Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From JOHN #3 - 1:35-51)
C. 1:35-51 JESUS MIRACULOUSLY CALLS DISCIPLES
1. 1:35-42 JESUS' FIRST DISCIPLES COME FROM JOHN
a. 1:35-36 JOHN INTRODUCES JESUS AS THE LAMB OF GOD
TeePAUri-on PAlin hiSTEkei IoAnes, kai ek ton ma-theTON auTOU DUo;
Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples;
kai emBLEpsas to IeSOU pe-ri-paTOUNti, LEgei, Ide, ho amNOS [286]tou TheOU!
36 and he looked upon :Jesus as he walked, andsaid, See, the Lamb of :God!
b. 1:37 And the two :disciples heard him speak and followed :Jesus.
kai Ekou-san hoi DUo ma-theTAI auTOU laLOUNtos kai e-koLOUthe-san toIeSOU.
c. 1:38a And :Jesus turned, and saw them following, andsaid to them, What do you seek?
straPHEIS de ho IeSOUS, kai the-aSAme-nos [2300] auTOUS a-ko-louTHOUNtas, LEgei auTOIS, Ti zeTEIte?
d. 1:38b And they said to him, Rabbi (which is to say, interpreted, Teacher), where do you stay?
hoi de EIpan auTO, 'RabBEI [4461], (ho LEge-tai, me-ther-me-neuOme-non [3326], DiDAska-le), pou MEneis?
e. 1:39a He said to them, Come, and you shall see.
LEgei auTOIS, ERches-the, kai Opses-the [3700].
f. 1:39b THEY VISIT WITH HIM THERE FOR THE DAY
ELthan oun kai EIdan pou MEnei;
They came therefore and saw where he stayed;
kai par' auTO Emei-nan ten heMEran eKEInen: HOra en hos deKAte.
and they stayed with him that :day: the hour was about the tenth.
g. 1:40 ANDREW, SIMON PETER'S BROTHER, WAS ONE OF THEM
en AnDREas, ho a-delPHOS SImo-nos PEtrou, heis ek ton DUo
One of the two that heard itfrom John and followed him,
ton a-kouSANton paRA IoAnou kai a-ko-lou-theSANton auTO.
was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.
h. 1:41 ANDREW REPORTS TO PETER THEIR FIND
heuRIskei HOUtos PROton ton a-delPHON ton Idi-on SImo-na, kai LEgei auTO,
HE found first his:own :brother Simon, and said to him,
HeuREka-men ton MesSIan [3323] (HO es-tin, me-ther-me-neuOme-non, ChrisTOS [5547]).
We have found the Messiah (which is, interpreted, Christ).
i. 1:42a He brought him unto :Jesus. Ega-gen auTON pros ton IeSOUN.
j. 1:42b JESUS SURNAMES SIMON
emBLEpsas auTO ho IeSOUS, EIpen, Su ei SImon ho huiOS IoAnou:
:Jesus looked at him, andsaid, You are Simon the son of John:
su kleTHEse [2563] KePHAS [2786] (ho er-meNEUe-tai, PEtros [4074]).
you shall be called Cephas (which is, by interpretation, Peter).
2. 1:43-51 PHILIP AND NATHANAEL CALLED
a. 1:43 JESUS CALLS PHILIP
Te ePAUri-on eTHEle-sen e-xelTHEIN eis ten Ga-liLAIan,
On the morrow he wished to go forth into :Galilee,
kai heuRIskei PHIlip-pon: kai LEgei auTO ho IeSOUS, A-koLOUthei [190] moi.
and he found Philip: and :Jesus said to him, Follow me.
b. 1:44 Now :Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.
en de ho PHIlip-pos aPO Beth-saiDA, ek tes POle-os AnDREou kai PEtrou.
c. 1:45 SIGHT OF JESUS: A SOURCE OF JOY
heuRIskei PHIlip-pos ton Na-tha-naEL, kai LEgei auTO,
Philip found :Nathanael, and said to him,
Hon Egra-psen Mo-eSES en to NOmo, kai hoi proPHEtai,
We have found him, of whom wrote Moses in the law,
heuREka-men, IeSOUN huiON tou IoSEPH, ton aPO Na-zaRET.
and the prophets, Jesus the oneof Nazareth, son of :Joseph.
d. 1:46a And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth?
kai EIpen auTO Na-tha-naEL, Ek Na-zaRET DUnaTAI ti a-gaTHON EInai?
e. 1:46b :Philip said to him, Come and see. LEgei auTOho PHIlip-pos, ERchou kai Ide.
f. 1:47 AN ISRAELITE INDEED
EIden IeSOUS ton Na-tha-naEL erCHOme-non pros auTON, kai LEgei peRI auTOU,
Jesus saw Nathanael coming unto him, and said of him,
Ide, a-leTHOS [230] Is-ra-eLEItes [2475], en ho DOlos [1388] ouk es-tin!
See, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
g. 1:48a Nathanael said to him, From where do you know me?
LEgei auTONa-tha-naEL, POthen me giNOskeis?
h. 1:48b JESUS REVEALS TO NATHANAEL HIS OMNISCIENCE
a-peKRIthe IeSOUS kai EIpen auTO, Pro TOU se PHIlip-pon phoNEsai,
Jesus answered andsaid to him, Before Philip called you,
ONta huPO ten suKEN, EI-DON se.
when you were under the fig tree [4808], I saw you.
i. 1:49 Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, YOU are the Son of :God; YOU are King of :Israel.
a-peKRIthe auTO Na-tha-naEL, 'RabBEI, su ei ho huiOS tou TheOU; su ba-siLEUS ei tou Is-raEL [2474].
j. 1:50 JESUS FORETELLS YET GREATER REVELATION
a-peKRIthe IeSOUS kai EIpen auTO, HOti EI-PON soi HOti eiDON se hu-poKAto tes suKES,
:Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you that I saw you underneath the fig tree,
piSTEUeis? MEIzo [3187] TOUton Opse.
do you believe? you shall see greater thingsthan these.
k. 1:51 JESUS DETAILS ANGELIC REVELATION
kai LEgei auTO, A-MEN, aMEN, LEgo huMIN,
And he said to him, Amen, Amen, I say unto you,
Opses-the ton ou-raNON a-ne-oGOta [455], kai tous anGElous [32] tou TheOU
You shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of :God
a-naBAInon-tas [305] kai ka-taBAInon-tas [2597] ePI ton huiON tou anTHROpou.
ascending and descending upon the Son of :man.
NOTE: 1:35-42. Again, see the marvelous spirit of John. When he pointed out to two of his disciples who Jesus really was, he foreknew the strong possibility that they would leave him, and follow Jesusto become His disciples. That is generally speaking notthe spirit of Christian leaders today. There is always the fear that the members and attendees we have may be attracted by another - to leave and join this other. But John knew the will of God for himself and for Jesus, and he gladlysubmitted to this will.
And did this very thing happen? Yes - Andrew as one of the two - indeed left John, and immediately did his part in adding to the disciples of Jesus by inviting his brother Simon to meet Him.
Notice the working of revelation and the word of knowledge through Jesus in giving Simon the surname Peter. Jesus saw the potential character development of Peter after three years, and how he would become apostle of the circumcision, just as He was to call Paul as apostle of the uncircumcision (Gentiles).
1:43-51. In this subdivision Jesus calls Philip from the Galilee area to be one of His disciples. And then immediately Philip finds Nathanael, and like Andrew did for his brother, Philip invites Nathanael to come and meet Jesus, who Philip believed was the One Moses prophesied was to came as the New Covenant!
But Nazareth had the reputation of being worthless, just as some of our cities do today. Yet Philip in wisdom merely repeated his invitation - “Come and see!” - Find out for yourself. The woman of Samaria later on did the same thing for her fellow-villagers at Sychar.
Today, Jesus is not on earth - but His Spirit, the Holy Spirit - is in us; and through Him people can be introduced to Jesus. We can be just like Andrew and Philip, and be so convinced of the wonder and reality of Jesus, that we too can effectively introduce Him to many.
Personal, passionate devotion to Jesus on our part, is the necessary ingredient to introduce others to Him. Normally, new converts and true disciples are so in love with Jesus, that they quickly introduce family and friends to this wonderful new Friend! Unfortunately, we then become like the church of Ephesus (Revelation 2), and losethat first love. O, may we then immediately seek Him in repentance and fasting and prayer, until that first love is completely renewed. Then this portion of scripture above can remain a reality in each one of our lives till our Home-call - or - His coming again. J.A.W.