John 1:38Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Perhaps the same would have happened even if He had not asked the question. They would not have ceased following Him and would have come by His footsteps to His dwelling. Why then does He ask them? As I have said, to calm their troubled and unsettled heart and to inspire them with boldness. Meanwhile they expressed their devotion to Christ not only by following Him, but also in the question itself. Though they were not yet His disciples and had heard nothing from Him, they already call Him Teacher. They number themselves among His disciples and show why they followed Him: they wished to hear from Him something profitable. Notice also their good sense. They did not say: teach us doctrines, or something else necessary. What did they say? "Where do You dwell?" As I said above, they wished to speak with Him privately about something, to listen to Him, and to learn from Him. Therefore they do not postpone their intention. They do not say: we will come tomorrow and hear You when You speak in the gathering of the people. Instead they show all their zeal for hearing, so that not even the hour deters them.

They needed to speak with Him not openly, in the presence of many, but privately, about a necessary matter. They are not even the first to ask. Christ Himself leads them to the question. "What do you seek?" He says to them. He asks not because He does not know, for He knows human hearts, but to draw them by the question into expressing their desire. They were probably ashamed and afraid of Jesus after John's testimony that He was more than man. But I beg you, marvel at their good sense. They not only went after Jesus, but also call Him "Rabbi," which means "Teacher," though they had not yet heard anything from Him. Yet because they wished to learn something from Him privately, they ask Him: "Where do You dwell?" For in quiet one can both speak and hear more fittingly.

"They said to Him: Rabbi, where do You dwell?" Those questioned answer with good upbringing, for they already call Him Teacher. By this they clearly express their desire to learn something. Then they wish to know His place of dwelling, so that there they may conveniently speak about what they needed. It seems they did not consider it fitting to discuss great matters in passing. What was said should also serve us as a useful example.

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 the tenth hour corresponds to our four in the afternoon. But John the Evangelist did not write his Gospel for Jews. Living in Ephesus among Greeks and Romans, he counted the hours according to the Roman method, the same as ours. Therefore one must suppose that the two disciples of the Baptist stayed with Jesus until ten o'clock in the evening. This supposition is wholly probable, because it agrees better with the Evangelist's preceding words: "and they stayed with Him that day," meaning the whole day. It was not part of the day, not merely until four in the afternoon, which is the tenth hour by Jewish reckoning.

John wrote his Gospel for believers not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles, who did not know Hebrew. Therefore he explains the Hebrew word, not only here but elsewhere also. "Where do You dwell?" This question shows that they wished to listen to Him more attentively and fully than could be done while walking along the road. It shows a desire to draw near to Him, a desire certainly good-hearted and not deceitful. Therefore the Lord satisfies it, as Chrysostom and Theophylact say.

"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.