Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 1:41

"He findeth first his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, Christ)." — John 1:41 (ASV)

Andrew’s testimony shows that the interview of the preceding hours was related to Jewish hopes and to Jesus’ character. The statement “We have found the Messiah” does not necessarily imply an explicit claim by Jesus, but it does indicate that Andrew regarded Jesus as the candidate for that title. The expectation of a national deliverer was widespread in Judaism in the first third of the first century A. D. Probably all the disciples expected that Jesus would fulfill their hopes for an independent kingdom; those who joined him anticipated they would have political power (cf. Mark 10:28, 35–45). 42 The introduction of Peter to Jesus was brief but direct. The simple pronouncement Jesus made in this verse was really a diagnosis of Peter’s personality. Simon, or Simeon (cf. Acts 15:14), was the name of Jacob’s second oldest son (Genesis 29:33), who, with his brother Levi (29:34), had ruthlessly avenged the violation of their sister by one of the Canaanite princes (34:25–31). The rash and impulsive character of Simeon was mirrored in Simon (cf. Jn 18:10). Jesus accepted Simon as he was but promised that he should become “Cephas,” an Aramaic name, which, like the Greek “Peter,” means “a rock.” 43–45 Whereas the first disciples were introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist or by one of the other disciples, Jesus took the initiative in calling Philip. He, like Andrew and Peter, was a Galilean and quite likely a fisherman. The name Bethsaida, his hometown, means “house of fishing.” Like Andrew, Philip found another person, Nathanael, and by his witness brought him to Jesus. The identity of Nathanael is uncertain. Some have equated him with Bartholomew, others with Matthew (see comment on Mk 3:16–19). This man seems to have been a student of the Law, for Philip appealed to him on the basis of the prediction in the Law and the Prophets. Jesus’ phrase “under the fig tree” (v.48) was used in rabbinic literature to describe meditation on the Law. 46 Nathanael’s response indicates that Nazareth did not enjoy a good reputation in Galilee. Perhaps Nathanael, who came from Bethsaida, looked down on Nazareth as a rival village, either poorer or morally worse than his own. 47–51 Jesus’ comment on Nathanael suggests that the latter had been reading of Jacob’s experience at Bethel (Genesis 28:1–17). Jacob was filled with guile and had been forced to leave home because he had lied to his father and had swindled his brother. If under these circumstances Jacob was eligible for a revelation from God., would not Nathanael be even more worthy of such a blessing? Jesus said that Nathanael was free from “guile” (KJV) and then used the imagery of Jacob’s dream to describe the greater revelation he would give to Nathanael. Jesus implied that he himself would be the medium of that revelation, and his order of the angels’ procedure implies that they rose from earth to heaven with their inquiries and then returned to earth with the answers. His mission is to answer human need and to make sure that the answers are proclaimed. The term “Son of Man” is used here for the first time in John’s gospel (see comments on Mk 8:31).