John 1:41Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Paul also exhorted us not to forsake mutual fellowship. By this we are distinguished from beasts. We build cities, marketplaces, and houses so that we may be together, not only in dwelling, but also in the bond of love.

Our nature was created by the Creator so that it has various needs and is not sufficient for itself. Therefore God arranged that the needs arising from this should be remedied by the benefit flowing from common life.

For this reason marriage was also established. What is lacking in one is supplied by the other. Thus the needs of nature are met, and although nature was created mortal, it nevertheless preserves immortality for a long time through succession.

I could dwell further on this subject and show how much benefit comes to men from mutual, close, and sincere union. But another matter now lies before us, for the sake of which I began speaking about this.

Andrew, having stayed with Jesus and having learned from Him as much as he could, does not keep this treasure to himself. He hastens and immediately runs to his brother, so that he may share with him the goods he has acquired.

But why did John not say what Christ discussed with them? And how is it evident that they were with Him for this very reason? We have already shown this before, but it can also be learned from the present reading.

Notice what Andrew says to his brother: We have found the Messiah, which means Christ. Do you see how much he shows he learned in a short time?

By this he expresses both the power of the Teacher, who persuaded them of this, and his own zeal, with which they had long cared about it from the beginning.

The very expression, we have found, shows a soul worn with longing to see Christ, awaiting His descent from above, and filled with joy when the object of its expectation appeared. At last it hastened to announce this joyful news to others.

In spiritual matters, to extend a hand to one another is a mark of brotherly love, kinship in friendship, and sincere good will.

Notice also that he speaks of the Messiah with the article added. He did not simply say Messiah, but the expected Messiah. Thus they awaited one Christ, who has nothing in common with others.

That is, with those persons who in Holy Scripture are called anointed ones in the general meaning of the word.

Thus Andrew brings his brother to salvation. This was Peter. In a few words he revealed to him the whole great mystery: We have found Jesus, he says, the treasure hidden in the field.

Or, according to the Gospel parables, we have found the one pearl of great price (Mt 13:44, 46).

Hear how it is said in the Psalm: Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your fellows (Ps 44:8). His fellows are all the saints. But He is uniquely the Holy of Holies, uniquely the Anointed One, uniquely Christ.

He chose, it says, the foolish things of the world, that through them He might put the wise to shame (cf. 1 Cor 1:27).

The one who shows this is either Scripture or the Apostle Andrew, who spoke these words.

But when was this? The Evangelist, precise in determining time in this section, does not note that it was on the next day, as he does in verse 43.

Therefore one may think that Andrew's finding Peter and bringing him to Jesus took place late in the evening of that same day.

Jesus Christ's conversation with Nicodemus in chapter 3 gives grounds for admitting that disciples visited Jesus Christ and conversed with Him at night.

When Andrew returned to Jesus with his brother Simon, Christ looked upon the latter and first called him by name.

From the spirit of the whole narrative in this section, compare verse 47 and following, it seems one must conclude that Christ's knowledge of Andrew's brother's name did not come from a conversation with Andrew about Peter.

Rather, it was a manifestation of omniscience in Christ. Such a miracle was entirely fitting here, since it was meant to give, and undoubtedly did give, support to Peter's faith in Jesus as the Christ.

At the same time Christ gives him another name: Peter, which means stone or rock. Later Christ repeated this name for him and at the same time explained its meaning. See Mt 16:17.

This conclusion is also confirmed by the following considerations. The first three Evangelists say 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, supplemented in his Gospel what the first Evangelists had omitted. He narrates these events, surely not from hearsay, since he speaks of them with such detail and fullness as only an eyewitness could.

Andrew first finds his brother Simon. Therefore, of the two disciples of the Baptist who followed Jesus, Andrew was the first who found his brother, the first of those who found. This word, first, gives grounds for thinking that the other unnamed disciple was second in finding his brother.

If this were not so, the word first would be superfluous and groundlessly used. That, however, cannot be admitted in interpreting John's Gospel. Therefore one may suppose that the other disciple, John, also found his brother James and brought him, like Andrew, to Jesus.

This disciple, out of modesty, may have passed over this event in silence in his Gospel.

Jesus, looking at Simon, gave him another deeply significant name: Cephas, or Peter. Cephas is a Syro-Chaldean word, and Peter is Greek. Both mean stone. Later Jesus Christ explained why He so named Simon.

He said to him: You are Peter, that is, a stone, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it (Mt 16:18).

But they remained with Him for the rest of the day. This showed that their question, Where are You staying, was not the fruit of curiosity. Nor was it a fleeting feeling of love.

The same is indicated by their address, Rabbi. Although they were not yet His disciples and had heard nothing from Him, they already called Him Teacher, says Chrysostom.

It is true that an honorific title can also be the fruit of lifeless courtesy. But the simple hearts of fishermen were unacquainted with that. On the contrary, they listened to Jesus with such love and learned so much about Him that they said, We have found the Messiah.

The calling of Peter to Jesus through his brother Andrew, described by the Evangelist John, is not the same as that spoken of by the Evangelists Matthew and Luke (Mt 4:18 and following; Lk 5:1 and following).

The first calling was in Judea, near the Jordan. There, the Savior calls them while walking by the Sea of Galilee (Mt 4:18; Lk 5:2).

In John, after the calling of Simon, Jesus withdraws from Judea into Galilee and comes to Jerusalem for the feast, while 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 upon him, upon Simon, and said, You are Simon, the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas. As soon as Jesus looked at Simon, He knew both his name and whose son he was. He even knew his future.

Eastern peoples in general, and the Hebrews also, drew names for children from the circumstances accompanying their birth. Thus Jacob did for his children in Gen 30.

They also received names on special occasions, as Joseph did in Egypt (Gen 41:45). The rabbis gave names to disciples according to the qualities noticed in them.

At His first glance at Simon, Christ Jesus knows the qualities of his soul and what must be expected from him in the future. You shall be called Cephas, stone, says Christ.

A decisive and open character, when sanctified by the Holy Spirit, will serve so that others also will be confirmed in the faith by his influence. This is what Christ sees in Simon's future and gives him the corresponding name: Cephas in Syriac, Petros in Greek.

"Christ" also means Anointed. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" (Is 61:1-2).

The Lord Himself was pleased to reveal these prophetic words concerning Himself in the synagogue, indicating that "today this Scripture is fulfilled" (Lk 4:17-21). When Andrew says to his brother, "We have found the Messiah, which is translated, Christ," he confesses that in the Lord Jesus he sees the One sent from God, in whom the promises given by God to the people of Israel are fulfilled.

Simon, Andrew's brother, does not resist his brother's invitation and goes to the Lord, led by Andrew, the first-called Apostle. By His look and by His word the Lord sanctifies the whole future activity of Peter.

The significance of Simon, to whom the Lord gives the name Cephas in Aramaic, that is, stone or rock, petros, is especially explained by the Evangelist Matthew, Mt 16:18, in the Lord's words: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

The Evangelist John does not repeat the accounts of the first Evangelists, but, as we have often noted, supplements them. Here he speaks of Simon's first beholding of the Lord, and of the deeply meaningful name Peter.

The Apostle Peter became a rock not because of the personal firmness of his character, compare his denial, but by the free election of God. Compare Jn 15:16; 1 Cor 1:27-28; Rom 9:11. To Peter belonged his love and devotion to the Lord. But the Lord gave him his strength.

"Simon, Simon," the Lord said to him, "I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (Lk 22:31-32). Immediately after this the Lord foretells that he will deny Him that very night.

Despite this denial, Peter, according to the Lord's word, after receiving the Holy Spirit, stands at the head of Christian preaching. He fearlessly withstands the Jewish rulers and begins the accession of the Gentiles to the Church of Christ. Compare Acts 1:15; 2:14; 3:12-26; 4 and following; 5 and following; 10 and others.

In the Gospel of John, Peter's significance is especially brought forward, although his fall is not passed over in silence. John the Theologian, while everywhere keeping silence about himself, points with special insistence to the meaning of Peter's name, as in the present passage.

He also points to the confession of faith pronounced by Peter on behalf of all the Apostles: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Jn 6:69), and, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn 6:68).

He points, as it were, to Peter's special preeminence before all, for Mary Magdalene runs to him from the Lord's tomb, Jn 20, compare Mk 16:7 and Lk 24:10-12. In the latter passage it is clear that, when the disciples wavered over the report of the Lord's resurrection, Peter alone ran to the tomb, accompanied by John, as is clear from Jn 20:2.

Finally, he points to the special command given by the Lord to Peter in John chapter 21. There, restoring him after his fall, the Lord especially entrusts him with shepherding His flock.

One more thing should be noted concerning verse 41: Andrew "first, protos, found his brother Simon." After this the Gospel speaks exclusively about Simon, who had such great significance. But the word first seems to suggest that Andrew sought and found someone else as well.

Many, among the newer commentators, suppose that besides his brother, Andrew also brought to the Lord John's brother, James the son of Zebedee. Later, together with his brother, James was called from the boat on the lake of Galilee, Mt 4:21; Mk 1:19; Lk 5:10, at the same time as Andrew and Peter, Mt 4:18; Mk 1:16-19; Lk 5:2-11.