Again,
the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
John 1:35-39
John 1 [29.] The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water, he said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
John 1 [35.] Again, the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What are you looking for?”
They said to him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), “where are you staying?”
John 1 [39.] He said to them, “Come, and see.”
They came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter). On the next day, he was determined to go out into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 1 [46.] Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Meaning:
These verses describe the first disciples of Jesus. John the Baptizer's testimony bears fruit as two of his own followers leave him to follow Jesus. The scene is simple and personal: a question, a reply, an invitation and an afternoon spent together.
- “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
For the second day running John points to Jesus with these words (John 1:29). The lamb recalls the sacrifices of Israel, especially the Passover lamb, and the suffering servant of Isaiah: “As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7). John's words are an invitation to follow, and two of his disciples take it.
- “The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus”
One of the two was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother (John 1:40-42). The other is not named. Many believe he was the beloved disciple who stands behind this Gospel, which would explain the vivid detail of the hour. John the Baptizer did not hold on to his disciples. His joy was to see them go to Jesus.
The other Gospels describe Jesus calling Andrew and Simon beside the Sea of Galilee: “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men” (Mark 1:16). John's account seems to record an earlier first meeting in Judea.
- “What are you looking for?”
These are the first words of Jesus in John's Gospel. They go deeper than a polite inquiry. Jesus asks everyone who comes to him what they really seek. At the end of the Gospel he asks Mary Magdalene a similar question in the garden (John 20:15).
- “Rabbi … where are you staying?”
The two call him Rabbi, meaning Teacher, the usual title for a respected teacher of the law. Their question shows they want more than a brief conversation; they want to be with him. The word translated “staying” is the same word Jesus later uses for remaining in him: “Remain in me, and I in you” (John 15:4).
- “Come, and see”
Jesus does not give an address or a lecture. He invites them to come and experience for themselves. The same words are repeated by Philip to Nathanael (John 1:46), and the Samaritan woman says to her town, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did” (John 4:29).
- “It was about the tenth hour”
Counting from sunrise, this was about four in the afternoon, as the footnote on the PIB page explains. The precise time suggests an eyewitness who never forgot the hour he first met Jesus.
The Significance of John 1:35-39
- Pointing others to Jesus
John lost two disciples and was glad. Those who serve God should be content when people move on from them to a deeper relationship with Christ.
- Honest seeking
Jesus' question still meets every reader: What are you looking for? Jesus welcomes honest seekers: “Seek, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7).
- Time with Jesus
The first disciples spent the day with Jesus. Faith grows not only through information but through time spent in his presence, in prayer and in his word.
Cross-References:
Isaiah 53:7: “As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,” The suffering servant pictured as a lamb.
Mark 1:16: “Come after me, and I will make you into fishers for men.” The call of Simon and Andrew by the sea.
John 4:29: “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did.” Another invitation to come and see.
Matthew 7:7: “Seek, and you will find.” Jesus' promise to those who seek.
Conclusion: John 1:35-39 tells how two of John the Baptizer's disciples heard him call Jesus the Lamb of God and followed Jesus. Jesus asked what they were seeking and invited them to come and see, and they stayed with him that day. Their story invites every reader to come to Jesus and remain with him.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible