John 1:41 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

NIV: The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah' (that is, the Christ).

NASB: He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which translated means Christ).

CSB: He first found his own brother Simon and told him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated "the Christ"),

NLT: Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which means 'Christ' ).

KJV: He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

NKJV: He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).

Andrew is constantly bringing people to Jesus. This seems to be his default response to every problem or new development. When Jesus feeds thousands of people, it's Andrew who brings the boy with bread and fish to Him (John 6:8–9). The first person he introduces to Him is his brother, Simon. Jesus will soon rename this man "Peter." This is from the Aramaic word Cephas, translated into Greek as Petros, both meaning "stone." Peter proves to be an emotional, volatile man in the New Testament. It's safe to assume he already had that reputation when he met Jesus for the first time. There's some divine humor in Jesus naming a volatile, emotional, unstable person "Rock." Andrew tells Simon (Peter) that Jesus is "the Messiah." John often explains Jewish customs and words to his readers, and he translates this word as "Anointed One." In Greek, the term is translated as Christos, from which we get the English title "Christ."

John 1:29–42 is a conversation between Jesus and John the Baptist, and records the moment when Jesus recruits His first two disciples. Jesus is identified as “The Lamb of God,” and “The Son of God.” The Baptist describes his vision of the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, landing on Jesus. This confirms that He is the Messiah. The Baptist tells two of his followers, John and Andrew, to go and follow Jesus. They, in turn, introduce Jesus to Peter.

The first chapter of John introduces Jesus as “the Word,” from the Greek Logos. This chapter clearly describes Jesus as identical to God. After this prologue, the chapter describes Jesus recruiting the first of His disciples, as well as a conversation between John the Baptist and the Pharisees. There are seven names for Christ in this chapter, including “The Son of God,” “The Word,” and “The King of Israel.”

The first chapter of the gospel of John equates Christ with God, and introduces John the Baptist. The Baptist specifically points to Jesus as the Promised One. Jesus collects the first five of His disciples. In this chapter, Jesus is given seven descriptive names, including “The Word,” “The Son of God,” and “The King of Israel.” This chapter sets the stage for the rest of the gospel, by giving the reader a sense of who Jesus truly is, and why He has come. The rest of the gospel is an exploration of the claims made in this initial passage.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.

Accessed 5/3/2024 9:18:21 AM