The writer now turned his attention from John the Baptist's witness to Jesus to record the reactions of some men to Jesus' witness. Two of John the Baptist's disciples left him to follow Jesus when they heard John's testimony about Jesus. One of them recruited his brother to join them. Jesus did not call these men to follow Him as His disciples now. That came later (cf. Matt. 4:18-22; 9:9; Mark 1:16-20; 2:13-14; Luke 5:1-11, 27-28). The Apostle John recorded a preliminary contact that these men had with Jesus.
1:35-36 Was the writer describing what happened on the same day as what he recorded in verses 29-34 or the following day? Probably the "next day"in verse 35 is the next day after the "next day"in verse 29.84It happened after John had again identified Jesus as the Lamb of God (v. 29).
1:37 Two of John the Baptist's disciples started following Jesus because of John's witness. This was perfectly proper since John's ministry was to point others to Jesus. They were not abandoning the Baptist for a more popular teacher. They were simply doing what John urged his hearers to do. They began following Jesus physically to learn from Him. They also took the first steps toward genuine discipleship. This was no tentative inquiry but a giving of themselves to Him as disciples.85
1:38 Jesus asked these two men why they were walking behind Him. Did they want something from Him?
"It appears that the Evangelist is writing on two levels. The question makes sense as straightforward narrative: Jesus asks the two men who are following him to articulate what is on their minds. But the Evangelist wants his readers to reflect on a deeper question: the Logos-Messiah confronts those who make any show of beginning to follow him and demands that they articulate what they really want in life."86
Jesus' question gave the men the opportunity to express their desire to become His disciples. However, they were not quite ready to make that commitment. They replied by asking where He was staying. This polite response implied that they wanted to have an interview with Him. The fact that John interpreted the word "rabbi"for his readers is clear evidence that he wrote primarily for Gentiles.
"Staying"translates one of the writer's characteristic words (i.e., Gr. meno, "to abide"). Here it means to reside, but often it has theological connotations of continuing on especially in an intimate relationship. These men may have already been wondering if that type of relationship with Jesus might be possible for them. This word occurs 112 times in the New Testament, and John used it 66 of those times, 40 times in his Gospel.87
1:39 Jesus responded by inviting them to accompany Him, not just to see where He was staying but to visit Him. They first had to come with Him and then they would see. This statement was also highly significant spiritually. Only by coming to Jesus could they really comprehend what they were seeking spiritually. The same thing holds true today. The two men accepted Jesus' invitation and stayed with Him for the rest of that day.
Jesus apparently issued his invitation near 4:00 p.m. John was more precise in his time references than the Synoptic evangelists (cf. 4:6, 52; 19:14).88The Jews reckoned their days from sunset to sunset, and they divided both night and day into 12-hour periods.
1:40 The writer now identified one of the two men. Andrew was important for two reasons. He became one of the Twelve, and he provided an excellent example of testifying for Jesus by bringing his brother to Jesus (v. 41). John introduced Andrew as Simon Peter's brother because when he wrote his Gospel Peter was the better known of the two. We do not know who the unnamed man was. Some students of John's Gospel have suggested that it may have been the writer himself. This is an interesting possibility, but there is nothing in the text that enables us to prove or to disprove it. He could have been anyone.
1:41 Andrew sought to bring his own brother to Jesus and was successful in doing so. Obviously both of them wanted to discover the Messiah whom the Old Testament prophets had predicted and whom Daniel's timetable encouraged them to believe would appear soon (Dan. 9:25). We should not conclude, however, that because Andrew believed that Jesus was the Messiah he also believed that He was God. He may have believed this, but all the evidence in the Gospels points to the disciples learning of Jesus' deity after they had been with Him for some time (cf. Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20). Probably Andrew thought of Jesus as a great prophet who was the messianic deliverer of Israel.
The title "Messiah"means "anointed one."The anointed one in Israel was originally any anointed priest or king who led the people. As time passed God gave prophecies of a coming Davidic king who would liberate the Israelites and establish God's rule over the whole earth (e.g., 2 Sam. 7; Ps. 2; 110). Thus the idea of a coming anointed one chrystalized into the title "Messiah."
1:42 Jesus knew what Peter would become in the history of the church by God's grace. He may have had previous contact with him and known Peter's reputation since both men lived only a few miles apart in Galilee. Simon was a common Jewish name, probably derived from Simeon. Jesus gave him a nickname that expressed his character, which was not uncommon. It is interesting that Simon Peter originally had the same rash and impulsive character as his ancestor Simeon, the second son of Jacob. Cephas is Aramaic, the common language of Palestine, and means "Rock."Peter is the Greek translation of Cephas. As the record of Peter unfolds in the Gospels, he appears as anything but a rock; he was impulsive, volatile, and unreliable. Yet Jesus named Peter in view of what he would become by the power of God.
"In bringing his brother Simon Peter to Christ, no man did the church a greater service than Andrew."89
Every time we meet Andrew in this Gospel he is bringing someone to Jesus (cf. 6:8; 12:22).
