seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 1:35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[g]).
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[k] the Son of Man.”
g. John 1:42 Cephas (Aramaic) and Peter (Greek) both mean rock.
h. John 1:50 Or Do you believe … ?
i. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
j. John 1:51 The Greek is plural.
k. John 1:51 Gen. 28:12
This is really the second day of the ministry of Jesus the Messiah. The first day was spent getting Baptized. According to John, on the second and third day Jesus picked up at least four disciples and moved from Judea to Galilee. The Mission has begun.
First some name confusion has to be straightened out. Philip was probably really the disciple named Bartholomew. Sometimes people named Elizabeth are called Betty. Sometimes people named William are called Bill. In this case... the commentaries say that Philip and Bartholomew are probably the same guy, and probably a friend of Andrew and his brother Simon [Peter].
I noted verse 39 says it was "four in the afternoon..." [NIV]. So this is a good place to start sorting out the time differences. According to the Easy English commentary.... the descendants of Jacob [Israel] counted time starting at 6:00 AM where the Romans started their day at Midnight..... so If John was using a Jewish timepiece, they would have arrived about 4 in the afternoon... and spent the rest of the day... and if John was using a Roman timepiece, they would have arrived at the place where Jesus was staying at 10 in the morning. And.... since Jesus had a ministry to get moving and He was leaving for Galilee the next day... my guess is John was using a Jewish timepiece.
I need to go to the second disciple that was with Andrew when Jesus walked by [in the beginning of today's verses]. The commentary says it was John himself. That makes sense.... why would a disciple of John the Baptist..... who has heard John the Baptist say over and over and over again "the Messiah is coming".... not follow Jesus when John pointed him out? If Charlie Daniels came to town and someone pointed him out.... wouldn't we follow Charlie to the free concert? So I figure John the Apostle was with Andrew when John the Baptist pointed to Jesus the Messiah.
So.... I've always wanted to know how the Apostles got to be Apostles.... it got lost down in the weeds while I was doing the chapter by chapter stuff. So.... Andrew and possibly John the Apostle were with John the Baptist when they started following. Andrew brought in his brother Simon [Peter]. Jesus pulled Philip [Bartholomew] into the group on the way to Galilee. Philip found Nathanael and brought him to Jesus.
At the end of the chapter.... Jesus told Nathanael He saw him sitting under a fig tree before Philip spoke to him. The commentary says that Nathanael was one of those who loved to sit under the shade of the fig tree and study God. Nathanael realized that Jesus knew each of them before He chose them.
Jesus was with God when these men were sculpted. God counted the hairs that adorned their heads. Jesus knew that Andrew, Simon [Peter], Philip [Bartholomew], Nathanael and probably John the Apostle were going to be at those locations on those two days so that He could pick them up along His travels.
Jesus was totally human.... doing totally human things.... but He had a Godly task and it requires Godly things. Jesus was totally human.... but He was there when His Human Body was sculpted and He knew all the upgrades. Jesus could remember things others didn't even know.
I also noticed that Jesus wasn't introduced to any of those men by name.....but He knew who they were before they realized who He was. The ministry of Jesus didn't stop for a "getting to know you round robin... tell me your name and something about yourself" sort of meeting. He already knew them.... He had a job to do.
Day three.... and He's moved to Galilee.
