John 1:37

_AND THE TWO DISCIPLES HEARD HIM SPEAK, AND THEY FOLLOWED JESUS._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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, 2 Corinthians 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....

Verse 37. _AND THE TWO DISCIPLES HEARD HIM_] And they perfectly understood their master's meaning; in consequence of which, they followed Jesus. Happy they who, on hearing of the salvation of Christ, immediately attach themselves to its author! Delays are always dangerous; and, in this case, often fatal. Reader! hast thou ever had Christ as a sacrifice for thy sin pointed out unto thee? If so, hast thou followed him? If not, thou art not in the way to the kingdom of God. Lose not another moment! Eternity is at hand! and thou art not prepared to meet thy God. Pray that he may alarm thy conscience, and stir up thy soul to seek till thou have found....

THEY FOLLOWED JESUS - They had been the disciples of John. his office was to point out the Messiah. When that was done, they left at once their master and teacher, John. and followed the long-expected Messiah. This shows that John was sincere; that he was not desirous of forming a party or of building up a sect; that he was willing that all those whom he had attracted to himself by his ministry should become followers of Christ. The object of ministers should not be to build up their own interests or to extend their own fame. It is to point men to the Saviour. Ministers, however popular or successful, should be willing that their disciples should look to Christ rather than to them; nay, should forget them and look away from them, to tread in the footsteps of the Son of God; and the conduct of these disciples shows us that we should forsake all and follow Jesus when he is pointed out to u...

EXPOSITION THE title of the book is differently given in the manuscripts and ancient versions, and the differences are so considerable that they cannot be referred to the original text. The simplest form of the title is found in א, B, D, and is nothing more than "_according to_ John," ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ (B gives only one N in John's name, but א two); and this is followed by the vulgate and Syriac as a running title. The immense proportion of the uncials—A, C, E, F, G, L, and eight or nine others—read "Gospel according to John" (Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ιωάννην). This is followed by Tregelles, Lachmann, Alford. The T.R., with a large number of manuscripts, reads, "The Gospel according to John;" and in Stephen's third edition the word "holy" occurs before "Gospel." The cursives 69, 178, 259, read Εὐαγγέλιον ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ Ἰωὰνην. Some cursives read, "Of the (holy) Gospel according to John." The p...

AND THE TWO DISCIPLES HEARD HIM SPEAK,.... The above words, and took notice of them; faith in Christ came by hearing them; they reached their hearts, and they found their affections, and the desires of their souls, to be after Christ: AND THEY FOLLOWED JESUS; left their master, and went after him, in order to get some acquaintance with him, and receive some instructions from him....

John is the majestic Evangelist; he is the high-soaring eagle with the piercing eye. His is the Gospel of the Son of God. John 1:1. _In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made._ We cannot describe the Deity of Christ in clearer language than John uses. He was with God; he was God; he did the works of God, for he was the Creator. If any doubt his Deity, they must do so in distinct defiance of the language of Holy Scripture. John 1:4. _In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not._ Christ is still not understood, Jesus is still not known.

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. The Only-begotten, the Eternal Word; His Glory and His Manifestation -- Chapter 1:1-2:22 CHAPTER 1 __ 1. The Word: the Creator, the Life and the Light. (John 1:1 .) 2. The Light and the Darkness. The Light not Known. (John 1:5 .) 3. The Word Made Flesh and Its Gracious Results. (John 1:12 .) 4. The Witness of John. (John 1:19 .) 5. Following Him and Dwelling With Him. (John 1:35 .) 6. The Next Day. Nathanael's Unbelief and Confession. ...

THE BAPTIST'S DISCIPLES AND JESUS. On the morrow to two of his disciples John bears similar witness. The account in its details suggests the recollections of one to whom the incident bad been the turning-point of his life. The tenth hour, four o-' clock, if true or traditional, may have suggested to the writer the beginning of a new era. He could hardly have invented it for that purpose. The unnamed disciple (_cf._ John 1:40) is generally identified with John the son of Zebedee. John 1:41 does not really hint that he also brought his brother James. Jesus reads the character of Simon, and predicts that men will find in him the Rock man, and will so call him (_cf._ Mark 3:16). It is apparently Peter who ...

AND THEY FOLLOWED JESUS. As John intended, the two disciples at once left him and followed the footsteps of Jesus. They did not become _followers_ in the religious sense, but literally followed him, possibly from curiosity, possibly from. yearning desire to know more of the Lamb of God....