These verses are not preaching. John is simply recording the events surrounding the calling of the first few disciples of Jesus. The experiences that are written about here are not presented in an exciting and drama filled manner. John’s writing is very straightforward and to the point. He tells us what happened and the timeline in which it happened. If a wise person can learn from the experiences of others, is it possible to learn something from the experiences recorded here? I have struggled with these passages looking for an obvious and overwhelming truth. Perhaps I’m not wise enough, but I have not found it.

The first two disciples came to Jesus because they had been looking for him even before they knew him. Once John the Baptist told them who he was they followed Jesus. They followed him expecting him to teach them. Andrew immediately told Simon Peter that he had found the Messiah, and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus recognized Simon and told him that he would be known as Peter. Names had significance and Jesus was telling Simon that he would become steadfast like a rock. He knew Simon not just for who he was but for who he would become.

Philip did not find Jesus, but rather Jesus found Philip and told him to follow. Philip not only began to follow Jesus but he found Nathaniel and told him that the one Moses had wrote about in the law had come and he was Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. Nathaniel questioned whether anything good come out of Nazareth, but when he met Jesus his prejudices against Nazarenes were proven wrong. Nathaniel believed and called Christ’s King of Israel.

There is not an obvious pattern. Two were pointed to Jesus by a preacher, one was called to Jesus by his brother. Philip was searched out by Jesus himself. Nathaniel was called by a friend, but he was skeptical until he met Jesus face-to-face. Perhaps the diversity of the paths leading to Jesus is the pattern.