rabbi,' he says in awe, ‘you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel' (v. 49). Notice the juxtaposition of the two phrases. It would appear that to him the one equates with the other, although ‘Son of God' was not as far as we know a recognised designation for the Messiah. He had recognised that the promised king has come. It may, however, be that his thought went further than that and that what Jesus had said had so impressed him that he considered Him unique in His relationship to God without defining it too specifically.

However, even if at this point in time in the Gospel reference to ‘the Son of God' has in mind the ‘coming king' as God's adopted son, the Messiah, its deeper significance, which will dawn on them later, is what the writer wishes to bring out. (It should be noted that ‘Son of God' was not, as far as we know, a recognised Messianic designation. But that a coming king could be recognised as the son of God is implicit in Psalms 2:7; compare 2 Samuel 7).