John 1:37Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They followed Christ only because John had foretold concerning Him that He would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Therefore they did not abandon their teacher, but wished to learn whether Christ would give something greater than John. Notice how their zeal was joined with modesty. They did not immediately come and begin questioning Jesus about great and necessary matters. They did not wish to speak with Him openly before everyone, nor in passing and casually, but privately. They knew that their teacher's words expressed not humility alone, but pure truth.

The Baptist did not delay in pointing out the Lord to his disciples and saying a second time, "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." He brought them such benefit that at last he persuaded them to follow and gladly to become disciples of the Savior.

They came and remained with Him. How blessed was the day they spent, how blessed the night! Who could tell us what they then heard from the Lord? Let us also build in our heart and raise up a house where He may come, teach us, and speak with us.

Therefore John's silence in this case about the name of the other disciple gives us full grounds to think that this disciple was John himself, who later became Apostle and Evangelist. This conclusion is also confirmed by the following considerations. The first three Evangelists reported nothing about the embassy from the Sanhedrin, John's testimony before the priests concerning Jesus, or Jesus' calling of the first disciples. The fourth Evangelist, John, supplements in his Gospel what the first Evangelists omitted. Of course, he does not speak of these events from hearsay. He speaks of them so fully and in such detail that only an eyewitness could speak so. Andrew first finds his brother Simon. Therefore, of the two disciples of the Baptist who followed Jesus, Andrew was the first to find his brother, the first among those who found. This word "first" gives grounds to suppose that the other disciple, unnamed, was second to find his brother. If this were not so, the word "first" would be superfluous and used without foundation. This, however, cannot be allowed when interpreting the Gospel of John. Therefore one may suppose that the other disciple, John, also found his brother James and brought him to Jesus, just as Andrew did. In his modesty this disciple could have passed over this event in silence in his Gospel. Jesus, looking at Simon, gave him another, highly significant name: Cephas or Peter. Cephas is a Syro-Chaldaic word, and Peter is Greek. Both, translated, mean "Stone." Later Jesus Christ explained why He had called Simon this. He said to him: "You are Peter," that is, stone, "and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Mt. 16:18).

"And they stayed with Him that day." Whether the disciples wished to follow the Lord everywhere when they asked, "Where do You dwell?" is known to the Searcher of hearts. But they stayed with Him for the rest of the day. This showed that their question, "Where do You dwell?" was neither the fruit of curiosity nor a fleeting movement of love. The same is indicated by their address: "Rabbi." "Not yet being His disciples and having heard nothing from Him, they already call Him Teacher," says Chrysostom. It is true that an honorable title can be the fruit of soulless courtesy. But the simple hearts of fishermen were not acquainted with such courtesy. On the contrary, they listened to Jesus with such love and learned so much about Him that they said: "We have found the Messiah" (v. 41). The calling of Peter to Jesus through his brother Andrew, described by John the Evangelist, is not the same as the calling described by Matthew and Luke (Mt. 4:18 and following; Lk. 5:1 and following). The first calling took place in Judea, near the Jordan. There, however, the Savior calls them while walking by the Sea of Galilee (Mt. 4:18; Lk. 5:2). In John, after calling Simon, Jesus withdraws from Judea into Galilee and comes to Jerusalem for the feast. At that time the Forerunner had not yet been cast into prison (Jn. 2:16; 3:24). In the other Evangelists, before the calling of Peter and Andrew, the imprisonment of the Forerunner is described (Mt. 4:12, 18; Mk. 1:14, 16). "Jesus looked at him," that is, at Simon, "and said: You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas." As soon as Jesus looked at Simon, He knew his name and whose son he was. He even knew his future. Eastern peoples in general, and the Hebrews as well, took names for children from the circumstances accompanying their birth, as Jacob did for his children in Gen. 30. They also took names on special occasions, as Joseph did in Egypt (Gen. 41:45). Rabbis gave names to disciples according to the qualities observed in them. Christ Jesus, at His first glance at Simon, knows the qualities of his soul and what must be expected from him in the future. "You shall be called Cephas," that is, a stone, says Christ. A resolute and open character, when sanctified by the Holy Spirit, will serve so that others also are strengthened in faith through his influence. This is what Christ sees in the future Simon, and He gives him the corresponding name: Cephas in Syriac, Peter in Greek.

He was not the guide of the people. A higher and most holy power drew mankind to itself. John's disciples, having heard his cry and having seen the Lord appear a second time at the Jordan, understand the meaning of John's words. Drawn by their own heart, enlightened at that moment by the Spirit of God, they leave their former teacher and go to the Lord Jesus.

We think that verse 35, "Again John stood, and two of his disciples," means that they were not standing there by chance. In all likelihood, together with the people surrounding them, they stood awaiting the Lord. They probably hoped that the divine, meek image of the Lord Jesus, drawing all to itself by irresistible power, would appear again at the Jordan. Their expectation was justified.

Then John the Baptist, on this second day also, by command of the Spirit of God, repeats the words he had spoken about the Lord the previous day, verse 29: "Behold the Lamb of God!" It may even have been a direct indication to the disciples that from then on they were to follow Him.

This was not an order from John. It was a revelation for the one who, through faith and love, could receive and understand the spoken word, and fulfill what it implied. Two of John's disciples followed the Lord, drawn by grace. Who these disciples were we shall see in verse 40.

The time of the Lord's coming to preach is determined very closely and precisely by the Gospel of John. In chapter 2, from verses 1 to 13, there are two indications. The first is that, three days after these events, there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. The second is that "the Passover of the Jews was near."

The Jewish Passover, as is known, was on the fifteenth day of Nisan, that is, at the full moon of the spring equinoctial month. Our Church celebrates the baptism of the Lord under the name Theophany on January 6. After His baptism the Lord was forty days in the wilderness, and His appearance at the Jordan was probably around March 1.

Then came the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and after that "the Passover of the Jews was near." On the establishment of the celebration of the Christian Pascha, which was never to coincide with the Jewish Passover, and on the dispute over this matter, compare the Canonical Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea of Palestine, book V, chapters 23 and 24. See also The Book of Rules of the Holy Apostles and Holy Councils, published by the Holy Governing Synod, 1862: Rule of the Holy Apostles, section 7, and the decree of the Council of Nicaea in the decrees of the local Council of Antioch, section 1, and others.

We point this out to draw the reader's attention to how the Orthodox Church, holding unchanged and in succession to the customs and reckonings of the most ancient Apostolic Church. Inherited and sacredly preserved with love and reverence in her ecclesiastical statutes the remembrance not only of the events, but also of the exact season of the year in which they occurred.