Study 3: The First Disciples Come and See

Introduction: From Witness to Discipleship

The opening chapter of the Fourth Gospel moves deliberately from the identity of the eternal Word to the historical testimony by which particular people begin to recognize Him. In John 1:19–34, John the Baptist refuses to make himself the center of attention and directs his hearers toward the One who comes after him yet ranks before him. In John 1:35–51, that testimony begins to accomplish its purpose. Two disciples hear John speak, turn toward Jesus, and follow Him; one brings his brother, and Jesus subsequently calls Philip, who in turn speaks to Nathanael. The narrative shows the beginnings of a community gathered around Jesus, but its deeper concern remains the question governing the whole Gospel: Who is this man, and how do people come to know Him?

The passage is not a standardized manual of evangelism, nor does it provide a complete chronology of the calling of the Twelve. It offers a series of encounters selected to reveal the relationship between testimony, inquiry, personal knowledge, and growing confession. The disciples begin with incomplete expectations and sometimes uncertain language. Jesus receives their questions, addresses their particular circumstances, and discloses more of His identity than they initially understood.

1. Historical and Literary Setting (John 1:35–39)

The opening words, “Again the next day,” continue the sequence of days that structures the first chapter. John the Baptist is standing with two of his disciples, apparently in the region east of the Jordan identified earlier in verse 28. One of these disciples is subsequently named Andrew; the other remains unnamed. Although the unnamed disciple has often been identified in Christian tradition with the apostle John, the text itself does not make that identification. Our exposition must preserve that distinction between a plausible traditional proposal and an explicit statement of Scripture.

The movement from the Baptist to Jesus is theologically significant. In first-century Jewish life, disciples could attach themselves to teachers and learn from their instruction and example. John had formed a circle of followers around his baptismal and prophetic ministry, yet his calling was preparatory. His success is not measured by retaining their allegiance but by directing them to the One to whom he bears witness. The Baptist does not compete with Jesus for disciples; he points beyond himself.

The Gospel does not describe a public crowd being swept into excitement. It describes a small, historically situated transfer of attention, initiated by testimony and followed by a personal encounter. This quiet beginning anticipates the larger pattern of the book: some hear the witness, some come to Jesus, and the decisive issue is what they perceive in Him.

2. “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:35–37)

When John sees Jesus walking, he repeats the identification already made in verse 29: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The repetition is not incidental. It links the first disciples’ response directly to the earlier testimony that Jesus is the One who takes away the sin of the world. The Baptist has not offered merely a title of admiration. He has placed Jesus within the scriptural world of sacrifice, deliverance, and the divine provision by which sin is addressed.

The precise Old Testament background of the expression remains debated. Passover imagery, sacrificial lambs, the suffering servant described in Isaiah 53, and other biblical associations may inform the phrase. John does not stop here to settle every association; the reader must allow the Gospel’s subsequent presentation of Jesus’ death to deepen its significance. It would be premature to insist that the two disciples already possessed a fully developed understanding of the cross. They responded to the witness available to them, and their understanding would grow as Jesus’ ministry unfolded.

The two disciples hear the Baptist and follow Jesus. In its immediate setting, the verb describes their actual movement after Him, but the narrative naturally invites the reader to recognize the beginnings of a more enduring discipleship. That fuller significance should arise from the developing story rather than be read back into every physical movement.

3. “What Do You Seek?” and “Come, and You Will See” (John 1:38–39)

Jesus turns and asks the two disciples, “What do you seek?” These are His first spoken words in the narrative of the Fourth Gospel. The question is concrete: two men are following Him, and He asks what they want. Yet in a Gospel repeatedly concerned with what people seek, whom they recognize, and whether they come to Jesus for life, the question also introduces a theme larger than the immediate moment. Jesus does not begin by delivering a discourse about Himself. He draws out the intention of those approaching Him.

The disciples address Him as “Rabbi,” which the evangelist translates as “Teacher,” and ask where He is staying. John’s translation indicates that his readers could not all be assumed to understand the Semitic title. The Greek verb often translated “stay” or “remain” is menō, a word that later acquires considerable theological importance in John’s account of abiding in Christ. Here it first refers naturally to Jesus’ place of lodging. We should neither ignore its later resonance nor force the full meaning of John 15 into this initial conversation.

Jesus replies, “Come, and you will see.” The invitation moves beyond secondhand testimony into direct acquaintance. They come, see where He is staying, and remain with Him that day. The evangelist records that it was about the tenth hour. If counted according to the common daylight reckoning beginning near sunrise, this would be approximately four in the afternoon; proposals for another reckoning exist, and the text does not require certainty about the modern clock equivalent. What matters for interpretation is the concreteness of the remembered encounter and the time the disciples spend in Jesus’ company.

The phrase “come and see” should not be detached from the narrative and turned into a slogan without content. It is an invitation to encounter the One about whom testimony has been given. John’s Gospel does not oppose witness to personal knowledge; it shows witness leading people toward the person whom the witness identifies.

4. Andrew’s Confession and Simon’s New Name (John 1:40–42)

Andrew is named as one of the two disciples who heard John and followed Jesus. He then finds his brother Simon and announces, “We have found the Messiah,” which the Gospel explains as “Christ.” The Hebrew or Aramaic designation Messiah and the Greek title Christ both mean “anointed one.” The translation again helps readers who may be unfamiliar with the language of Israel’s messianic hopes.

The confession is momentous but should be read within its first-century Jewish setting. Expectations concerning God’s anointed deliverer varied, and the title itself did not necessarily communicate everything John’s readers will learn about Jesus’ divine identity, death, and resurrection. Andrew identifies Jesus as the awaited Messiah; the Gospel will show how Jesus fulfills and transforms expectations associated with that title.

Andrew brings Simon to Jesus. Jesus looks at him and declares that he is Simon, son of John, and that he will be called Cephas, which the evangelist translates as Peter. Cephas reflects the Aramaic term for rock, while Peter is the corresponding Greek name. The designation anticipates Simon’s future significance, but the Fourth Gospel does not pause to explain its full implications. It is enough here to observe that Jesus knows Simon and speaks a new name over his future before the reader has been told of any achievement by him.

This encounter also illustrates the personal character of testimony. Andrew does not claim authority to replace Jesus’ own words. He tells Simon what he has discovered and brings him to Jesus. The center of the scene is not Andrew’s persuasiveness but Simon’s meeting with the One who already knows him.

5. Philip: The Direct Call of Jesus (John 1:43–44)

On the following day Jesus determines to go into Galilee, finds Philip, and says, “Follow Me.” The narrative now shifts from a disciple brought through another witness to one addressed directly by Jesus. Both patterns belong within John’s account. Some come because another person speaks; Philip comes because Jesus Himself calls. The initiative of Jesus should not be overlooked amid the repeated accounts of human discovery.

Philip is identified as being from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Bethsaida was associated with the northern region of the Sea of Galilee, though questions about the exact archaeological identification of the settlement remain. The geographical notice connects these first disciples to a recognizable Galilean setting and reminds us that John’s theological testimony unfolds among real people from identifiable communities.

The imperative “Follow Me” is brief, but the Gospel will progressively explain what following Jesus entails. At this early point the reader should resist importing every later demand of discipleship into the single command. The narrative first establishes the personal summons and then allows the life and teaching of Jesus to define its meaning.

6. Philip’s Testimony: Moses and the Prophets (John 1:45)

Philip finds Nathanael and identifies Jesus as the One about whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets wrote, adding that He is Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. The statement brings together scriptural expectation and ordinary social identification. Jesus is not presented as an abstract fulfillment disconnected from a place and family; He is identified in terms by which another person might locate Him within the world of first-century Galilee.

The claim concerning Moses and the Prophets must be understood broadly. Philip is not necessarily pointing to one isolated prediction that supplies every detail of Jesus’ life. Israel’s Scriptures provide a network of covenant promises, royal hopes, prophetic expectations, and patterns of divine deliverance that the Gospel will relate to Jesus. Deuteronomy 18, promises associated with David, and prophetic visions of restoration are relevant parts of that world, but Philip’s statement should not be reduced to a proof-text without attention to the larger scriptural witness.

The designation “son of Joseph” also requires care. John’s prologue has already identified Jesus as the eternal Word made flesh; Philip here speaks in the ordinary terms by which Jesus was known. The evangelist allows the reader to hear a historically natural description without treating it as an exhaustive account of Jesus’ origin.

7. Nathanael’s Objection and Philip’s Invitation (John 1:46)

Nathanael responds, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” The remark may reflect local rivalry, assumptions about the obscurity of Nazareth, or skepticism that a place with no obvious prominence in messianic expectation could produce the awaited figure. The text does not identify a single motive with certainty. We should therefore avoid inventing an elaborate hostility between neighboring villages or treating Nathanael’s remark as evidence of a fully documented regional prejudice.

Philip does not respond with a prolonged argument about Nazareth. He says, “Come and see.” The echo of Jesus’ earlier invitation is striking. Philip invites Nathanael to test his assumptions through an encounter with the person under discussion. The Gospel does not imply that evidence or scriptural interpretation is unimportant; Philip has just appealed to Moses and the Prophets. Rather, the scene shows that the identity of Jesus cannot be settled merely by an objection to the reputation of His hometown.

Nathanael’s skepticism makes his subsequent confession more significant. John presents neither an unquestioning admirer nor an inveterate opponent, but a man whose initial judgment is challenged by what Jesus discloses.

8. “An Israelite Indeed”: Jesus Knows Nathanael (John 1:47–49)

As Nathanael approaches, Jesus describes him as “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile.” The word translated “guile” conveys deceit or craftiness. The description is especially suggestive in a passage that soon invokes Jacob, the patriarch whose story includes deception and whose name became Israel. John does not explicitly spell out every dimension of the contrast, but the juxtaposition of an Israelite without deceit and the later image of heaven opened recalls the Genesis narratives in a way worth considering.

Nathanael asks how Jesus knows him. Jesus answers that He saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him. The narrative does not explain what Nathanael had been doing there. Suggestions that he was studying Torah, praying, or meditating may be imaginable, but they remain conjectures and should not be presented as historical fact. The point supplied by the text is that Jesus possesses knowledge Nathanael did not expect Him to have.

Nathanael responds with an emphatic confession: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.” These titles are closely related to Israel’s royal and messianic hopes. Psalm 2 associates God’s anointed king with the designation of son, and the expectation of Israel’s king provides an important scriptural setting for Nathanael’s language. The confession is therefore genuinely significant, even if Nathanael does not yet grasp everything the Gospel means by Jesus’ divine sonship.

We should not flatten the development of the narrative by assuming that every person who uses the same title understands it with equal depth. John can present an authentic early confession and still lead his readers toward a richer recognition of Jesus through the remainder of the Gospel.

9. “Greater Things Than These”: Heaven Opened (John 1:50–51)

Jesus tells Nathanael that he will see greater things than the knowledge displayed beneath the fig tree. He then broadens the address from the singular to the plural, indicating that the promise extends beyond Nathanael alone: “you shall see the heavens opened” and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. The image strongly recalls Jacob’s dream at Bethel in Genesis 28:10–22, where a stairway or ladder connects earth and heaven and angels ascend and descend upon it.

In Genesis, the vision accompanies God’s reaffirmation of covenant promises and Jacob’s recognition that the place is the house of God and the gate of heaven. John’s language places the Son of Man where the connection between heaven and earth is now disclosed. The interpretive emphasis is not on constructing a literal ladder of angelic traffic but on the revelatory identity of Jesus. He is the person in whom access to the heavenly reality and the disclosure of God are concentrated.

The title “Son of Man” requires particular attention because Jesus uses it frequently of Himself, and its associations extend beyond a simple synonym for humanity. Daniel 7:13–14 describes one like a son of man receiving dominion and a kingdom, while other scriptural uses of the expression emphasize human identity or limitation. In this passage the allusion to Jacob’s vision is especially immediate; the wider significance of the title will develop through Jesus’ subsequent teaching about His authority, lifting up, glorification, and return to the Father.

The promise of greater things directs the reader beyond the excitement of first recognition. Nathanael has been impressed that Jesus knew him, but Jesus directs his attention to the greater revelation of who He is. The Gospel’s argument thus moves from a sign of extraordinary knowledge to the person through whom God makes Himself known.

10. Theological Synthesis: Testimony, Recognition, and Revelation

Across these encounters, John describes several routes by which people approach Jesus. The Baptist bears witness and two disciples follow. Andrew finds Simon and brings him. Jesus directly calls Philip. Philip finds Nathanael and invites him to come and see. The variation matters because the narrative does not make one human method the decisive factor. Testimony is important, and personal invitation is important, but Jesus remains the object of faith and the One whose words and knowledge disclose His identity.

The titles accumulate: Lamb of God, Rabbi, Messiah, son of Joseph, Son of God, King of Israel, and Son of Man. They are not interchangeable labels with identical meanings. Each belongs to a particular historical and scriptural setting, and each contributes to the reader’s growing understanding. John’s literary artistry lies partly in allowing these confessions to be spoken by people at the beginning of their knowledge while the reader, already informed by the prologue, recognizes that their words reach toward a reality greater than they can yet comprehend.

The passage also distinguishes a beginning of faith from mature understanding. Andrew’s discovery is real, Philip’s testimony is sincere, and Nathanael’s confession is remarkable; nevertheless, Jesus promises greater things still to be seen. The Gospel will continue to expose misunderstanding, deepen confession, and reveal the meaning of Jesus’ mission through His death and resurrection. We should therefore resist the temptation to treat the first disciples as though they possessed, from the first day, the complete understanding that becomes possible only after the events the Gospel will narrate.

11. Contemporary Significance: The Witness Is Not the Savior

The movement from John the Baptist to the first disciples offers an enduring lesson concerning Christian testimony. The faithful witness directs attention away from himself and toward Jesus. Andrew and Philip provide examples of personal invitation, but the text does not present them as techniques guaranteeing a particular response. They speak from what they have encountered and bring others to the person whose identity is the true subject of the Gospel.

The account also warns against confusing familiarity with accurate recognition. Nathanael knows something about Nazareth, but his knowledge is not sufficient to answer the question of who Jesus is. In a similar way, modern readers may know Christian vocabulary, religious traditions, or familiar accounts of Jesus without yet having examined what John actually claims about Him. Serious exposition invites us to allow the historical testimony to challenge assumptions rather than using our assumptions to control the text.

Finally, Jesus’ promise of greater things reminds us that the first recognition of Christ is the beginning of understanding rather than its completion. John writes so that readers may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and have life in His name (John 20:31). The encounters in this passage advance that purpose by presenting people who hear testimony, come to Jesus, and discover that His identity exceeds their initial expectations.

Conclusion: Come and See Whom?

John 1:35–51 begins with the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God and ends with Jesus presenting Himself as the Son of Man upon whom heaven is opened. Between these two declarations, the first disciples respond to testimony, bring others, express messianic hopes, voice skepticism, and begin to confess what they have found. The movement of the passage is not from religious ignorance to instant theological completeness, but from witness to encounter and from initial recognition toward a fuller revelation.

The central question is therefore not simply whether the disciples were willing to follow a new teacher. It is whether the One they followed truly was the promised Messiah and the unique revealer of God. John has already answered that question in the prologue; now he begins to show how particular people encountered the Word made flesh. The invitation “Come and see” finds its deepest meaning in the identity of the One to whom it directs the reader.

Notes on Text and Method

Scripture references and brief quotations follow the New American Standard Bible, 1977 edition. The narrative’s unnamed disciple is not positively identified by the text; the tenth-hour reckoning is discussed without requiring a disputed chronology; the fig-tree scene is not embellished with undocumented activity; and the Jacob/Bethel connection in verse 51 is treated as a strong literary allusion rather than an excuse for speculative reconstruction.

Suggested scholarly conversation: Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I–XII; D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John; Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary; Andreas J. Köstenberger, John; Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. These are recommended works for verification and further research, not claims that specific pages were consulted in preparing this manuscript.

Scripture references and brief quotations follow the New American Standard Bible, 1977 edition. Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org