John 1:35-42

1 John 3:7-10

Psalm 98:1, 7-8, 9

John 1:35-42

John was standing with two of his disciples,

and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said,

“Behold, the Lamb of God.”

The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus.

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?”

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.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter,

was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus.

He first found his own brother Simon and told him,

“We have found the Messiah,” which is translated Christ.

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.

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you invite me each day to come and stay with you. That is what I truly desire. I only want to be with you and dwell with you all the days of my life. 

Encountering the Word of God

1. Andrew’s Testimony: In its opening chapter, the Gospel of John narrates the call of the first Apostles. When we first meet Andrew, we learn that he was a follower and disciple of John the Baptist. He left his fishing business and brother, Simon, for a time to go out into the wilderness with John. When John pointed out Jesus, Andrew immediately left John and became a follower of Jesus, the Lamb of God. “After spending the day with Jesus, we are told that Andrew went looking for his brother Simon. Andrew was so excited that, as soon as he saw him, he blurted out, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (Jn 1:41). These are the first words that Christ’s chief Apostle ever heard about Jesus, and they are extremely profound. The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah for over five hundred years, and here comes Andrew saying, ‘We have found the Messiah’” (Gray, Peter, 9). Andrew spent an entire afternoon with Jesus and probably spoke at length about his life, his time with John the Baptist, and his brother Simon.

2. The Hellenistic Influence in Bethsaida: Andrew had a Greek name, and even his brother, Simon, had, as his name, a Greek form of the Jewish name, Simeon. Andrew and Simon were originally from Bethsaida but had their home in Capernaum when Jesus called them. Why did they move from Bethsaida to Capernaum? One hypothesis is that they moved “after Philip the Tetrarch made Bethsaida his capital and dedicated a pagan temple there, naming it Julia in honor of the wife of Caesar Augustus. Having a pagan temple in their village would have been extremely offensive to Peter and Andrew, who were devout Jews” (Gray, Peter, 12). Because of this, they likely moved south to the town of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee and continued their fishing business there. It was providential that some of Jesus’ Apostles had a rudimentary knowledge of Greek as they would be sent out to preach and teach in the name of Jesus to all the nations.

3. Peter the Rock: In the Gospel, Simon was given a new name by Jesus. In Aramaic, this name was “Cephas” and meant “Rock.” In Greek, the name was “Petros,” and this is where we get the English name “Peter” from. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus explains that he will build his Church on Peter, the rock. “Like the kings in the ancient world, Jesus would be a builder who built his house on solid rock. King Solomon, the Old Testament paragon of wisdom, built his Temple on the rock of Mount Moriah, the same rock where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. This Temple built by Solomon would be the center of Jewish worship for the next thousand years. Jesus would build a ‘new temple’ that would define and establish his kingdom and royal authority of his dynasty. Unlike the kings of antiquity, however, Jesus was not going to build on a physical rock in a specific place but on the person of Peter” (Gray, Peter, 68). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, where do you abide? You abide in the tabernacle, and I can visit you. You are in the poor, and I can serve you. You are in the hungry, and I can feed you. You are in hospital, and I can visit you. You are in my heart, and there, I can remain with you.

Living the Word of God: How am I called to use my talents, gifts, and culture to testify to Jesus? How can the examples of Simon and Andrew inspire me?