John 1:35-42

ANDREW, PETER AND AN UNNAMED DISCIPLE

Text 1:35-42

35

Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples;

36

and he looked upon Jesus as he walked, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

37

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.

38

And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? And they said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), where abidest thou?

39

He saith unto them, Come, and ye shall see. They came therefore and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day: it was about the tenth hour.

40

One of the two that heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

41

He findeth first his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, Christ).

42

He brought him unto Jesus. Jesus looked upon him, and aid, Thou art Simon the son of John! thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, Peter).

Queries

a.

Was the place where Jesus stayed near there?

b.

Why did the two disciples say they were following Jesus? Was this really their purpose?

c.

What did Jesus and these two talk about all that day?

Paraphrase

Again, on the next day, John and two of his disciples were standing near where John was immersing and John gazed intently at Jesus as He was walking near by. And John said, Lookthe Lamb of God! And two of his disciples heard him speaking and they followed Jesus. Having turned suddenly, Jesus beheld them following Him and said to them, What purpose have you in following Mewhat are you seeking? And they said to Him, Rabbi, (which is interpreted, Teacher) Where are You abiding? Jesus said to them, Come and see! And at about ten a.m. they went and saw where He was abiding, and they were with Him for the remainder of that day. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two disciples who heard John speak and followed Jesus, Andrew was the first of the two disciples to find his own brother, Simon, and say to him, We have found the Messiah (which is interpreted, anointed One). Then Andrew led his brother Simon to Jesus. Jesus gazed into his heart and said, You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is interpreted Petermeaning Stone).

Summary

Two of the Baptist's disciples set about investigating the One whom he points out as the Lamb of God. Having conversed with Him they are convinced that He is the anointed One of Israel. They allow no delay in leading their brothers to Him.

Comment

Again we marvel at the self-denial of John the Baptist. Did he not know that once he pointed out the Messiah he invited disaster to his own popularity? Did he not realize that once he proved Jesus of Nazareth to be the anointed One that his disciples would be likely to leave him and follow the King of Israel? Certainly he did; and yet he pointedly showed Jesus to his disciples! There is nothing harder than to willingly take second place when one has enjoyed first place.

John 1:38 shows an apparent hesitancy on the part of the two disciples to join themselves rudely to Jesus uninvited. The tense of the Greek word strapheis indicates to some commentators that Jesus turned suddenly. When He turned, He asked them an important question, What seek ye? Notice that He said What, not Whom seek ye? It has also been pointed out that Jesus met these searchers halfway. It was God Who took the first step in wooing man back to Himself. We still love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). For those following Jesus today, the Lord's question still rings true: What seek ye?a good reputation? a set of religious rules? a Sunday club? or is it Jesus Christ, the Son of God to be Lord of your entire being? (See Galatians 2:20).

There are two interpretations of the disciple's reply, Teacher, where are you abiding? One meaning behind the question might be that they were caught unawares when Jesus turned suddenly, and that was the only reply they could think of on the spur of the moment. The other interpretation is that the disciples sincerely sought His lodging place in order that they might go aside with Him, away from the crowds into quiet and earnest conversation concerning His messiahship.

The Lord was eager to satisfy their sincere and honest search after the Christ of God. Lenski contrasts the ardent, Come, and ye shall see, of the King of Heaven and earth with the postponements and procrastinations of earthly potentates. He did not invite them merely to see His lodging place, but to behold the One for Whom their hearts, as well as the hearts of their ancestors, had longed (1 Peter 1:10-12).

If the world could know where Jesus stayed, it would build a shrine of stone and mortar. No one knows where it was. Perhaps it was the home of a friend, perhaps an innit may even have been a booth (tabernacle) made of palm leaves. This day and its revelations were enshrined, however, in the hearts of the disciples who were there. For John (the other disciple), as he writes this Gospel, remembers even the hour they arrived and just how long they stayed with Him. John seems to use the Roman mode of counting time, which would mean that 10 a.m. was the hour of their arrival. Others contend that John uses the Jewish notations of time, which would make the hour of arrival 4 p.m. We refer you to the various works listed in the Bibliography for a more extended study of the Evangelist's method of counting time.

The Greek word para is the word used by the author to describe the visit of these two disciples, This word means primarily by the side of, and reveals the intense conversation that must have been carried on.

In John 1:40 the author finally mentions the name of one of the two disciples. Andrew will always be known as Simon Peter's brother (cf. John 6:8). Almost immediately we ask, Who was the other disciple? We are given no definite statement from Scripture, but there is strong inference that it was John, brother of James, son of Zebedee and author of the Fourth Gospel. It is a trait of the author of this account never to mention his own name or that of his relatives (cf. our Introduction, section on Authorship).

We are introduced to an outstanding characteristic of Andrew in John 1:41. Andrew was a personal evangelist. He was always leading others to Jesus (cf. John 6:8-9; John 12:22). This is a characteristic that Jesus would have all His disciples cultivate (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). What a man this was that Andrew led to the Lord! We shall never fully know the fruit we bear indirectly through those we lead to Christ until we meet them in the air. Andrew shares in all the subsequent fruits of Peter's labors!

In the phrase, He findeth his own brother. are also two possible interpretations. The most prevalent one is derived from the word proton, which means that Andrew sought his brother first, before he did anything else. Some manuscripts, however, have protos which means, perhaps, that Andrew was the first disciple who went after his brother, and implies that John also went after his brother James. We have chosen the latter interpretation in our paraphrase, for it fits the later call of the fishermen at Capernaum more readily (cf. Hendriksen on John, pp. 105-106, Vol. 1).

Andrew and John had made the greatest discovery of the agesthey had found the Messiah of the Jews, the Son of David. Andrew was excited, but the text seems to indicate that he could not excite Peter with this news. The Greek word egagen implies that Andrew had to coax Simon Peterhad to lead him to where Jesus was. The zeal of Andrew is often found in new converts. It is to the everlasting shame of the Church that this zeal is often quenched by the pessimism and lack of faith of those older in the faith.

Jesus, with a searching gaze, looked on Peter's heart. The word John used to describe the Lord's manner of looking here is emblepsas. It is the same word used by Luke to describe Jesus-' look at Peter in the courtyard after Peter had denied Him (Luke 22:61). When Jesus looked upon Simon Peter, He saw not merely a fisherman from Bethsaida, but He saw the future stedfast Rock (cf. Acts 4:19; Acts 5:41). In the Greek language, petra was used for a massive ledge of rock, while petros was a detached fragment of the ledge, smaller. Simon is first nicknamed Cephas, which is Aramaic for Rock. Cephas is in turn interpreted in Greek as Petros, meaning small rock. The reader is referred to Matthew 16:17 where the distinction between the two Greek words is very clear. Simon is there (Matthew 16:17) called petros, but the truth contained in his confession is called petra.

Thus far we are told that Andrew, his brother Simon Peter, John, and probably his brother James, are the only disciples following Jesus. We shall see next how others join themselves to this little band. The conversation these first four had with Jesus becomes even more important, however, when one considers the Synoptic's account of their call (cf. Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). It is rather difficult to understand how four fishermen would leave their livelihood and immediately and unquestioningly follow an obscure Galilean as is pictured by the Synoptical accounts. This passage in John shows that there was a period of inquiry and association with Jesus before the Galilean call.

Quiz

1.

Why did the two disciples following Jesus ask where He was abiding?

2.

What was the time of day when they arrived at Jesus-' lodging place?

3.

Who was the other disciple with Andrew?

4.

Give the basic characteristic of Andrew as shown in John 1:41.

5.

Give two possible interpretations of the phrase, He findeth first his own brother (John 1:41).

6.

How could Jesus know Simon's future character enough to call him Rock?

7.

What bearing does this first call of the four fishermen have on the later Galilean call?