John 1:37

We have here the turning over of two disciples from John to Jesus, and one of them fetching in a third, and these are the first-fruits of Christ's disciples; see how small the church was in its beginnings, and what the dawning of the day of its great things was.

I. Andrew and another with him were the two that John Baptist had directed to Christ, Joh 1:37. Who the other was we are not told; some think that it was Thomas, comparing Joh 21:2; others that it was John himself, the penman of this gospel, whose manner it is industriously to conceal his name, Joh 13:23, and Joh 20:3.

1. Here is their readiness to go over to Christ: They heard John speak of Christ as the Lamb of God, and they followed Jesus. Probably they had heard John say the same thing the day before, and then it had not the effect upon them which now it had; see the benefit of repetition, and of private personal converse. They heard him speak of Christ as the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world, and this made them follow him. The strongest and most prevailing argument with a sensible awakened soul to follow Christ is that it is he, and he only, that takes away sin.

2. The kind notice Christ took of them, Joh 1:38. They came behind him; but, though he had his back towards them, he was soon aware of them, and turned, and saw them following. Note, Christ takes early cognizance of the first motions of a soul towards him, and the first step taken in the way to heaven; see Isa 64:5; Luk 15:20. He did not stay till they begged leave to speak with him, but spoke first. What communion there is between a soul and Christ, it is he that begins the discourse. He saith unto them, What seek ye? This was not a reprimand for their boldness in intruding into his company: he that came to seek us never checked any for seeking him; but, on the contrary, it is a kind invitation of them into his acquaintance whom he saw bashful and modest: "Come, what have you to say to me? What is your petition? What is your request." Note, Those whose business it is to instruct people in the affairs of their souls should be humble, and mild, and easy of access, and should encourage those that apply to them. The question Christ put to them is what we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Christ, and take upon us the profession of his holy religion: "What seek ye? What do we design and desire?" Those that follow Christ, and yet seek the world, or themselves, or the praise of men, deceive themselves. "What seek we in seeking Christ? Do we seek a teacher, ruler, and reconciler? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life?" If our eye be single in this, we are full of light.

3. Their modest enquiry concerning the place of his abode: Rabbi, where dwellest thou? (1.) In calling him Rabbi, they intimated that their design in coming to him was to be taught by him; rabbi signifies a master, a teaching master; the Jews called their doctors, or learned men, rabbies. The word comes from rab, multus or magnus, a rabbi, a great man, and one that, as we say, has much in him. Never was there such a rabbi as our Lord Jesus, such a great one, in whom were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. These came to Christ to be his scholars, so must all those that apply themselves to him. John had told them that he was the Lamb of God; now this Lamb is worthy to take the book and open the seals as a rabbi, Rev 5:9. And, unless we give up ourselves to be ruled and taught by him, he will not take away our sins. (2.) In asking where he dwelt, they intimate a desire to be better acquainted with him. Christ was a stranger in this country, so that they meant where was his inn where he lodged; for there they would attend him at some seasonable time, when he should appoint, to receive instruction from him; they would not press rudely upon him, when it was not proper. Civility and good manners well become those who follow Christ. And, besides, they hoped to have more from him than they could have in a short conference now by the way. They resolved to make a business, not a by-business of conversing with Christ. Those that have had some communion with Christ cannot but desire, [1.] A further communion with him; they follow on to know more of him. [2.] A fixed communion with him; where they may sit down at his feet, and abide by his instructions. It is not enough to take a turn with Christ now and then, but we must lodge with him.

4. The courteous invitation Christ gave them to his lodgings: He saith unto them, Come and see. Thus should good desires towards Christ and communion with him be countenanced. (1.) He invites them to come to his lodgings: the nearer we approach to Christ, the more we see of his beauty and excellency. Deceivers maintain their interest in their followers by keeping them at a distance, but that which Christ desired to recommend him to the esteem and affections of his followers was that they would come and see: "Come and see what a mean lodging I have, what poor accommodations I take up with, that you may not expect any worldly advantage by following me, as they did who made their court to the scribes and Pharisees, and called them rabbin. Come and see what you must count upon if you follow me." See Mat 8:20. (2.) He invites them to come immediately and without delay. They asked where he lodged, that they might wait upon him at a more convenient season; but Christ invites them immediately to come and see; never in better time than now. Hence learn, [1.] As to others, that it is best taking people when they are in a good mind; strike while the iron is hot. [2.] As to ourselves, that it is wisdom to embrace the present opportunities: Now is the accepted time, Co2 6:2.

5. Their cheerful and (no doubt) thankful acceptance of his invitation: They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day. It had been greater modesty and manners than had done them good if they had refused this offer. (2.) They readily went along with him: They came and saw where he dwelt. Gracious souls cheerfully accept Christ's gracious invitations; as David, Psa 27:8. They enquired not how they might be accommodated with him, but would put that to the venture, and make the best of what they found. It is good being where Christ is, wherever it be. (2.) They were so well pleased with what they found that they abode with him that day ("Master, it is good to be here"); and he bade them welcome. It was about the tenth hour. Some think that John reckons according to the Roman computation, and that it was about ten o'clock in the morning, and they staid with him till night; others think that John reckons as the other evangelists did, according to the Jewish computation, and that it was four o'clock in the afternoon, and they abode with him that night and the next day. Dr. Lightfoot conjectures that this next day that they spent with Christ was a sabbath-day, and, it being late, they could not get home before the sabbath. As it is our duty, wherever we are, to contrive to spend the sabbath as much as may be to our spiritual benefit and advantage, so they are blessed who, by the lively exercises of faith, love, and devotion, spend their sabbaths in communion with Christ. These are Lord's days indeed, days of the Son of man.

II. Andrew brought his brother Peter to Christ. If Peter had been the first-born of Christ's disciples, the papists would have made a noise with it: he did indeed afterwards come to be more eminent in gifts, but Andrew had the honour first to be acquainted with Christ, and to be the instrument of bringing Peter to him. Observe,

1. The information which Andrew gave to Peter, with an intimation to come to Christ.

(1.) He found him: He first finds his own brother Simon; his finding implies his seeking him. Simon came along with Andrew to attend John's ministry and baptism, and Andrew knew where to look for him. Perhaps the other disciple that was with him went out to seek some friend of his at the same time, but Andrew sped first: He first findeth Simon, who came only to attend on John, but has his expectations out-done; he meets with Jesus.

(2.) He told him whom they had found: We have found the Messias. Observe, [1.] he speaks humbly; not, "I have found," assuming the honour of the discovery to himself, but "We have," rejoicing that he had shared with others in it. [2.] He speaks exultingly, and with triumph: We have found that pearl of great price, that true treasure; and, having found it, he proclaims it as those lepers, Kg2 7:9, for he knows that he shall have never the less in Christ for others sharing. [3.] He speaks intelligently: We have found the Messias, which was more than had yet been said. John had said, He is the Lamb of God, and the Son of God, which Andrew compares with the scriptures of the Old Testament, and, comparing them together, concludes that he is the Messiah promised to the fathers, for it is now that the fulness of time is come. Thus, by making God's testimonies his meditation, he speaks more clearly concerning Christ than ever his teacher had done, Psa 119:99.

(3.) He brought him to Jesus; would not undertake to instruct him himself, but brought him to the fountain-head, persuaded him to come to Christ and introduced him. Now this was, [1.] An instance of true love to his brother, his own brother, so he is called here, because he was very dear to him. Note, We ought with a particular concern and application to seek the spiritual welfare of those that are related to us; for their relation to us adds both to the obligation and to the opportunity of doing good to their souls. [2.] It was an effect of his day's conversation with Christ. Note, the best evidence of our profiting by the means of grace is the piety and usefulness of our conversation afterwards. Hereby it appeared that Andrew had been with Jesus that he was so full of him, that he had been in the mount, for his face shone. He knew there was enough in Christ for all; and, having tasted that he is gracious, he could not rest till those he loved had tasted it too. Note, True grace hates monopolies, and loves not to eat its morsels alone.

2. The entertainment which Jesus Christ gave to Peter, who was never the less welcome for his being influenced by his brother to come, Joh 1:42. Observe,

(1.) Christ called him by his name: When Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jona. It should seem that Peter was utterly a stranger to Christ, and if so, [1.] It was a proof of Christ's omniscience that upon the first sight, without any enquiry, he could tell the name both of him and of his father. The Lord knows them that are his, and their whole case. However, [2.] It was an instance of his condescending grace and favour, that he did thus freely and affably call him by his name, though he was of mean extraction, and vir mullius nominis - a man of no name. It was an instance of God's favour to Moses that he knew him by name, Exo 33:17. Some observe the signification of these names: Simon - obedient, Jona - a dove. An obedient dove-like spirit qualifies us to be the disciples of Christ.

(2.) He gave him a new name: Cephas. [1.] His giving him a name intimates Christ's favour to him. A new name denotes some great dignity, Rev 2:17; Isa 62:2. By this Christ not only wiped off the reproach of his mean and obscure parentage, but adopted him into his family as one of his own. [2.] The name which he gave him bespeaks his fidelity to Christ: Thou shalt be called Cephas (that is Hebrew for a stone), which is by interpretation Peter; so it should be rendered, as Act 9:36. Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas; the former Hebrew, the latter Greek, for a young roe. Peter's natural temper was stiff, and hardy, and resolute, which I take to be the principal reason why Christ called him Cephas - a stone. When Christ afterwards prayed for him, that his faith might not fail, that so he might be firm to Christ himself, and at the same time bade him strengthen his brethren, and lay out himself for the support of others, then he made him what he here called him, Cephas - a stone. Those that come to Christ must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so. His saying, Be thou steady, makes them so. Now this does no more prove that Peter was the singular or only rock upon which the church is built than the calling of James and John Boanerges proves them the only sons of thunder, or the calling of Joses Barnabas proves him the only son of consolation.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Joh_1:37-39

And the two disciples heard Him speak

The first two disciples

I.

THE FRUIT OF GRACE IN THESE TWO DISCIPLES.

1. They followed Jesus. When a man has become a doer of the Word, he ever seeks increased knowledge.

2. They acknowledged His high character as a Master on whose instruction they desired to wait. It is a blessed progress when the issue of outward preaching is to make men desire that inward teaching which is by the waving power of Christ.

3. They sought intimate acquaintance with Him. No short interview was sufficient.

II. CHRISTS TREATMENT OF THE TWO DISCIPLES.

1. He took notice that they followed Him. Why did He not speak? Because He would honour His own word, as spoken by the Baptist, and give time for its proper effect. Christ knows those who are following Him, however hidden, silent, and feeble.

2. He set them on examining their purpose in following Him.

3. He gave them most welcome invitation and grateful entertainment. (A. Beith, D. D.)

John and Andrew

I. It was not an accident that the first words which the Master spoke in His Messianic office were THE PROFOUNDLY SIGNIFICANT QUESTION, What seek ye? which suggests

1. The need of having a clear consciousness of what is our object in life.

(1) Most men have never answered that question, but are driven by circumstances, and whose incoherent, unreflective lives are a shame to their manhood.

(2) Others are full of low, unworthy aims.

(3) If we would ask this question and answer it thoroughly we should not make so many mistakes. If we knew what we were really seeking we should know where to go and look for it.

2. These words are also a veiled promise.

(1) Christ asks all such questions, not for His information, but for our strengthening.

(2) The condition of the fulfilment of the promise is that a suppliant is conscious of His own wants, and turns to Christ for their supply.

(3) Christ has done what He has promised. No man can ask from Christ what He cannot or will not bestow.

II. The second words which Christ speaks are a MERCIFUL INVITATION TO THE WORLD. The disciples answer was simple and timid. They did not venture to say, May we talk to you? Will you take us to be your disciples? All they can muster courage to ask now is, Where dwellest Thou? At another time, perhaps, we will go to this Rabbi and speak with Him. His answer is Come now!

1. Christ is always glad when people resort to Him. When He was here in the world, no hour was inconvenient or inopportune. He was never impatient or wearied.

2. This invitation is a distinct call to first hand knowledge of Christ.

3. This is a call to the personal act of faith. Come and see are standing emblems of faith.

III. The words of the Evangelist are A PARABLE OF THE BLESSED EXPERIENCE WHICH BINDS MENS HEARTS TO JESUS FOR EVER.

1. Dwelt and abode are the same words in the original, and express the close, still communion which the soul may have with Jesus Christ.

2. John had nothing to say to the world about what the Master said to him and his brother in that long day of communion. A lesson for a great deal of blatant talk about conversion and the details thereof.

3. The impression of Christs own personality is the strongest force to make disciples.

4. The experience of the grace and sweetness of the Saviour binds men to Him as nothing else will. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The character of a leader shown by the character of his following

One gets an idea of the greatness of a chief of men from the greatness of those whom he gathers around him, and who carry out his plans. Thus, for example, one infers that Cromwell must have been a great-natured man, from the fact that he had Howe for his chaplain, Milton and Marvell for his secretaries, Blake for his admiral, and so on. Noscitur a sociis, and we might add, a servia. So we reason, perhaps unconsciously, in the ease of other historic names. Speaking reverently, I would say, that in a parallel manner, we recognize the sovran greatness of our Lord in the fact that He gathered into His service and commanded men of such varied and magnificent natures as a Peter, a John, and a Paul; not to speak of men in other times. His heroes are no less wonderful than the most wonderful in the ancient days of Israel. (J. Culross, D. D.)

The difference between the conversion of John and the conversion of Paul

In the case of Paul, we find a man of powerful nature committed out and out against the cause of Jesus, thoroughly conscientious in his hostility, not merely standing out against the Gospel as a fraud or delusion, blasphemous in its every essence, but resolved to pat it down. This man is suddenly arrested in the mid-career of his opposition. There is a mighty shock to his nature; and for three days he can neither eat nor drink. With John it seems to have been otherwise. We cannot indeed tell what the Baptists ministry may have been to him; how the sorrows of death may have compassed him and the pains of hell gut hold upon him. But in coming to Jesus, he is drawn, as with the cords of love and the bands of a man. There are those who think that all is not right with a man unless there is something approaching convulsion in the bringing of him to God.

For myself, I entertain no manner of doubt that the great change is often accomplished thus. But the convulsion is not of the essence of the change. Often it is the sign of resistance and struggle against God, and has more to do with unbelief than with faith. Let us not limit God, or prescribe to Him, but accept His grace in whatever way it comes. (J. Culross, D. D.)

Jesus saw them following.

There are different causes of following one who is worthy of attention. A good man may be followed by an enemy from a desire to injure him; he may be followed in suspicion and doubt; he may be followed from mere curiosity; he may be followed in the hope of purely personal gain; he may be followed in loving devotedness. The following may be a good sign, or it may be an evil sign, on the part of those who follow. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

Rabbi--The Jewish terms of honour for their religious teachers were three. These were, in ascending honour, Rabh, Rabbi, Rabban, the last term being given in cases only of the extremest rarity. As regards the relation of the rabbi to the people, the Sages advised every man: Chose for thee a Master, and withdraw from doubt; that is, Chose for yourself a rabbi who can solve the legal and casuistical questions which perplex you. Jesus was not a rabbi in the strict sense; but the title was given to Him in point of courtesy by those who would learn from Him. (A. F. Schaefer.)

What seek ye?--It is a blank cheque that He puts into their hands to fill up. It is the key of His treasure-house which He offers to us all, with the assured confidence that if we open it we shall find all that we need. Christ stands before us like some of those fountains erected at some great national festival, out of which pour for all the multitude every variety of draught which they desire, and each man that goes with his empty cup gets it filled with that which he wishes. What seek ye? Wisdom? You students, you thinkers, you young men that are fighting with intellectual difficulties, What seek ye? Truth? He gives us that. You others, What seek ye? Love, peace, victory, self-control, hope, anodyne for sorrow? Whatever you desire, you will find in Jesus Christ. The first words with which He broke the silence, when He spake to man as the Messias, were at once a searching question, probing their aims and purposes, and a gracious promise pledging Him to a task not beyond His power, however far beyond that of all others--even the task of giving to each man His hearts desire. What seek ye? Seek, and ye shall fled. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Where dwellest thou?--By this example we are taught from the first rudiment of the Church

1. That we ought to draw such a relish for Christ as will excite our desire for profit.

2. That we ought not to be satisfied with a mere passing look, but that we ought to seek Christs dwelling that He may receive us as guests. For there are many who smell the gospel at a distance only, and thus allow Christ suddenly to disappear, and all that they have learned concerning Him to pass away. (Calvin.)

Come and see

Investigation the way to Faith

I. THE INVESTIGATION BY WHICH CHRISTS EARTHLY FOLLOWERS GAINED FAITH IN HIS MISSION. Invited by Christ, they spend many hours with Him, and come away convinced of His Messiahship; He had nothing to conceal. The more they know the clearer His glory. In this He is a contrast to most of the worlds heroes and an example to all teachers.

II. THE INVESTIGATION BY WHICH STUDENTS OF CHRISTS BIOGRAPHY GAIN FAITH IN CHRISTS CHARACTER, proving it to be

1. Original.

2. Beautiful.

3. Perfect.

III. THE INVESTIGATION BY WHICH STUDENTS OF HISTORY GAIN FAITH IN CHRISTS INFLUENCE, proving its

1. Might.

2. Beneficence.

IV. THE INVESTIGATION BY WHICH INQUIRERS FOR PERSONAL SALVATION GAIN FAITH IN CHRIST HIMSELF. This faith can only be possessed by those who hold intelligent, devout, constant communion with Him. (Urijah R. Thomas.)

A loving invitation

At the beginning of the gospel Christ says, Come and see; at the close, Come and dine. The first is for babes in Christ, the second for strong men. The first is the beginning of spiritual life, the second a high after privilege, and the result of it. The first is the Gospels cry to those outside its pale, the second to those who have embraced it. Christ has nothing to conceal. Romanism may conceal its worship under the Latin tongue, difficult phraseology and polished periods may hide the teaching of professed protestants. We have here

I. AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO SINNERS. There are four ways by which persons are to Come and see.

1. By observation. Many persons are careless; they will consider the last new novel, but concerning Christ they have no curiosity.

2. By diligent study of Holy Scripture. The worst read book is the Bible. People read a verse or half a chapter and think they understand it. But they do not read Shakespeare in that way.

3. By hearing the Gospel. What do you come to Gods house for? To admire the eloquence of man? Go to the theatre or senate if that be your errand. To Gods house we should resort to learn to see for ourselves the Lord Jesus.

4. By believing. The best way of knowing about Christ is to try Him. The only way of knowing His power to forgive sins is to trust Him to forgive yours.

II. AN ADDRESS TO BEGINNERS IN THE SCHOOL OF CHRIST. We ought not to be satisfied with merely being saved. Our next business is to learn more of Christ.

1. For the understanding of doctrine.

2. For the fulfilment of promises.

3. For the ripening of experience.

III. THE CRY OF THE GOSPEL TO EVERY SINNER. It is more pleasing to use the eye than the ear. You can keep children as happy as birds in the air with a picture-book, when they would probably go to sleep if you were to talk to them. Christ bids us use the eye. What is there to see? Christ

1. Incarnate.

2. Crucified,

3. Risen. Come and see. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Man inviting Christ to his dwelling

As He invited the disciples of John to see where He dwelt, so we should be able to invite Him to see where we dwell, and to look if there be in our habitations anything which betrays a spirit contrary to His. (J. Fawcett, M. A.)

The dwelling-place of Jesus

1. So humble and obscure that tradition, so industrious in marking every spot trodden by His blessed feet, fails to point it out.

2. In this lowly dwelling Christ first preached His gospel.

3. It was, the first sanctuary of the Christian faith. Where does Christ dwell now?

I. IN HEAVEN (Luk_24:51; Heb_10:12).

1. Then He is visible only to faith?

2. There He ever lives to make intercession.

II. IN HIS CHURCH (Exo_20:24; Mat_18:20).

1. There He is worshipped.

2. There we commune with Him.

III. IN THE HEARTS OF HIS FAITHFUL PEOPLE (Pro_23:26; Eph_3:17).

1. In spite of their unworthiness.

2. In response to faith and love.

3. To animate hope. (John N. Norton.)

A memorable day

I. FOR JESUS. The first fruits of His redeeming work.

II. FOR JOHN. The beginning of a new life.

III. FOR THE CHURCH. The day of its foundation.

IV. FOR THE WORLD. A promise of its regeneration. Lesson; the importance of little things. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)

Experience of Christ better than description of Him

An affecting scene occurred in the streets of Baltimore. Two little sisters were looking through a large store window at the toys within, and trying to describe what they saw to a little blind sister who was with them. They were exhausting their feeble powers of description to bring home to the mind of their blind companion what they saw, although she listened greedily. But, after all, they failed to present anything more than an imperfect representation. The gentleman who saw the circumstance said that it was extremely touching, that they tried hard to describe the collection in the store, but they could not do it. That is just like trying to tell you of Christ. We may exhaust our powers of description, but the effect will be very moderate. You must come and see His beauties with your own eyes.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John

THE FIRST DISCIPLES: I. JOHN AND ANDREW

Joh 1:37 - Joh 1:39.

In these verses we see the head waters of a great river, for we have before us nothing less than the beginnings of the Christian Church. So simply were the first disciples made. The great society of believers was born like its Master, unostentatiously and in a corner.

Jesus has come back from His conflict in the wilderness after His baptism, and has presented Himself before John the Baptist for his final attestation. It was a great historical moment when the last of the Prophets stood face to face with the Fulfilment of all prophecy. In his words, ‘Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!’ Jewish prophecy sang its swan-song, uttered its last rejoicing, ‘Eureka! I have found Him!’ and died as it spoke.

We do not sufficiently estimate the magnificent self-suppression and unselfishness of the Baptist, in that he, with his own lips, here repeats his testimony in order to point his disciples away from himself, and to attach them to Jesus. If he could have been touched by envy he would not so gladly have recognised it as his lot to decrease while Jesus increased. Bare magnanimity that in a teacher! The two who hear John’s words are Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, and an anonymous man. The latter is probably the Evangelist. For it is remarkable that we never find the names of James and John in this Gospel {though from the other Gospels we know how closely they were associated with our Lord}, and that we only find them referred to as ‘the sons of Zebedee,’ once near the close of the book. That fact points, I think, in the direction of John’s authorship of this Gospel.

These two, then, follow behind Jesus, fancying themselves unobserved, not desiring to speak to Him, and probably with some notion of tracking Him to His home, in order that they may seek an interview at a later period. But He who notices the first beginnings of return to Him, and always comes to meet men, and is better to them than their wishes, will not let them steal behind Him uncheered, nor leave them to struggle with diffidence and delay. So He turns to them, and the events ensue which I have read in the verses that follow as my text.

We have, I think, three things especially to notice here. First, the Master’s question to the whole world, ‘What seek ye?’ Second, the Master’s invitation to the whole world, ‘Come and see!’ Lastly, the personal communion which brings men’s hearts to Him, ‘They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day.’

I. So, then, first look at this question of Christ to the whole world, ‘What seek ye?’

As it stands, on its surface, and in its primary application, it is the most natural of questions. Our Lord hears footsteps behind Him, and, as any one would do, turns about, with the question which any one would ask, ‘What is it that you want?’ That question would derive all its meaning from the look with which it was accompanied, and the tone in which it was spoken. It might mean either annoyance and rude repulsion of a request, even before it was presented, or it might mean a glad wish to draw out the petition, and more than half a pledge to bestow it. All depends on the smile with which it was asked and the intonation of voice which carried it to their ears. And if we had been there we should have felt, as these two evidently felt, that though in form a question, it was in reality a promise, and that it drew out their shy wishes, made them conscious to themselves of what they desired, and gave them confidence that their desire would be granted. Clearly it had sunk very deep into the Evangelist’s mind; and now, at the end of his life, when his course is nearly run, the never-to-be-forgotten voice sounds still in his memory, and he sees again, in sunny clearness, all the scene that had transpired on that day by the fords of the Jordan. The first words and the last words of those whom we have learned to love are cut deep on our hearts.

It was not an accident that the first words which the Master spoke in His Messianic office were this profoundly significant question, ‘What seek ye?’ He asks it of us all, He asks it of us to-day. Well for them who can answer, ‘Rabbi! where dwellest Thou?’ ‘It is Thou whom we seek!’ So, venturing to take the words in that somewhat wider application, let me just suggest to you two or three directions in which they seem to point.

First, the question suggests to us this: the need of having a clear consciousness of what is our object in life. The most of men have never answered that question. They live from hand to mouth, driven by circumstances, guided by accidents, impelled by unreflecting passions and desires, knowing what they want for the moment, but never having tried to shape the course of their lives into a consistent whole, so as to stand up before God in Christ when He puts the question to them, ‘What seek ye?’ and to answer the question.

These incoherent, instinctive, unreflective lives that so many of you are living are a shame to your manhood, to say nothing more. God has made us for something else than that we should thus be the sport of circumstances. It is a disgrace to any of us that our lives should be like some little fishing-boat, with an unskilful or feeble hand at the tiller, yawing from one point of the compass to another, and not keeping a straight and direct course. I pray you, dear brethren, to front this question: ‘After all, and at bottom, what is it I am living for? Can I formulate the aims and purposes of my life in any intelligible statement of which I should not be ashamed?’ Some of you are not ashamed to do what you would be very much ashamed to say, and you practically answer the question, ‘What are you seeking?’ by pursuits that you durst not call by their own ugly names.

There may be many of us who are living for our lusts, for our passions, for our ambitions, for avarice, who are living in all uncleanness and godlessness. I do not know. There are plenty of shabby, low aims in all of us which do not bear being dragged out into the light of day. I beseech you to try and get hold of the ugly things and bring them up to the surface, however much they may seek to hide in the congenial obscurity and twist their slimy coils round something in the dark. If you dare not put your life’s object into words, bethink yourselves whether it ought to be your life’s object at all.

Ah, brethren! if we would ask ourselves this question, and answer it with any thoroughness, we should not make so many mistakes as to the places where we look for the things for which we are seeking. If we knew what we were really seeking, we should know where to go to look for it. Let me tell you what you are seeking, whether you know it or not. You are seeking for rest for your heart, a home for your spirits; you are seeking for perfect truth for your understandings, perfect beauty for your affections, perfect goodness for your conscience. You are seeking for all these three, gathered into one white beam of light, and you are seeking for it all in a Person. Many of you do not know this, and so you go hunting in all manner of impossible places for that which you can only find in one. To the question, ‘What seek ye?’ the deepest of all answers, the only real answer, is, ‘My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.’ If you know that, you know where to look for what you need! ‘Do men gather grapes of thorns?’ If these are really the things that you are seeking after, in all your mistaken search-oh! how mistaken is the search! Do men look for pearls in cockle-shells, or for gold in coal-pits; and why should you look for rest of heart, mind, conscience, spirit, anywhere and in anything short of God? ‘What seek ye?’-the only answer is, ‘We seek Thee!’

And then, still further, let me remind you how these words are not only a question, but are really a veiled and implied promise. The question, ‘What do you want of Me?’ may either strike an intending suppliant like a blow, and drive him away with his prayer sticking in his throat unspoken, or it may sound like a merciful invitation, ‘What is thy petition, and what is thy request, and it shall be granted unto thee?’ We know which of the two it was here. Christ asks all such questions as this {and there are many of them in the New Testament}, not for His information, but for our strengthening. He asks people, not because He does not know before they answer, but that, on the one hand, their own minds may be clear as to their wishes, and so they may wish the more earnestly because of the clearness; and that, on the other hand, their desires being expressed, they may be the more able to receive the gift which He is willing to bestow. So He here turns to these men, whose purpose He knew well enough, and says to them, ‘What seek ye?’ Herein He is doing the very same thing on a lower level, and in an outer sphere, as is done when He appoints that we shall pray for the blessings which He is yearning to bestow, but which He makes conditional on our supplications, only because by these supplications our hearts are opened to a capacity for receiving them.

We have, then, in the words before us, thus understood, our Lord’s gracious promise to give what is desired on the simple condition that the suppliant is conscious of his own wants, and turns to Him for the supply of them. ‘What seek ye?’ It is a blank cheque that He puts into their hands to fill up. It is the key of His treasure-house which He offers to us all, with the assured confidence that if we open it we shall find all that we need.

Who is He that thus stands up before a whole world of seeking, restless spirits, and fronts them with the question which is a pledge, conscious of His capacity to give to each of them what each of them requires? Who is this that professes to be able to give all these men and women and children bread here in the wilderness? There is only one answer-the Christ of God.

And He has done what He promises. No man or woman ever went to Him, and answered this question, and presented their petition for any real good, and was refused. No man can ask from Christ what Christ cannot bestow. No man can ask from Christ what Christ will not bestow. In the loftiest region, the region of inward and spiritual gifts, which are the best gifts, we can get everything that we want, and our only limit is, not His boundless omnipotence and willingness, but our own poor, narrow, and shrivelled desires. ‘Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.’

Christ stands before us, if I may so say, like some of those fountains erected at some great national festival, out of which pour for all the multitude every variety of draught which they desire, and each man that goes with his empty cup gets it filled, and gets it filled with that which he wishes. ‘What seek ye?’ Wisdom? You students, you thinkers, you young men that are fighting with intellectual difficulties and perplexities, ‘What seek ye?’ Truth? He gives us that. You others, ‘What seek ye?’ Love, peace, victory, self-control, hope, anodyne for sorrow? Whatever you desire, you will find in Jesus Christ. The first words with which He broke the silence when He spake to men as the Messias, were at once a searching question, probing their aims and purposes, and a gracious promise pledging Him to a task not beyond His power, however far beyond that of all others, even the task of giving to each man his heart’s desire. ‘What seek ye?’ ‘Seek, and ye shall find.’

II. Then, still further, notice how, in a similar fashion, we may regard here the second words which our Lord speaks as being His merciful invitation to the world. ‘Come and see.’

The disciples’ answer was simple and timid. They did not venture to say, ‘May we talk to you?’ ‘Will you take us to be your disciples?’ All they can muster courage to ask now is, ‘Where dwellest Thou?’ At another time, perhaps, we will go to this Rabbi and speak with Him. His answer is, ‘Come, come now; come, and by intercourse with Me learn to know Me.’ His temporary home was probably nothing more than some selected place on the river’s bank, for ‘He had not where to lay His head’; but such as it was, He welcomes them to it. ‘Come and see!’

Take a plain, simple truth out of that. Christ is always glad when people resort to Him. When He was here in the world, no hour was inconvenient or inopportune; no moment was too much occupied; no physical wants of hunger, or thirst, or slumber were ever permitted to come between Him and seeking hearts. He was never impatient. He was never wearied of speaking, though He was often wearied in speaking. He never denied Himself to any one or said, ‘I have something else to do than to attend to you.’ And just as in literal fact, whilst He was here upon earth, nothing was ever permitted to hinder His drawing near to any man who wanted to draw near to Him, so nothing now hinders it; and He is glad when any of us resort to Him and ask Him to let us speak to Him and be with Him. His weariness or occupation never shut men out from Him then. His glory does not shut them out now.

Then there is another thought here. This invitation of the Master is also a very distinct call to a firsthand knowledge of Jesus Christ. Andrew and John had heard from the Baptist about Him, and now what He bids them to do is to come and hear Himself. That is what He calls you, dear brethren, to do. Do not listen to us, let the Master Himself speak to you. Many who reject Christianity reject it through not having listened to Jesus Himself teaching them, but only to theologians and other human representations of the truth. Go and ask Christ to speak to you with His own lips of truth, and take Him as the Expositor of His own system. Do not be contented with traditional talk and second-hand information. Go to Christ, and hear what He Himself has to say to you.

Then, still further, in this ‘Come and see’ there is a distinct call to the personal act of faith. Both of these words, ‘come’ and ‘ see,’ are used in the New Testament as standing emblems of faith. Coming to Christ is trusting Him; trusting Him is seeing Him, looking unto Him. ‘Come unto Me, and I will give you rest,’ ‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth.’ There are two metaphors, both of them pointing to one thing, and that one thing is the invitation from the dear lips of the loving Lord to every man, woman, and child in this congregation. ‘Come and see!’ ‘Put your trust in Me, draw near to Me by desire and penitence, draw near to Me in the fixed thought of your mind, in the devotion of your will, in the trust of your whole being. Come to Me, and see Me by faith; and then-and then-your hearts will have found what they seek, and your weary quest will be over, and, like the dove, you will fold your wings and nestle at the foot of the Cross, and rest for evermore. Come! “Come and see!”‘

III. So, lastly, we have in these words a parable of the blessed experience which binds men’s hearts to Jesus for ever. ‘They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.’

‘Dwelt’ and ‘abode’ are the same words in the original. It is one of John’s favourite words, and in its deepest meaning expresses the close, still communion which the soul may have with Jesus Christ, which communion, on that never-to-be-forgotten day, when he and Andrew sat with Him in the quiet, confidential fellowship that disclosed Christ’s glory ‘full of grace and truth’ to their hearts, made them His for ever.

If the reckoning of time here is made according to the Hebrew fashion, the ‘tenth hour’ will be ten o’clock in the morning. So, one long day of talk! If it be according to the Roman legal fashion, the hour will be four o’clock in the afternoon, which would only give time for a brief conversation before the night fell. But, in any case, sacred reserve is observed as to what passed in that interview. A lesson for a great deal of blatant talk, in this present day, about conversion and the details thereof!

‘Not easily forgiven

Are those, who setting wide the doors, that bar

The secret bridal chambers of the heart.

Let in the day.’

John had nothing to say to the world about what the Master said to him and his brother in that long day of communion.

One plain conclusion from this last part of our narrative is that the impression of Christ’s own personality is the strongest force to make disciples. The character of Jesus Christ is, after all, the central and standing evidence and the mightiest credential of Christianity. It bears upon its face the proof of its own truthfulness. If such a character was not lived, how did it ever come to be described, and described by such people? And if it was lived, how did it come to be so? The historical veracity of the character of Jesus Christ is guaranteed by its very uniqueness. And the divine origin of Jesus Christ is forced upon us as the only adequate explanation of His historical character. ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.’

I believe that to lift Him up is the work of all Christian preachers and teachers; as far as they can to hide themselves behind Jesus Christ, or at the most to let themselves appear, just as the old painters used to let their own likenesses appear in their great altar-pieces-a little kneeling figure there, away in a dark corner of the background. Present Christ, and He will vindicate His own character; He will vindicate His own nature; He will vindicate His own gospel. ‘They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him,’ and the end of it was that they abode with Him for evermore. And so it will always be.

Once more, personal experience of the grace and sweetness of this Saviour binds men to Him as nothing else will:

‘He must be loved ere that to you

He will seem worthy of your love.’

The deepest and sweetest and most precious part of His character and of His gifts can only be known on condition of possessing Him and them, and they can be possessed only on condition of holding fellowship with Him. I do not say to any man: ‘Try trust in order to be sure that Jesus Christ is worthy to be trusted,’ for by its very nature faith cannot be an experiment or provisional. I do not say that my experience is evidence to you, but at the same time I do say that it is worth any man’s while to reflect upon this, that none who ever trusted in Him have been put to shame. No man has looked to Jesus and has said: ‘Ah! I have found Him out! His help is vain, His promises empty.’ Many men have fallen away from Him, I know, but not because they have proved Him untruthful, but because they have become unfaithful.

And so, dear brethren, I come to you with the old message, ‘Oh! taste,’ and thus you will ‘see that the Lord is good.’ There must be the faith first, and then there will be the experience, which will make anything seem to you more credible than that He whom you have loved and trusted, and who has answered your love and your trust, should be anything else than the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind. Come to Him and you will see. The impregnable argument will be put into your mouth-’Whether this man be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see.’ Look to Him, listen to Him, and when He asks you, ‘What seek ye?’ answer, ‘Rabbi, where dwellest Thou? It is Thou whom I seek.’ He will welcome you to close blessed intercourse with Him, which will knit you to Him with cords that cannot be broken, and with His loving voice making music in memory and heart, you will be able triumphantly to confess-’Now we believe, not because of any man’s saying, for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 1:37. Ἠκολούθησαν, followed) of their own accord from behind. [Here were] the first commencements of the Christian Church. At the beginning Jesus invited disciples with a kind of milk-like [‘lacteâ,’ alluring] sweetness. [You will not find that He appointed certain hours for instructing disciples; but all His conversation presented [the aspect of one] continued instruction and lasting training, at one time the handle [for instruction] being given by a marriage; at another time, in overwhelming straits on the water; at another time in a case of household need; at another time when some one was sick; at another time, on the occasion of some lapse on the part of the disciples. Immediately, as it were, on the highway (before the public, and on the spot “in trivio”) He taught, reproved, bent, bore with, admonished, tried, strengthened, established them, and opened out to them one part of the truth after another, and freed them from one false conception after another, commencing from these first [earliest] times all along to His ascension.—Harm., p. 157.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh_1:37-40. And the two disciples heard (observed) him speak. For he had not addressed the words ἴδε ὁ ἀμνὸς τ. θεοῦ directly to them, but in general (comp. Joh_1:29) to those round about him.

ἠκολούθησαν] not the following of discipleship, nor in a sens profondément symbolique (Godet), but simply: they went after Him (ὀπίστεροι ἦλθον ὁδῖται Χριστοῦ νεισσομένοιο, Nonnus), in order to know Him more intimately (πεῖραν λαβεῖν αὐτοῦ, Euthymius Zigabenus). Nevertheless Bengel rightly says: primae origines ecclesiae Christianae.

στραφείς] for He heard the footsteps of those following Him.

τί ζητεῖτε] what do you desire? He anticipates them by engaging in conversation with them, not exactly because they were shy and timid (Euthymius Zigabenus). But no doubt the significant θεασάμενος, κ.τ.λ. (intuitus), was accompanied by a glance into their hearts, Joh_2:25.

ποῦ μένεις] correlative to the περιπατοῦντι, Joh_1:36; therefore: where dost thou sojourn? Polyb. xxx. 4. 10; Strabo, iii. p. 147. They regarded Him as a travelling Rabbi, who was lodging in the neighbourhood at the house of some friend.

ἔρχεσθε κ. ὄψεσθε (see the critical notes); a friendly invitation to accompany Him at once.[121] They had sought only to know where the place was, so that they might afterwards seek Him out, and converse with Him undisturbed. We have not here the Rabbinical form of calling attention, בא וראה (Buxt. Lex. Talm. p. 248; Lightfoot, p. 968), nor an imitation of Rev_6:1 (Weisse), nor yet an allusion to Psa_66:5; Psa_66:9, and a gentle reference on the part of Jesus to His Godhead (Hengstenberg), for which there was no occasion, and which He could not expect to be understood.

ἦλθον, κ.τ.λ.] shows the simplicity of the narrative.

μένει] instance of insertion of the direct address, common in dependent clauses. Kühner, II. 594; Winer, p. 251 [E. T. p. 335].

τὴν ἡμέρ. ἐκ.] i.e. the remaining part of that day, not at once from that day onwards (Credner, against whom is Ebrard).

ΔΕΚΆΤΗ] that is, at the beginning of their stay with Him. We have no reason to suppose in John, as Rettig does in the Stud. u. Krit. 1830, p. 106, as also Tholuck, Ebrard, Ewald, the Roman mode of counting the hours (from midnight to midnight, therefore ten oclock in the morning) instead of the Jewish, which is followed elsewhere in the N. T. and by Josephus (even Vit. 54), i.e. four oclock in the afternoon; because there is time enough from 4 P.M. till late in the evening to justify the popular expression τὴν ἡμέρ. ἐκ.; because, moreover, in Joh_11:9 it is plainly the Jewish method which is followed; and because even in Joh_4:6 the same method best suits the context, and is not excluded in Joh_4:52, while in Joh_19:14 it is with a harmonistic view that the Roman method of reckoning is resorted to. The Romans themselves, moreover, frequently measured the day after the Babylonian computation of the hours, according to the twelve hours from sunrise to sunset; and the tenth hour especially is often named, as in our text, as the hour of return from walking, and mention of it occurs as a late hour in the day, when e.g. the soldiers were allowed to rest (Liv. ix. 37), or when they went to table (Martial, vii. 1), etc. See Wetstein.

The great significance of this hour for John (it was the first of his Christian life) had indelibly impressed it on his grateful recollection, and hence the express mention of it here. This consideration forbids our giving, with Hilgenfeld and Lichtenstein, to the statement of time an onward reference to the incident next mentioned, the finding by Andrew of his brother Simon. Brückner, too, imports something that is foreign into this statement of time, when he says that it indicates, in close connection with Joh_1:41 ff., how rapidly faith developed itself in these disciples.

[121] There is nothing to indicate whether the place where He was lodging was near or at a distance, although Ewald would infer the latter from the reading ὄψεσθε.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Joh 1:37 . καὶ ἤκουσαν … τῷ Ἰησοῦ . “And the two disciples heard him speaking” possibly implying that the day before they had not heard him “and they followed Jesus”; the Baptist does not bid them follow, but they feel that attraction which so often since has been felt.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In this first gathering of the disciples we have shown unto us, that the beginning of salvation is from God, who calleth us unto his Son by the ministry of his servants: whom (so preventing us) we must also hear, and follow him home, that being instructed by him, we may also instruct others.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 37. And the two disciples heard him] And they perfectly understood their master's meaning; in consequence of which, they followed Jesus. Happy they who, on hearing of the salvation of Christ, immediately attach themselves to its author! Delays are always dangerous; and, in this case, often fatal. Reader! hast thou ever had Christ as a sacrifice for thy sin pointed out unto thee? If so, hast thou followed him? If not, thou art not in the way to the kingdom of God. Lose not another moment! Eternity is at hand! and thou art not prepared to meet thy God. Pray that he may alarm thy conscience, and stir up thy soul to seek till thou have found.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(37) The disciples understand the words as the teacher meant them. There is no word cutting the link between himself and them; that would have been hard to speak, hard to hear. There is no word bidding them follow Jesus; that cannot be needed.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. heard him speak] Although the declaration had not been addressed to them in particular.

they followed Jesus] The first beginning of the Christian Church. But we are not to understand that they have already determined to become His disciples.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the two disciples heard him speak,.... The above words, and took notice of them; faith in Christ came by hearing them; they reached their hearts, and they found their affections, and the desires of their souls, to be after Christ:

and they followed Jesus; left their master, and went after him, in order to get some acquaintance with him, and receive some instructions from him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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

Ver. 37. And they followed Jesus] So powerful is a word or two (many times) touching Christ and his cross to change the heart. Paul showeth that the very report of his bonds did a great deal of good in Caesar’s court, Php 1:13. Bilney’s confession converted Latimer. Galeacius Caracciolus (that Italian marquis) was wrought upon by a similitude used by Peter Martyr, reading on the 1st Epist. to the Corinthians. So were Earl Martinengus and Hieronymus Zanchius (both of them Canonici Lateranenses) by some seasonable truth falling from the same mouth. Luther having heard Staupicius say that it is kind repentance which begins from the love of God, ever after that time the practice of repentance was sweeter to him. Also this speech of his took well with Luther, "The doctrine of predestination begins at the wounds of Christ." (Melch. Adam. in Vita Luther.)

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They followed Jesus - They had been the disciples of John. his office was to point out the Messiah. When that was done, they left at once their master and teacher, John. and followed the long-expected Messiah. This shows that John was sincere; that he was not desirous of forming a party or of building up a sect; that he was willing that all those whom he had attracted to himself by his ministry should become followers of Christ. The object of ministers should not be to build up their own interests or to extend their own fame. It is to point men to the Saviour. Ministers, however popular or successful, should be willing that their disciples should look to Christ rather than to them; nay, should forget them and look away from them, to tread in the footsteps of the Son of God; and the conduct of these disciples shows us that we should forsake all and follow Jesus when he is pointed out to us as the Messiah. We should not delay nor debate the matter, but leave at once all our old teachers, guides and companions, and follow the Lamb of God. And we should do that, too, though “to the world” the Lord Jesus may appear, as he did to the multitude of the Jews, as poor, unknown, and despised. Reader, have you left all and followed him? Have you forsaken the guides of false philosophy and deceit, of sin and infidelity, and committed yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

God blessed the verbal testimony that John had given so far, that they stood in no need of any miracle to confirm it, but upon their hearing John

speak, they followed Jesus: as yet, not as his apostles; for their call to that office was afterward (as we shall hear); nor yet, so as no more to depart from him: but there was created in them a further desire of knowledge of him and acquaintance with him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed became followers ofJesus. This event, if not profoundly symbolic (as Godet says), is typical of the whole process which has gone on in augmenting rapidity from that day to this. If Jesus were what John said, if they were able on his showing to grasp this much concerning the Lord, they would find in him what John could never be to them. John might awaken the sense of sin, peril, shame, and fear; he had no power to allay it. The lonely Christ has as yet not called one disciple into his fellowship, but as Lamb of God he has power to draw all men to himself. The word now spoken was enough. It divided the bond which up to this time had united the disciples to John, and made them conspicuous forever in the group which "follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." "Primae origines ecclcsiae Christianae" (Bengel).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They followed Jesus - They walked after him, but had not the courage to speak to him.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This latter part of the chapter acquaints us with the calling of five disciples; not to the apostleship, for that was afterwards; nor yet simply by conversion, for some of them were John’s disciples already, and believed in the Messiah to come; but they are here called to own and acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the true and promsied Messiah.

The disciples here called were Andrew, Peter, and Philip, mean and obscure persons, poor fishermen, not any of the learned rabbies and doctors among the Jews. Hereby Christ showed at once the freeness of his grace, in passing by the knowing men of the age; the greatness of his power, who by such weak instruments could effect such mighty things; and the glory of his wisdom, in choosing such instruments as should not carry away the glory of the work from him; but cause the entire honour and glory of all their great successes to redound to Christ. As Christ can do, so he chooses to do, great things by weak means, knowing the weakness of the instrument redounds to the greater honour of the ages; for these persons now called to be disciples, were afterwards sent forth by Christ as his apostles, to convert the world to Christianity.

Observe farther, The order according to which the disciples were called: first, Andrew, then Peter; (which may make the church of Rome ashamed of the weakness of their argument for Peter’s supremacy, that he was first called; whereas Andrew was before him, and Peter was brought to Jesus by him.) Andrew findeth his own brother Simon, and brought him to Jesus. Such as have gotten any knowledge of Christ themselves, and are let into acquaintance with him, will be very diligent to invite and industrious to bring in, others to him. Peter being brought to Christ, our Saviour names him Cephas, which signifies a stone, a rock; to intimate to him his duty to be firm and steady in the Christian profession, full of courage and constancy. Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

tenth hour

"hour 10." This phrase indicates a time in the afternoon, before dark, at which it would be too late to start traveling to another town, possibly around 4 p.m.

translationWords

Rabbi

teacher

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

37. ἤκουσαν. Although they had not been specially addressed.

ἠκολούθησαν. The first beginning of the Christian Church. But we are not to understand that they had already determined to become His disciples.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37.] We must not understand ἠκολ. in the narrower sense which it bears when they left all and followed Him; but here only of mechanical going after Him, βουλόμενοι πεῖραν λαβεῖν αὐτοῦ, Euthym.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

37. אB place αὐτοῦ after μαθηταί, but αὐτοῦ comes first in C*LTb 33, and even before οἱ δύο in AC3NΓΔΘW.

The two disciples heard John’s words, and heard them with understanding and appreciation, for such (see on 3:8) is the force in Jn. Of ἀκούειν followed by a genitive.

καὶ ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, “and went after Jesus.” Here was no decision to follow Him throughout His ministry and attach themselves to His Person, for the aorist only indicates their action at one definite moment. Jesus had not “called” them, or invited them to be His companions and disciples (cf. Mar 1:17 and parallels); nor were they constrained to go after Him by anything that they had seen Him do, John’s striking and repeated designation of Him as the Expected One arrested their attention, and His own Personality did the rest.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 37. “And the two disciples heard him speak thus, and they followed Jesus.”

John’s word, which was an exclamation, was understood. It is very evident that, in the thought of the evangelist, these words: “And they followed Jesus,” conceal, under their literal sense, a richer meaning. This first step in following Jesus decided their whole life; the bond, apparently accidental, which was formed at that hour, was, in reality, an eternal bond.

The Testimonies of the Forerunner.

We have still to examine three questions which criticism has raised in regard to these testimonies.

I. Baur and Keim maintain that the narrative of the fourth Gospel denies, by its silence, the fact of the Baptism of Jesus by John; and this for the dogmatic reason, that it would have been contrary to the dignity of the Logos to receive the Holy Spirit.— Hilgenfeld himself rejects this view (Einl. pp. 702 and 719): “The baptism of Jesus,” he says, “is supposed, not related.” The second testimony of John Joh 1:31 f., mentions it as an accomplished fact, and Joh 1:32-33 imply it, since their meaning can only be this: “Among the Israelites who shall come to thy baptism, there shall be found one on whom, when thou shalt baptize him, thou shalt see the Spirit descend....” Holtzmann has recognized the indisputable bearing of this passage. But if the fact is not related, it is simply, because, as we have discovered, the starting point of the narrative is chosen subsequently to the baptism. If the Logos-theory in our Gospel were to play the part which, in this case, Baur and Keim attribute to it, it would exclude from the history of Jesus many other facts which are related at full length by our evangelist.

II. It has been regarded as inconceivable, that, after such a sign and such declarations, the Baptist could have addressed to Jesus, from the depths of his prison, this question: “Art thou he that should come, or are we to look for another” (Mat 11:3)? Strauss has derived from this proceeding of John, a ground for denying the whole scene of the baptism. Some of the Fathers supposed that the forerunner wished thereby only to strengthen the faith of his disciples by calling forth a positive declaration, on Jesus’ part, respecting His Messianic character. But the terms of the Synoptical account do not allow this meaning. Two circumstances may be alleged which must have exercised an unfavorable influence upon John’s faith; first, his imprisonment (Meyer), then the malevolent disposition of his disciples with regard to Jesus (Joh 3:26), which might have reacted at length on the already depressed spirit of their master.

These two circumstances undoubtedly prepared the way for the shaking of faith produced in John; but they cannot suffice to explain it; we must add, withBaumlein, the fact that there was in John, besides the prophet, the natural man who was by no means secure from falling. This is what Jesus gives us to understand when, in His reply, He said, evidently thinking of John: “Blessed is he who is not offended in me” (Mat 11:6 comp. with Joh 1:11). Lucke has explained this fall by the striking contrast between the expectation, which John had expressed, of a powerful and judicial activity of the Messiah in order to purify the theocracy, and the humble and patient labor of Jesus. A comparison of the reply of the latter to the messengers of John (Mat 11:4-6) with the proclamations of John (Mat 3:10; Mat 3:12) is enough to convince us of the justice of this observation. But to all this we must still add a last and more decisive fact. It is this: John did not for an instant doubt concerning the divine mission of Jesus and concerning this mission as higher than his own. This follows, first, from the fact that it is to Jesus Himself that he addresses himself in order to be enlightened, and then, from the very meaning of his question: “Art thou he that should come or are we to look for another (literally, a second)?” We must recall to mind here the prevailing doubt, at that time, in relation to the prophet, like to Moses, whose coming was to prepare the way for that of the Messiah (according to Deu 18:18). Some identified him with the Messiah himself; comp. Joh 6:14-15 : “It is of a truth the prophet....They were going to take him by force, tomake him king.” Others, on the contrary, distinguished this prophet par excellence, from the Messiah properly so-called; comp. Joh 7:40-41.

They attributed, probably, to the first of these personages the spiritual side of the expected transformation, and to the Messiah, as King descended from David, the political side of this renovation. John the Baptist had, at first, united these two offices in the single person of Jesus. But learning in his prison that the work of Jesus limited itself to working miracles of healing, to giving forth the preachings of a purely prophetic character, he asks himself whether this anointed one of the Holy Spirit would not have as His part in the Messianic work only the spiritual office, and whether the political restoration and the outward judgment announced by him would not be devolved upon a subsequent messenger; to the divine prophet, the work of pardon and regeneration; to the King of a Davidic race, the acts of power which were destined to realize the external triumph of the Kingdom of God.

This is precisely what the form of the question in Matthew expresses: ἕτερον, not ἄλλον : a second (Messiah); not: another(as Messiah): this expression really ascribes to Jesus the Messianic character, only not exclusively. At the foundation, this distinction which was floating before the eyes of the Baptist had in it nothing erroneous. It answers quite simply to the two offices of Jesus, at His first and second coming. At the first coming, pardon and the Spirit; at the second, judgment and royalty. The Jewish learned men were led by the apparently contradictory prophecies of the Old Testament, to an analogous distinction. Buxtorf (Lexic. Chaldaic. p. 1273) and Eisenmenger (Entdeckt, Judenth. pp. 744f.) cite a mass of rabbinical passages which distinguish two Messiahs,—the one, whom they call the son of Joseph, or of Ephraim, to whom they ascribe the humiliations foretold respecting the Messiah; the other, whom they name the son of David, to whom they apply the prophecies of glory. The first will make war, and will perish; for him the sufferings; the second will raise the first to life again and will live eternally. “Those who shall escape from the sword of the first, will fall under that of the second.” “The one shall not bear envy against the other, juxta fidem nostram,” says Jarchi (ad. Jes. 11.13). These last words attest the high antiquity of this idea.

III. Renan (Vie de Jesus, pp. 108f.) draws a poetic picture of the relation between “these two young enthusiasts, full of the same hopes and the same hates, who were able to make common cause and mutually to support each other.” He describes Jesus arriving from Galilee with “a little school already formed,” and John fully welcoming “this swarm of young Galileans,” even though they do not attach themselves to him but form a separate band around Jesus. “We have not many examples, it is true,” observes Renan, “of the head of a school eagerly welcoming the one who is to succeed him;” but is not youth capable of all self-abnegations? Behold the romance: the history shows us Jesus arriving alone and receiving from John himself these young Galileans who are for the future to accompany Him. We can understand how there is in this story a troublesome fact for those who are unwilling to explain the history except by natural causes.

The manner in which John the Baptist, at the height of his ascendant and his glory, throws himself immediately and voluntarily into the shade that he may leave the field free for one younger than himself, who until then was completely obscure, cannot be explained by the natural generosity of youth. Conscious, as he was, of the divinity of his mission, John could not thus retire into the shade except before a divine demonstration of the higher mission of Jesus. The conduct of John the Baptist, as attested by our four evangelists, remains for the historian, who does not recognize here the work of God, an insoluble problem. Before closing, one word more on a fancy of Keim. This scholar alleges (I., p 525) that, in opposition to the Synoptical account (comp. especially Luk 3:21), our Gospel makes Jesus the first of all the people to come to the baptism of John. Where do we find in John’s narrative a word which justifies this assertion? But: sic volo, sic jubeo!

IV. We are now able to embrace the Messianic testimony of the Baptist in its totality. First, the calling of the people to repentance and baptism, with the vague announcement of the nearness of the Messiah. He comes! (See the Synoptics.) Then, the three days which form the beginning of the narrative of John: He is present! Behold Him! Follow Him! Finally, the last summons: Woe unto you, if you refuse to follow Him! (Joh 3:28-36.) This totality is so much the more remarkable as the particular elements of it are scattered in several writings and different narratives.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.