The next day John was there again with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” 37 The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
The day after John the Baptist (JBap) testified that Jesus is the “Son of God (Jn. 1:34), he saw Jesus walking by and again declared him to be the “Lamb of God (Jn. 1:29; v. 36)”. That was the day the Christian Church began to find its Savior. On hearing what JBap said, two disciples, Andrew and John the son of Zebedee, the disciple Jesus loved, decided to follow Jesus. Jesus being aware of their presence asked them what they were seeking. They asked Jesus where he was staying and Jesus invited them, as he invites all, to “Come and see,” so they went and stayed with him.
The Jewish day was from sunset to sunset the next day. The night was divided into 4 watches, and the day was divided into twelve hours. The length of these hours could vary depending on the time of year. The Evangelist tells us that it was about four in the afternoon when the two disciples went with Jesus. Based on Jewish hospitality in those ancient times, they would most likely have been invited to spend the night with him (Lk. 24:29).
‘Follow me’ was usually the way Jesus called disciples to accompany him in his public ministry (Mt. 4:19). Andrew and the other disciple did not yet know of Jesus’ mission and spent time with him to see what he was about. Afterward, Andrew went and found his brother Simon and told him that they had found the Messiah, the Anointed King of Israel, and brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked intently at Simon (Ps. 139) and changed his name to Cephas which can mean rock in Aramaic. The name Peter is associated with the Greek word "petros" (Πέτρος) which means rock. In this passage, Jesus was called Lamb of God, Rabbi, and Messiah which indicated that they believed Jesus to be the Messiah promised in the Old Testament.
Almighty God, you invite all to “come and see” but most of us are unwilling to leave everything and follow you. The journey from knowledge of Christ to love of Christ is long and arduous, so grant us an abundance of your grace so that we can follow you with our whole heart and be witnesses to your kingdom by our lives. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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