The Gospel of John Meet and Greet ~ Part 1 John 1:35-51 T HEN THE SPIRIT LED YESHUA up into the wilderness to be tempted by the Adversary. After Yeshua had fasted forty days and nights, he was hungry. The Tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, order these stones to become bread. But he answered, The Tanakh says, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of ADONAI Then the Adversary took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the Temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, jump! For the Tanakh says, He will order his angels to be responsible for you. They will support you with their hands, so that you will not hurt your feet on the stones. Yeshua replied to him, But it also says, Do not put ADONAI your God to the test. Once more, the Adversary took him up to the summit of a very high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, and said to him, All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me. Away with you, Satan! Yeshua told him, For the Tanakh says, Worship ADONAI your God, and serve only him. Then the Adversary let him alone, and angels came and took care of him (Matthew 4:1 11 CJB) VI The Introduced to Christ Verses 35-51 A. The First Three Verses 35-42 1. Andrew 2 Simon Peter 3. Messiah Introduction: Last time we saw Matthew s account of Jesus baptism. The day after He was baptized, John the Immerser introduced Him to the crowd. We saw this when we read The next day, Yochanan saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, Look! God s lamb! The one who is taking away the sin of the world! This is the man I was talking about when I said, After me is coming someone who has come to rank above me, because he existed before me. I myself did not know who he was, but the reason I came immersing with water was so that he might be made known to Isra el. Then Yochanan gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit coming down from heaven like a dove, and remaining on him. I myself did not know who he was, but the one who sent me to immerse in water said to me, The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the one who immerses in the Ruach Hakodesh. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God. (Jo 1:29 34 CJB).
Keep in mind that as we go through John, I will bring in passages from the other gospels so we have a chronological overview of Christ s life. With this in mind, just let me recap again what we are seeing. I also want to note that, first, we can t be dogmatic about every detail of the timeline, and second, John is the chronological Gospel. So 1. The Baptism of Jesus 2. The Temptation of Jesus 3. The Introduction of Jesus And now, the Meet and Greet with Jesus A. The First Three: This is the second day in this sequence. The way to understand this seems to be to not take the next day as referring to a next twenty-four hour period, but the second time John made the announcement, publically, as to who Jesus was. This then allows for the forty days in the wilderness for the temptation to occur between Jesus baptism and this next day. We know who two of the three were. They were Andrew and Simon Peter. We don t know who the third is. The general speculation is it John himself. A few others vote for Phillip because he was frequently seen with Andrew. The actual answer is there is no way to know. So, I ll give a brief biography of Andrew and Simon Peter in a few minutes. But first, back to the text. This time when we rejoin John the Immerser, we see him with two of his disciples. The first is Andrew and the second is the unnamed one. As they are standing there talking, Jesus passes by. John again points to Him, describing Him as the lamb of God. So John s two disciples follow after Jesus. Here the word follow needs to be taken literally. This isn t an account of Him calling them. At this point they are expressing curiosity. For the first time in John s gospel, Jesus speaks. He was aware of being followed. He stopped, turned back and asked them what they wanted. They show Jesus great respect by calling Him Rabbi, which John parenthetically tells us means teacher. The Holman Dictionary notes: RABBI (Ra b bˆä) Title meaning my master, applied to teachers and others of an exalted and revered position. During the NT period the term rabbi came to be more narrowly applied to one learned in the law of Moses, without signifying an official office. In the NT the title rabbi is used in only three of the Gospels. In Matt. 23:7-8 scribes generally are addressed. In John 3:26 John the Baptist is called Rabbi by his disciples. In all other occurrences rabbi and an alternate form rabboni apply to Jesus in direct address (Mark 9:5; 11:21; Mark 14:45, John 1:49; 3:2; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8; 20:16). 1 For now the two men just want to know where Jesus is staying. And He tells them to come and see. John doesn't give us any details as to location, but he does tell us the two stayed with Jesus until late afternoon, 4:00 PM. So they must have joined Him early in the day and spent quite a few hours with Him. 1 Stagg, Robert, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Rabbi, Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN, 2003 ) 48 (
Next John gives us one of his parenthetical statements. He tells us that one of the two was Andrew and that Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter. The fact he names one of the two who followed after Jesus and not the other does seem to support the idea that he was the other and just didn t want to name himself. It would be festinating to know what went on during those hours. Whatever it was it made a huge impact on Andrew. He immediately went looking for his brother, Simon Peter. And as soon as he found him he told Simon that he d found the Messiah, in Hebrew, Christ, in Greek. Here we see the enthusiasm of the new believer who wants to see everyone saved. Andrew quickly took Simon to meet Jesus. And suddenly the action slows down. The Hebrew tells us that Jesus gazed on Simon. The word looked means to look attentively, or to gaze earnestly. I think we d say Jesus gazed deeply into Simon s eyes. Now whether Andrew introduced Simon to Jesus or Jesus knew his name supernaturally, we have no way of knowing. What we do know is, Jesus gave Simon, a prophetic nickname: Cephas, which John notes parenthetically means Peter. Cephas and Peter are from the word for rock in Aramaic and Greek, respectively. 2 And that s all we know of this meeting between Jesus and these three men. John s focus clearly was on Andrew, and possibly more importantly, what was probably the first meeting between Jesus and Peter. 1. Andrew: I want to take the rest of this session to present a brief bio of Andrew and Simon Peter since we will be seeing a lot of them. For simplicity s sake I will be quoting from Eerdmans Bible Dictionary. Next, I want to talk about the concept of Messiah as it would be understood contextually in Judea. So first, let s start with Andrew. One of the 12 apostles, always among the first four so named. Andrew is the brother of Simon Peter, and the son of John. The first two Gospels identify Andrew and Peter as fishermen who plied their trade in the region around the Sea of, and both relate that Andrew lived with Peter and his family in Capernaum. Andrew is one of four apostles who questioned Jesus about the destruction of the temple and who received special instruction, and he is present later in Jerusalem with the other apostles awaiting the promise of the Spirit. John s Gospel depicts Andrew as one of John the Baptist s disciples who, upon hearing John proclaim that Jesus is the Lamb of God, tells Peter that Jesus is the Messiah and brings him to Jesus (John 1:35-42). One of four of Jesus disciples from Bethsaida (John 1:43-51), Andrew is the one who directs Jesus attention to the boy with loaves and fishes (6:8) and who, along with Philip, informs Jesus that a group of Greeks wishes to see him (12:20 22). 3 Regarding Andrew s death, according to tradition Andrew is said to have been martyred by crucifixion at the city of Patras (Patræ) in Achaea, on the northern coast of the Peloponnese. Early texts, such as the Acts of Andrew known to Gregory of 2 Holy Bible, The, English Standard Version, Notes, Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL, 2011. 3 Tucker, Jeffrey, T., Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Andrew, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2000. ) 49 (
Tours, describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to a Latin cross of the kind on which Jesus is said to have been crucified; yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on a cross of the form called Crux decussata (X-shaped cross, or "saltire"), now commonly known as a "Saint Andrew's Cross" supposedly at his own request, as he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified on the same type of cross as Jesus had been. "The familiar iconography of his martyrdom, showing the apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, does not seem to have been standardized before the later Middle Ages," 4 2. Simon Peter: Now we move on to talk a bit about Peter. We clearly know much more of Peter than Andrew. Peter was the son of a Galilean fisherman, Jonah (Matt. 16:17) or John (John 21:15), who never appears in the Gospel narratives. Peter and his brother Andrew were themselves fishermen and partners of another pair of brothers, James and John bar Zebedee (Luke 5:10). The Gospels introduce the reader to Peter three different ways: as called by Jesus while fishing (Mark 1:16-17 par.), as called by Jesus through a miraculous catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11), and as a disciple of John the Baptist introduced to Jesus by his brother (John 1:35-42). All three stories agree that Peter became a committed disciple of Jesus. The Synoptics also mention that Jesus later visited Peter s house in Capernaum (Mark 1:29), where he healed Peter s mother-in-law. The picture painted of Peter, then, is that of a somewhat better-off Galilean peasant who was a semi-observant Jew in the eyes of the Pharisees (i.e., he was one of the {am haœ}aœres ) and yet religious (or nationalistic) enough to follow Jesus, having perhaps first followed John the Baptist. Despite, or maybe because of, his humble origins, Peter is pictured as a disciple who was chosen to be one of the Twelve (Mark 3:16 par.; he is on every list of the Twelve), and then one of the inner core of three, a group which excluded his brother Andrew (Mark 5:37; 9:2 par.). All four Gospels record Peter as expressing the Twelve s conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, although they place it in different contexts (Mark 8:29 par.; John 6:68-69). All agree that Peter was present during some of the core events of Jesus ministry. Furthermore, there is agreement that Jesus predicted that Peter would betray him and that in the courtyard of the high priest s home Peter did in fact three times deny that he knew Jesus. Three of the Gospels place Peter among the disciples during the resurrection appearances, Luke 24:34 agreeing with Paul (1 Cor. 15:5) that Jesus also appeared separately to Peter. It is obvious that the early Church did not disqualify Peter because of his denial of Jesus, for in both Acts (esp. chs. 1 5) and Paul (Gal. 1:18; 2:1-10) one discovers Peter as an acknowledged central leader of the early Church, along with Jesus brother James and the bar Zebedee brothers. Yet since Peter had a traveling ministry (again confirmed by both Acts and Paul), Jesus brother James soon became the main leader of the Jerusalem church. Indeed, Acts 15 (ca. A.D. 49) pictures James as the chief leader even when Peter was present. Peter s life was not without controversy. The Gospels report that Jesus had to correct him on occasion (e.g., Mark 8:32-33 par.). Acts pictures him as the center of controversy over his acceptance of table fellowship from the gentile Cornelius (Acts 11:2-3, although the story also indicates his vindication). Paul reports that when Peter visited Antioch Paul censored his behavior in public (Gal. 2:11-14). In this case Peter appears to have had no personal scruples about table fellowship (probably meaning celebrating the Lord s Supper, which for the first two centuries was a full meal) with Gentile Christians. This fits the picture of Peter as a semi-observant Jew (including his willingness to live with a tanner in Acts 9:43). However, when some from James appeared he withdrew from that table fellowship to a strictly Jewish mealtime practice. According to Paul, this was due to his fear of the circumcision, meaning either Jewish Christians or Jews in general. We are not informed whether these people from James were sent by James with a message which caused Peter s behavior or whether they arrived on other business and on their own caused Peter s behavior, but it is clear that Peter was sensitive to what Jews or Jewish Christians thought about him. This fits with Paul s description of him as a missionary to the Jews. 5 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/andrew_the_apostle 5 Davids, Peter H., Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Peter, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2000. ) 50 (
As to Peter s death Apparently Peter was a victim of the violent anger that Nero vented upon the Christians in A.D. 64. Although Eusebius dates the death of Peter and Paul in the fourteenth year of Nero (A.D. 67 68), he also places the Neronic persecutions in the fourteenth year (which from other sources can be definitely dated in A.D. 64). In John 21:18, Jesus spoke about Peter s last days as follows: when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go. The author of the fourth gospel added the comment that this was a reference to Peter s death (John 21:19). The Acts of Peter and Eusebius (Church History 3:1), citing Origen, report that Peter insisted on being crucified head-downward. 6 3. Messiah: Now I want to take a few moments to talk about the concept of Messiah in Scripture. Messianism originates in the OT, which speaks of anointed priests, kings and prophets. But none of these anointed persons are to be understood as eschatological figures of deliverance. Sometime in the third or second century B.C. messiah takes on this eschatological nuance (though hopes for a new Davidic king, expressed in some of the prophets, made important contributions to the messianism that would eventually emerge). In reaction to the oppression of Greek and Roman rule, and in response to what was perceived as usurpation of the high priesthood on the part of the Hasmoneans and their successors, hopes for the appearance of a righteous king and/or priest began to be expressed. The later usurpation of Israel s throne by Herod and his successors only fueled these hopes. The literature of this time speaks of the appearance of worthy anointed persons through whom the restoration of Israel might take place. These hopes and predictions drew upon passages of Scripture that spoke of anointed persons and upon passages that spoke in more indirect ways of individuals or symbols that lent themselves to eschatological or salvific interpretations. The idea that Jesus is anointed of God and that therefore he is the Messiah is everywhere attested in the NT, so much so in the epistles, especially the Pauline epistles, that Christ becomes a quasi name, not just a title. Notwithstanding some critical opinion, the messianic understanding of Jesus is rooted in the teaching and activity of Jesus himself and not simply in the post-easter reflection of the early church. In the Synoptic tradition we have Peter s famous confession: You are the Messiah (Mk 8:29). When asked by high priest Caiaphas, Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed? Jesus answers I am (Mk 14:61 61). Some critics claim that these traditions are post-easter confessions, but the crucifixion of Jesus as the king of the Jews (Mk 15:26) suggests otherwise. The epithet king of the Jews played no role in early Christian confession or christology; nor does it reflect Jewish messianism (cf. Mk 15:32). The epithet is Roman, and its appearance in the crucifixion scene is historical, arguing strongly that by the time Jesus had entered Jerusalem his disciples were speaking of him as Israel s Messiah. Jesus allusive use of Isaiah 61:1 2 in his reply to the imprisoned John the Baptist is another compelling indication of messianic self-understanding. 7 Of course I ve spoken on a number occasions of the fact that elements of contemporary Judaism are still looking for the Messiah and that Islam is looking for Jesus to come and judge the world. One day the Jews will recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. And the Arab peoples will realize that Jesus actually is God, the one who will judge an unrighteous world 6 Elderen, B. Van, Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, The, Peter, The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI, 1976. 7 Evans, Craig, A., Dictionary of New Testament Background, Messianism, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2000, p. 699, 704. ) 51 (
Conclusion: I know I ve been doing a lot of introductory material over these first weeks, but I expect we re going to be in John for quite a while so I wanted to create a strong foundation. What is most important in these verses is that Jesus personality, character and uniqueness was such that He immediately impacted those who came to Him. Yes, John the Immerser certainly was preparing his own disciples to follow the One who came after him. But it was finally Jesus Himself that stirred Andrew so quickly and so deeply that he immediately went to Simon and took him to meet the Messiah. Andrew immediately becomes an example to us of the blessing of knowing Christ and how our relationship to Him should fill us with excitement and motivate us to share Him with others. The message of the Gospel is God s work to restore His full creation, us to Him and creation to its intended righteousness. It is also a call to be Andrews, to share our excitement, our Lord with whoever God places in our path, not just those who we care about, but those we should care about, all peoples. Only the eleven may have see Jesus at the end, but now stand there with them. the eleven talmidim went to the hill in the Galil where Yeshua had told them to go. When they saw him, they prostrated themselves before him; but some hesitated. Yeshua came and talked with them. He said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim, immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son and the Ruach Hakodesh, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:16 20 CJB). ) 52 (
The Gospel of John Meet and Greet ~ Part 1 John 1:35-51 VI The Introduced to Christ Verses 35-51 A. The First Three Verses 35-42 1. Andrew 2 Simon Peter 3. Messiah Introduction: (John 1:29 34) A. The First Three: RABBI 1. Andrew:
2. Simon Peter: 3. Messiah: Conclusion: (Matthew 28:16 20) Personal Application: Are you feeling joy in the Lord? Are you excited to be able to serve Him? If not spend time talking to Him asking Him to change your perspective on what it means to be a child of God. Prayer for the Week: Father God, help me to be reinvigorated in my love of You, joy in You, and excitement in serving You. In Christ s name, amen.