Saint John - Chapter 1
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| The calling of Andrew and John. J-J Tissot |
The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples.
[36] Et respiciens Jesum ambulantem, dicit : Ecce agnus Dei.
And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.
[37] Et audierunt eum duo discipuli loquentem, et secuti sunt Jesum.
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
[38] Conversus autem Jesus, et videns eos sequentes se, dicit eis : Quid quaeritis? Qui dixerunt ei : Rabbi ( quod dicitur interpretatum Magister), ubi habitas?
And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: What seek you? Who said to him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
[39] Dicit eis : Venite et videte. Venerunt, et viderunt ubi maneret, et apud eum manserunt die illo : hora autem erat quasi decima.
He saith to them: Come and see. They came, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day: now it was about the tenth hour.
[40] Erat autem Andreas, frater Simonis Petri, unus ex duobus qui audierant a Joanne, et secuti fuerant eum.
And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed him.
[41] Invenit hic primum fratrem suum Simonem, et dicit ei : Invenimus Messiam ( quod est interpretatum Christus)
He findeth first his brother Simon, and saith to him: We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
Notes (from Cornelius A Lapide)
[35] Altera die iterum stabat Joannes, et ex discipulis ejus duo.The next day again John stood, and two of his disciples.
The next day, &c. The Evangelist says that John bare witness to Jesus in three consecutive days that He was the Christ. He did this to make his witness the more sure and solid. The first testimony that he gave was judicial, when he was asked by the messengers of the Jews. This was in the first day. The second he gave on the day following, which was the 2nd of March. The third time was here on the 3rd of March, before his own disciples, that he might cause them to pass from himself to Jesus.
[36] Et respiciens Jesum ambulantem, dicit : Ecce agnus Dei.
And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: Behold the Lamb of God.
And seeing Jesus as he walked, &c. As though he said, “Behold Christ like a spotless Lamb, destined for a victim, that He may be offered to God upon the cross, for the sins of the whole world.” When John spoke thus it was as though he said to his disciples, “Why do you follow me? follow Him who is the Lamb of God, the ransom of the world.”
Here observe the prudence and modesty of John. He does not compel or urge his disciples to follow Christ, but only points Him out to them, that they might the more ardently pursue after so great a good when it was discovered by themselves. Like a man who, when a jewel is being sold for a small price, points out to merchants how great is its worth, and causes them of their own accord to long to purchase it.
[37] Et audierunt eum duo[1] discipuli loquentem, et secuti sunt Jesum.[2]
And the two disciples[1] heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.[2]
And two of his disciples, &c. S. Chrysostom says, “There were indeed others of S. John’s disciples, but they not only did not follow Christ, but were jealous of John’s, their master’s, honour, and preferred him to Christ, as is plain from 3:26.
[1] Two: one of those was Andrew, as appears from verse 40; who the other was is not known. S. Chrysostom asks, “Why is not the name of the other given? Either because it was the writer himself, S. John the Apostle, or because it was a person of no note.” The first idea is the more probable. And what favours the conjecture is that John and James were companions in fishing with Peter and Andrew (Matt. 4), when, shortly after Andrew and Peter, Christ calls John and James. Lastly, the great purity, the virginity, and holiness of S. John the Evangelist seem to have been the result of the teaching, the purity, and holiness of S. John the Baptist.
[2] They followed Jesus: that they might know Him more fully, says Euthymius, and contract a friendship with Him: and if they should experience that advantage, they would follow Him wholly, and be altogether His disciples. For from what follows it is plain they had not given themselves up entirely to Christ, but only desired to make trial of Him.
[38] Conversus autem Jesus, et videns eos sequentes se, dicit eis : Quid quaeritis? Qui dixerunt ei : Rabbi [1] ( quod dicitur interpretatum Magister), ubi habitas?[2]
And Jesus turning, and seeing them following him, saith to them: What seek you? Who said to him, Rabbi,[1] (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?[2]
Jesus turning, &c. What seek ye? It is the voice not of one who is ignorant, but of one who invites, and deals gently with their bashfulness. As S. Cyril says, “He asks what they sought, not as ignorant, for He knew all things as God, but that His question might afford the beginning of conversation.”
[1] Rabbi: Syriac, Rabboni, i.e., our master; Arabic, Rabban, or master. By this expression the disciples honoured Christ, and sought His favour, and intimated that they wished to become His disciples. As Bede saith, “The question itself is an indication of faith: for when they say Rabbi, which means master, they follow and call Him their Master.” And S. Cyril says, “They called Him Master from whom they desired to learn.”
[2] Where dwellest thou? Greek, ποῦ μένεις, i.e., Where remainest thou? For Christ had but a hospice on earth, and no proper habitation or house, according to the words in Matthew: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.” The disciples ask this question, that they may be able to converse privately with Christ in the house, and be instructed by Him in Divine things, and those which pertain to the more perfect life. They show that they wish to become His friends and servants.
[39] Dicit eis : Venite et videte. Venerunt, et viderunt ubi maneret, et apud eum manserunt die illo : hora autem erat quasi decima.
He saith to them: Come and see. They came, and saw where he abode, and they stayed with him that day: now it was about the tenth hour.
He said unto them, Come and see, &c. The tenth hour, i.e., four o’clock in the afternoon, or about two hours before sunset. S. John adds these words, to show both the zeal of Christ, who though night was nigh, would not put them off to the following day, but entered immediately upon the things pertaining to salvation; as also to show the ardent devotion of the disciples to Christ, who, careless about their night’s lodging, had rather spend the night in listening to Christ, than at home in their beds. So Euthymius. For they remained with Him not merely the two hours which were left of daylight, as some suppose, but the whole night. For those two hours were not sufficient to speak about their affairs, and to know Christ. Neither could they have returned to John before nightfall. For, as Cyril says, “It is not fitting that we should speedily be satisfied with Divine things, and leave them.”
Moreover, what great things they heard from Christ, what draughts of piety they drank, what flames of love they felt kindled by Christ those only know who have had experience of them. Wherefore S. Austin exclaims, “How blessed they accounted the day! how blessed the night! Who can tell us the things which they heard from the Lord?” Certainly we may gather what was said from the effect produced: for Andrew was so inflamed with love for Christ that he forthwith strove to gain his brother Peter to Christ, and inflame him with love for Him.
[40] Erat autem Andreas, frater Simonis Petri, unus ex duobus qui audierant a Joanne, et secuti fuerant eum.
And Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who had heard of John, and followed him.
Now one of the two, &c. John inserts this to show in what way Peter, who was to be the prince of the Apostles, and the head of the whole Church, was led to Christ. It was because Andrew, being glad at finding and hearing Christ, brought his own brother Peter, for whom he had a singular love, to Him, that he might make him partaker in so great a good. For this zeal, which burns to make others, especially those nearest to us, partakers with us, and to draw them to God, is a mark and an effect of the Divine Vocation. For as fire kindles fire, so does zeal kindle zeal. Moreover, Peter, as well as Andrew, seems to have been a disciple, or at least a diligent hearer of John the Baptist. Which of the two was the elder is not known. The conversion of Peter is the glory and praise of Andrew.
[41] Invenit hic primum fratrem suum Simonem, et dicit ei : Invenimus Messiam [2] quod est interpretatum Christus)
He findeth first his [1] brother Simon, and saith to him: We have found the Messias,[2] which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
[1] He first findeth, &c.… the Christ, that is, the Anointed, not indued with corporeal anointing, but with spiritual grace, both that of the Hypostatic Union, as well as that grace which was habitual and specially excellent. This last was the grace by which as man He was created by God, and, as it were, consecrated, first a priest, secondly, a teacher, thirdly, a prophet, fourthly, a king, fifthly, a lawgiver, sixthly, the Redeemer of the world. The Greek is τὸν Μεσσίαν, i.e., that Christ, that Anointed One: the one, only, special Prophet, predicted by the rest, whom all were eagerly expecting as the Restorer of Israel. So Euthymius.
[2] We have found the Messiah, whom I and thou are most eagerly expecting. It would seem that both Andrew and Peter, partly from the prophetic oracles, and partly from the testimony of John, were inflamed with the desire of seeing Christ. For, as Bede says, “No one finds but he who seeks: he who saith that he hath found shows that he had been a long while seeking.” Euthymius, following S. Chrysostom, as he is wont, saith, “This is the speech of one who is very glad; We have found Him whom we sought, whom we hoped should come, whom the Scriptures announced.” Andrew, therefore, that he might communicate his great joy at finding Christ, to his brother Peter exclaims, “We have found the Messiah.” Wherefore “they no more returned to S. John,” as S. Chrysostom says, “but were so closely united to Christ, that they undertook John’s office, and themselves preached Christ.”
Hence we learn, morally, that God by His grace meets the longing soul, and so fills it that it may the more desire and thirst for Him. Yea, God is wont first to put this desire of Himself into the soul, that He may thereby prepare the soul for Himself and His gifts, and make it capable of receiving them.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
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