John 1, Part 3

Notes
Transcript
First Disciples Called
First Disciples Called
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples,
36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
What is a disciple? Any person adhering to the beliefs of a particular teacher. So, John was standing with his students - disciples - when he makes the proclamation of who Jesus is again.
The opening scene of this day presents John as standing with two disciples, waiting for the action. This is what happens: Jesus walks by, and John exclaims, Look, here is the Lamb of God! As if programmed, the disciples, upon hearing this, switch from following John to following Jesus. (They were looking for and anticipating Jesus arrival) While John’s primary role is to witness to/about Jesus, he also functions in this Gospel to authorize his disciples to follow Jesus, a point of import in the first century since John’s (the Witness’s) disciples continued as a group, with some living even today in southern Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Jordan.
The standing with John now ends when the two disciples follow Jesus after they hear John’s declarative the Lamb of God. Here is the Gospel’s first catechism in discipleship. Standing (of the disciples) ends, motion begins (James says “Faith without works is”…). With the motion of following, learning also begins. Typical in John’s Gospel, believing and doing are linked. Once following begins, believing shortly follows, as it does in these opening scenes.
Jesus’ direction also changes. Sensing, or even knowing—a key motif in John—there’s "something/someone” following behind him, he turns and sees the two disciples. So Jesus asks them, in his first spoken word in John, What are you looking for? The disciples address Jesus as Rabbi, meaning honored religious teacher, and query, Where are you staying? or literally, Where do you dwell or abide [menō]? Jesus answers, Come and see. They are delighted and do just that, for here potentially could begin—and actually does, as it turns out—the customary rabbi-discipleship relationship, in which “living with” and “learning from” is the model of spiritual formation. They saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. The word remained (menō) matches the last word of verse 38, Where do you live [stay or abide]? This is the second double use of this word in this unit (see vv. 32, 33). It alerts us to one of John’s spiritual motifs and connects to 1:14, where the divine Word comes to dwell among us.
Since the Greek word for remain (menō) is used also in John 15 for branches abiding in the vine, much is packed into these terse sentences. From the first glimpse of discipleship in John, following takes on the distinctive Johannine union with the disciple-believers linked to Jesus, as vine to branch.
Of these two disciples who leave John and join Jesus, Andrew is named and the other is unnamed. Andrew is introduced as Simon Peter’s brother. The unnamed disciple may or may not be the other disciple we meet later in John (18:15; 20:2; cf. 21:2d) and who in 20:2 is identified as the disciple Jesus loved, linking him to the beloved disciple.
In the next scene, John is no longer in the narrative. Andrew finds his brother Simon to declare to him an astounding discovery: We have found the Messiah. Andrew and his partner ask Jesus, Where do you dwell? Given John’s theology on dwelling (1:14; 14:2), this is important. Similarly, remaining with Jesus to see and know him is also a key motif of the Gospel.
The newly declared followers of Jesus dialogue with Jesus. The narrator portrays Andrew as a witness to Jesus. Andrew is the Gospel’s first missionary. Here he does what he will later also do: bring people to Jesus (6:8–9; 12:22). We have found is a fervent testimony to what Andrew discovered by abiding with Jesus for some time. Now is the awesome moment: the long-awaited Messiah, the One anointed by God, has come to us and now may be seen with our eyes and touched with our hands (cf. 1 John 1:1).
Andrew brings his brother to Jesus. Jesus looks intently at this new inquirer and immediately enlists him with a new identification. Although You are Simon Son of John, you are now called Cephas, the Aramaic word (kepha) for the Greek petra, meaning rock. In his Gospel paraphrase, Clarence Jordan identifies Peter as Rock Johnson! A certain irony regarding Peter’s role emerges in John’s Gospel, for it differs from that in the Synoptic Gospels. John’s Gospel is the most explicit in narrating Jesus’ changing Simon’s name to Peter, which signals for him a leading role in Jesus’ mission. While Peter is a leading disciple throughout John’s Gospel, he is subordinated to the beloved disciple, who never receives a proper name but is the model disciple in chapters 13–21. And although Simon is now Peter, a rock, will he be a rock in his following Jesus? Will Peter be truly Peter? With the exception of Simon Peter’s confession in 6:68, Peter’s narrative role as Rock is compromised. The significance of his new name is suspended until 21:15–17, when Jesus again addresses him as Simon, looping back to this, the moment of their first encounter. Only as he is restored in 21:18–19 does it become clear that Peter will truly be a Rock.
Naming or renaming someone carries great significance in Scripture, as OT stories often illustrate: God changes Jacob (meaning “he clutches” his brother’s heel; Burge 2000: 76) to Israel (Gen 32:28). Hosea and Isaiah name their children to signify the prophets’ message to Israel (Hos 1:4–6; Isa 8:3; cf. 7:3). The children’s names disclose the meaning of impending events. Jesus renames Simon to Peter to signify his role in Jesus’ mission, despite his failings.
On this third day, a new community emerges with Jesus as magnet. While Andrew plays a significant role in bringing his brother Simon to Jesus, and Peter is renamed Rock, we learn nothing about the unnamed disciple. The Gospel shrouds his identity and role in mystery. Why does the narrator tease us with this unknown figure? Is this disciple unnamed because he plays an insignificant role in the story, or is this a deliberate gap to arouse suspense for what unfolds later in the Gospel? Is this John’s technique, analogous to Mark’s secrecy: concealing and revealing simultaneously? We may think we know the answer, but the answer may not be exactly what we think! Here begins one of the Gospel’s puzzles.
Philip and Nathanael Called
Philip and Nathanael Called
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
While Days 2 and 3 are not located geographically, Day 4 is. Jesus decides to go to Galilee, the location for the rest of this unit. Jesus takes the initiative to look for more disciples. He finds Philip, who is from Bethsaida (v. 44a), Andrew’s and Peter’s hometown. But it is Jesus, not Andrew, who finds Philip and then tersely calls him, Follow me. Jesus calls only Philip with the standard master-disciple call, “Follow me.” Philip follows and immediately finds another person, Nathanael, to whom Philip dares to say, We have found him about whom Moses in the law and the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth. Swiftly the narrative moves from three to five followers, with Philip the only one whom Jesus himself calls. The other four are the fruit of John’s, Andrew’s, and Philip’s witness. Little wonder that this portion of Scripture is often used, and rightly so, to motivate people to invite friends and neighbors to follow Jesus!
In 1:45 Philip describes Jesus’ most complete earthly credentials in the Gospel. We learn that Jesus comes from Nazareth. And we learn that Jesus is the son of Joseph. This information prepares the reader for narrative comments in 7:27 and 41. Philip’s declaration attests to Jesus’ earthly abode, a key point in assessing this Gospel’s portrait of Jesus, both divine and human (Thompson 1988; contra Käsemann: 44–45). However, the information about Jesus’ paternal father, hometown, and ministry in Galilee is meager compared to that in Matthew and Luke. Rather, to understand that Jesus’ origin is from above—a contested issue in Jesus’ debates with the Jews—is to know Jesus in John. Philip reappears in crucial roles later in the Gospel: expressing concern regarding enough food to feed the multitude of five thousand (6:5–7); receiving the Greeks who want to see Jesus (12:21–22); and saying during Jesus’ farewell, Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied (14:8–9).
Nathanael’s response to Philip is low key, with a dubious inference, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip’s response repeats what Jesus said to the first inquirers from John’s followers, Come and see. The personal encounter, the relational dimension, is all-important in the rabbi-disciple bonding. Jesus’ word about Nathanael, spoken declaratively for all to hear as Nathanael approaches him, totally disarms Nathanael’s skepticism. Jesus’ word astounds: Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit [guile, KJV]! The character description takes on depth and punch as the encounter unfolds and climaxes with an unambiguous allusion to the Jacob story in the OT (v. 51). If Jacob typified cunning guile and deception in relation to his father, brother, and uncle, Nathanael’s character contrasts sharply.
Stunned, Nathanael queries, Where did you get to know me? Jesus replies, I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you. “So what?” our modern mind asks. Under the fig tree may be descriptive of Nathanael’s character, true to the meaning of his name, “gift of God.” The fig tree image in Judaism connotes shalom, meditating on and keeping the law, eschewing evil and doing good (1 Kings 4:25; Mic 4:4; Zech 3:10). Hence Jesus’ seeing Nathanael under the fig tree connotes quality of religious character, exemplary of a true Israelite, one who seeks to see God and do God’s will.
Nathanael rises to the challenge, confessing Jesus to be not only Rabbi, but also Son of God, King of Israel.
One cannot expect these NEW disciples to confess the Christology of the prologue or John’s acclaim of Jesus as Lamb of God. Such would render the account dreadfully artificial, lacking historical credibility.
Nathanael’s confession is authentic, opening the way for Jesus to disclose further his divine identity. If you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, be assured that you will see greater things than these. Jesus then reveals an above perspective to his identity, beginning his declaration with authenticating words, Truly [RSV], truly [Amēn, amēn], … you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
See is an important connective in the transition between verses 47–48 and 50–51. This is John’s form of the sixth beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matt 5:8). Nathanael is without guile or deceit; he is pure in heart. He is a true Israelite. Rabbinic writers took the word Israel to mean “Man seeing God” (’iš ra’eh’el) (O’Neill: 374n1). Thus Nathanael, the true Israelite, sees God (1:18), the very God whom Jesus reveals. Also important, the verb for see (horaō) requires a plural subject. Thus, though addressed to Nathanael, the saying in its full import transcends the immediate dialogue. It is, as it were, opening the door of heaven to all who emulate Nathanael in belief and behavior. The ladder, with angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, marks Jesus as the way to heaven, to God.
To understand the ladder imagery and its significance, read the story of Jacob in Genesis 28:12, 16–19a. Jesus’ word to Nathanael builds upon the imagery of Jacob’s encounter with God as he leaves home and goes off to Ur, the land from which Abraham came. In this context, with his head on a stone for a pillow, Jacob dreams and sees a ladder stretching from earth to heaven, with angels of God ascending and descending on it. In John 1:51, however, Nathanael, representing believers, will see the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. What does it refer to in Genesis 28:12? The ladder? If so, Barrett is right in saying, “For the ladder John substitutes Son of man” (1978: 187). But rabbinic reflection on Genesis 28:12 (in Heb.) took the masculine pronoun ending to refer to Jacob (though the LXX ep’ autēs is feminine) so that the angels went up and down upon him, Jacob. John’s use of the text infers that this Son of Man, indeed Jesus, shuttles between heaven and earth (cf. the Shekinah glory of 1:14; R. Brown 1966: 90).
Numerous other traditions came to be associated with this ladder linking earth and heaven, most notably that the ascending angels take the prayers of the saints to God. The descending angels bring down heavenly manna, as food for Israel in the wilderness and for Jesus to sustain him during his temptations in the wilderness (Mark 1:13; p 83 Matt 4:11)—possibly also when an angel strengthens Jesus in the garden before his arrest (Luke 22:43). Building on the image of the ladder going from the stone (later, altar) to heaven, O’Neill says it well:
John 1:51 has preserved for us an ancient Jewish tradition that taught that the Son of Man would be seen as the altar and the sacrificial victim [but John would not say victim; see later discussion for John 17] on the altar to which the people would come and, as participating in that sacrifice, see the angels taking their prayers to heaven and coming back with gracious answers to their petitions.
Swartley, Willard M. 2013. Believers Church Bible Commentary: John. Edited by Douglas B. Miller and Loren L. Johns. Harrisonburg, VA; Waterloo, ON: Herald Press.