John 1:41

1:37-42 The strongest and most prevailing argument with an awakened soul to follow Christ, is, that it is he only who takes away sin. Whatever communion there is between our souls and Christ, it is he who begins the discourse. He asked, What seek ye? The question Jesus put to them, we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Him, What do we design and desire? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life? He invites them to come without delay. Now is the accepted time, 2Co 6:2. It is good for us to be where Christ is, wherever it be. We ought to labour for the spiritual welfare of those related to us, and seek to bring them to Him. Those who come to Christ, must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so.

He first findeth (εὑρίσκαι οὗτος πρῶτος) Rev., findeth first. He is the demonstrative pronoun, this one, which, with first, seems to point to the later finding of his brother by the other disciple, i.e., of James by John. Bengel says: "With the festival freshness of those days beautifully corresponds the word findeth, which is frequently used here." His own (τὸν ἴδιον) See on Matthew 22:5; see on Matthew 25:15; see on Acts 1:7; see on 1 Peter 1:3. We have found (εὑρήκαμεν) This has been called the chapter of the Eurekas. The Messias Peculiar to this Gospel, and only here and John 4:25. Christ See on Matthew 1:1.

It should seem that both the disciples (after their converse with Christ at the place where he lodged) went together to look for Peter, Andrew’s brother. Andrew first found him, and tells him (with great joy) that he and that other disciple had found the Messiah, prophesied of by Daniel, and in the expectation of whom the disciples and the Jews lived. The term Messiah in Hebrew is the same with Christ in Greek, and both signify the same with Anointed in English. The article in this place is emphatic, not merely prepositive, as in other places, but signifying, that Anointed; for other kings, and priests, and prophets were also anointed, and God’s people are called anointed; but he was anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows, having the Spirit not given him by measure.

41 . He first findeth , &c.] The meaning of ‘first’ becomes almost certain when we remember S. John’s characteristic reserve about himself. Both disciples hurry to tell their own brothers the good tidings, that the Messiah has been found: S. Andrew finds his brother first , and afterwards S. John finds his ; but we are left to infer the latter point. S. Andrew thrice brings others to Christ; Peter, the lad with the loaves ( John 6:8 ), and certain Greeks ( John 12:22 ); and excepting Mark 13:3 we know scarcely anything else about him. Thus it would seem as if in these three incidents S. John had given us the key to his character. And here we have another characteristic of this Gospel—the lifelike way in which the less prominent figures are sketched. Besides Andrew we have Philip, John 1:44 , John 6:5 , John 12:21 , John 14:8 ; Thomas, John 11:16 , John 14:5 ; John 20:24-29 ; Nathanael, John 1:45-51 ; Nicodemus, John 3:1-12 , John 7:50-52 , John 19:39 ; Martha and Mary, 11, John 12:1-3 . We have found ] This does not prove that S. John is still with him, only that they were together when their common desire and expectation were fulfilled. Messias ] The Hebrew form of this name is used by S. John only, here and John 4:25 . Elsewhere the LXX. translation, ‘the Christ,’ is used. Here ‘the’ before ‘Christ’ should be omitted.

John 1:41 . Εὑρίσκει , findeth ) With the festival-like [joyous] freshness of those days beautifully corresponds the word findeth , which is used here more frequently [than elsewhere].— πρῶτος , first ) It is to be presumed, that both of them sought Simon by different roads.[40]— τὸν ἀδελφὸν , his brother ) He afterwards became superior to Andrew, who, it is probable, was the elder born; John 1:44 [the order there is, “Andrew and Peter”].— εὑρήκαμεν , we have found) John 1:45 , “We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write” [Philip to Nathanael]. A great and joyful εὓρημα , treasure-found , expected by the world for about forty centuries. They had learned from John, that He was close at hand.— ὅ , which ) This is an addition of the Evangelist, as at John 1:42 . [40] Rather, as Andrew first of the two disciples found his own brother and brought him to Jesus; so the other disciple, who was probably John, did the same, and brought his brother, James, to the Saviour.—E. and T.

(41) He first findeth his own brother.—The probable explanation of this verse, and the only one which gives an adequate meaning to “first” and “his own,” is that each of the two disciples in the fulness of his fresh joy went to seek his own brother, that Andrew found Peter first, and that John records this, and by the form in which he does so implies, but does not state, that he himself found James. To have stated this would have been to break through the personal reserve which he imposed upon himself. (Comp. Matthew 4:18-21; Mark 1:16-19; Luke 5:1-10.) We have found.—Implying a previous seeking, and that both were under the impulse of the general movement leading men to expect the Messiah. It is implied, too, that Simon was near, and therefore probably a hearer of the Baptist. Messias.—The Hebrew form of the name occurs in the New Testament only here and in John 4:25, in both cases in a vivid picture of events fixed in the memory. Elsewhere, John, as the other sacred writers, uses the LXX. translation, “Christ,” and even here he adds it (comp., e.g., in this John John 1:20; John 1:25). Both words mean “anointed” (see margin, and comp. Psalm 45:8).

He first findeth - He found him and "told him about Jesus" before he brought him to Jesus. We have found the Messias - They had learned from the testimony of John, and now had been more fully convinced from conversation with Jesus, that he was the Messiah. The word "Messiah," or "Messias," is Hebrew, and means the same as the Greek word "Christ," "anointed." See the notes at Matthew 1:1. From the conduct of Andrew we may learn that it is the nature of religion to desire that others may possess it. It does not lead us to monopolize it or to hide it under a bushel, but it seeks that others also may be brought to the Saviour. It does not "wait" for them to come, but it goes "for" them; it seeks them out, and tells them that a Saviour is found. Young converts should "seek" their friends and neighbors, and tell them of a Saviour; and not only their relatives, but all others as far as possible, that all may come to Jesus and be saved.

John 1:41-43 . Still on the same day (not on the following, as, after the early expositors, De Wette, Baur, Luthardt, Ewald, and most others suppose; see, on the contrary, the ἐπαύριον which again appears, but not till John 1:44 ), Andrew first meets his brother Simon. πρῶτος ] We must understand the matter thus: Both disciples go out from the lodging-place (at the same time, or perhaps Andrew first), still in the first fresh glow of joy at having found the Messias,[122] in order that each of them may seek his own brother (we must assume that both brothers were known to be in the neighbourhood), in order to inform him of the new joy, and to bring him to Christ. Andrew is the first ( ΠΡῶΤΟς , not ΠΡῶΤΟΝ , an inelegant change adopted by Lachmann, after A. B. M. X. א **) who finds his brother. John, however, does not say that he also sought his brother James , found him, and brought him to Jesus; and this is in keeping with the delicate reserve which prevents him from naming either himself or those belonging to him (even the name of James does not occur in the Gospel). Still this may be clearly seen from the ΠΡῶΤΟς , and is confirmed by the narrative of the Synoptics, in so far that both James and John are represented as being called at the same time by Jesus ( Mark 1:19 and parallels). Bengel, Tholuck, De Wette, Hengstenberg, wrongly say that Andrew and John had both sought out Simon . The ΤῸΝ ἼΔΙΟΝ is against this; as it neither here nor elsewhere (comp.

John 5:18 ) occurs as a mere possessive (against Lücke, Maier, De Wette, and others), but in opposition to that which is foreign. Any antithetic relation to the spiritual brotherhood in which John as well as Andrew stood to Simon (Hengstenberg), is quite remote from the passage. εὑρήκαμεν ] placed emphatically at the beginning of the clause, and presupposing the feeling of anxious desire excited by the Baptist. The plural is used because Andrew had in mind the other disciple also. ἐμβλέψας , κ . τ . λ .] This fixed look ( John 1:36 ) on the countenance of Simon pierces his inner soul. Jesus, as the Searcher of hearts ( John 2:25 ; Weiss, Lehrbegr. p. 263), sees in him one who should hereafter be called to be the rock of the church, and calls him by the name which he was henceforth to bear as His disciple (not first in Matthew 16:18 , as Luthardt thinks). A rock is the emblem of firmness as early as Homer ( Od . xvii. 463); comp. Ezekiel 3:9 . There is no contradiction here with Matthew 16:18 (it is otherwise with Mark 3:16 ), as if John had transferred the giving of the name to this place (Hilgenfeld, comp. Baur and Scholten), for in Matthew 16:18 the earlier giving of the name is really presupposed, confirmed , and applied . See on Matt. σὺ εἶ Σίμων , κ . τ . λ .] This belongs to the circumstantiality of the solemn ceremony of the name-giving; it is first said who he is , and what in future he should be called . Comp.