Do not forget John's purpose in writing this gospel: "But these are written, they ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name" (20:21). Ask yourself, how does this narrative help reinforce this idea?
Simon and Andrew (Vv. 35-42)
Vv. 35-37. The events that have been recorded so far have occurred one day after the other. The first day was filled with the questioning of John the Baptist. The second day was John the Baptist baring record that Jesus is the "Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." This passage starts by stating, "Again the next day," making this the third day in a row.
John the Baptist saw Jesus again and said the same thing that he said the previous day, "Behold the Lamb of God."
It seems logical and at the same time, it seems strange to have the disciples of John the Baptist leave and follow Jesus. It seems strange because most teachers would not want to lose a student. It seems logical because John the Baptist was teaching that Jesus was greater than him. The disciples of John probably understood very well, if Jesus is greater than John, then why should I follow John when I can follow Jesus? The disciples are correctly understanding that Jesus was something that was greater John and we will see that they understand who Jesus was but not quite what Jesus had come to do.
Vv. 38-39. It states that Jesus asked the disciples that just started to follow Him, "What seek ye?" Not much is known as to what Jesus meant by asking this question. He could have been meaning it very broad sense, e.g. "Why are you following Me?"
The disciples already started calling Jesus Rabbi. The author states that calling a person Rabbi was the same as calling a person Master.
The answer to Jesus's question does not seem straightforward. They respond by saying Perhaps they were asking to see if they could sit down and meet in private so they could talk.
Jesus then invites the disciples to the place that He was staying at the time. This must have been somewhere in the vicinity of where John was baptizing.
The understanding from this verse is that the disciples stayed the night with Jesus. The author makes note of the time of the day. If the author was using a Jewish method of keeping time, then the time would have been 4 p.m. The Jews measure time from sunrise to sunset. Some argue that John was using the Romans method of keeping time which the hours would have started at midnight. However, the Romans only typically used this method for formal documents. When it came to the telling of time, it was a similar method in comparison to the Jewish method. There were many sundials that were found where VI was in the noon position. This probably meant that it was too late in the day for the disciples to bother with trying to make the trip back to where they were previously lodging before dark.
Vv. 40-42. One of the disciples that was John the Baptist and was now following Jesus was named Andrew. The name of the other disciple is never mentioned. It is an educated guess that the unnamed disciple was the author of this Gospel. Andrew is not mentioned again until the feeding of the five thousand in 6:8-9 and then again for the last time at the triumphal entry in 12:22. In the Gospel of Mark, Andrew asked Jesus about His prophecy concerning the temple. All we know about Andrew is that he was the brother of Simon Peter and was a fisherman by trade. He is listed in every list of the twelve disciple, including the one in Acts 1.
What is most important is what Andrew says to his brother Simon about Jesus. Andrew said that, "We have found the Messiah." Andrew believed John the Baptist's message that Jesus was the Christ.
Andrew does not just claim that he found the Messiah, but he also leads Simon Peter to the Messiah. Andrew leads Simon to the truth. Come and see that what we say is true.
When Jesus meets Simon for the first time, Jesus gives Simon the name "Cephas," which means stone. The word Cephas is Aramaic. Peter is the same name but in Greek. His original name is Simon who is also the son of Jona. The author probably refers to Simon Barjona as Simon Peter from this point forward in the Gospel so we do not get him confused with Simon the zealot.
One must take notice that there is another account of the calling of Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John (Matt. 4:18-23; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5. 1-11). The account given here in John does not conflict with the synoptic accounts. This account in John happens before the accounts in the synoptic Gospels. In John 3:22-36, John the Baptist and Jesus's disciples are baptizing people together. In Matthew 4:12 it states that, "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee." Then it talks of how Jesus started His ministry in Galilee and then He called the four disciples to leave their nets behind.
So the order of events are: Jesus is baptized near Bethany in Judea • Jesus is tested in the wilderness • John the Baptist call Jesus the Lamb of God • Peter and Andrew meet Jesus • Jesus travels to Galilee, finds Philip and Nathanael • Wedding at Cana in Galilee • Overthrows temple the first time in Jerusalem • Meets Nicodemus • John and Jesus work together (3:22-36) • John the Baptist is imprisoned; Jesus starts traveling to Galilee • Jesus meets the Samaritan woman • Jesus calls the four to leave their nets behind at Galilee. There are a few other events that listed but this is the information that is needed in order to see that the synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John do not conflict with each other.
Philip and Nathanael (Vv. 43-51)
Vv. 43-44. Again, John is accounting events that happened on days that were back to back. Jesus leaves the area outside of Bethany and travels to Galilee. There is no explanation given here as to how but Jesus finds Philip and commands Philip to follow Him.
Philip, Andrew and Simon Peter are all from Bethsaida, which is a city on the northeast coast on the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus will later tell them to leave there nets behind. They may have all retreated to their hometown after John the Baptist was imprisoned.
There is not much known about Philip either. He later asked Jesus to show him the Father so that might believe (14:8-9).
Vv. 45-46. Philip went and found Nathanael. Nathanael is never mentioned in the synoptic Gospels but Bartholomew is never mentioned in John's Gospel. Bartholomew means son of Tolmai and is therefore not a name. They are usually listed together in the synoptics (Luke 6:14). Therefore it would make sense that Philip and Bartholomew were the same person.
Again, the importance in this section is what the new disciple, Philip, is saying about Jesus. Philip told Nathanael that they had found the one that Moses and the prophets did write about. This is a reference to the passage that was discussed earlier in Deuteronomy 18:15. Philip also mentions that Jesus came from Nazareth and was the son of Joseph.
Nathanael's response is interesting. There must have been some sort reputation for the city of Nazareth. It would be the same if I said that there came a great football/baseball player out of Tidioute. The response would be, "How can a good baseball player come out of Tidioute? We are not a baseball town. There is no minor league here."
Just as Andrew did with Simon Peter, Philip invites Nathanael to meet Jesus.
Vv. 47-51. There is a lot that happens in this conversation between Jesus and Nathanael that is confusing. Jesus named Simon Peter when he came. This time Jesus calls Nathanael a man without guile. This is actually to say that there is no deception or no Jacob. Jacob's name meant deceiver.
Perhaps it would be best to understand that Jesus is exercising his ministry as a prophet when He mentions that He saw Nathanael before Philip came to see him. This would best explain why Nathanael was amazed by this when he said, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." This now makes four different people that have said that Jesus is the Christ; John the Baptist, Andrew, Philip and Nathanael.
Jesus simply assures Nathanael that he will witness greater works of God's glory than the one he just witnessed. Jesus states that Nathanael will "see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." This is an allusion back to Jacob's dream the night that he first fled from his brother Esau. Nathanael was a man that was not a Jacob but Jacob did get see angels and ascending and descending. Now Nathanael will get to see something greater – the Son of Man.
The Son of Man is a title that Jesus gives Himself. This title probably came from Daniel 7:13-14. Jesus uses this term very frequently and is meant to be associated with His access to heaven while at the same time to His incarnation. This is something that will be seen numerous times the Gospel of John. This was also a reference to the fact that people from all nations will be part of His kingdom.
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