DYNAMIS!
A publication of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Wichita, KS
Saint John 1:35-51
(11/30-12/13)
The Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
Promising Catechumens: Saint John 1:35-51, especially
vs. 50: “...You will see
greater things than these.” In His parable of the Sower, the
Lord Jesus teaches that some who confess Him fall ‘by the wayside’
and are ‘trampled down’ and ‘devoured,’ while some
spring up only to wither away, lacking ‘moisture,’ while others are
‘choked’ by the lies, cares or the riches of this age (see Lk. 8:5-7). The
parable concludes on the hopeful note that “...others fell on good
ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold” (Lk.
8:8). Be encouraged! Many have grown into fruitful disciples
of the Lord. Learn from Andrew,
Peter, John, Philip, and Nathanael.
What sort of persons grow in Christ and bring forth fruit
‘a hundredfold?’
Today’s Gospel describes the earliest contacts between the Lord
and those who became His Apostles.
The careful reader of this passage will find seven indications of
promise in these first disciples:
1) they were motivated when they heard the Truth repeated; 2) they would
not let their ego needs get in the way of knowing the Truth; 3) they yearned
for God from the heart; 4) they shared their discovery of the Lord with others;
5) they acted on the Lord’s teaching; 6) they weighed what others told
them about God; and 7) they confessed Christ when He confronted them directly.
There is promise in those who are aroused by the hearing of
the Truth. Twice the Forerunner indicated Jesus as ‘the Lamb of
God’ (Jn. 1:29, 36). At
John’s repetition, two of his disciples turned to Christ (vs. 37). As Saint John Chrysostom notes, because
John repeated “...the same words again, as if softening by tillage some
hard and stubborn soil, and by his word as by a plow, disturbing the mind which
had hardened into clods, so as to put in the seed deep.”
There is promise in those who have greater concern for the
Lord than for their own ego needs. The
Holy Fathers understood the unnamed disciple to be the writer of the Gospel
himself (vss. 37,40). Hence, Saint John Chrysostom asks,
“Wherefore then has he not made known the name of the other also? Some say, because it was the writer
himself;” and later he prompts us: “Observe too his modesty; he
mentions not his own name, but ‘whom He loved’” (Jn.
13:23). This pattern of
self-effacement runs throughout John’s Gospel (Jn. 1:37,40;
19:26; 21:20).
There is promise in a person who searches and yearns for
God from the heart. It is wondrous how
quickly and decisively Jesus’ disciples turned to Him. Saint Ephrem
the Syrian says of them: “the elect were thirsting after news of
Him. These were His instruments,
just as He had said, ‘You were chosen by Me before the world’ (Jn.
15:16,19).”
There is promise in those who share their discovery of the
Lord with others. Saint John Chrysostom
says of Saint Andrew: he “kept not the treasure to himself, but hastens
and runs quickly to his brother, to impart to him of the good things which he
had received” (Jn. 1:41).
There is promise in a disciple who applies what the Lord
teaches and commands. The great Archbishop
said, “Philip not having learned anything from any but Christ, Who said
to him only this, ‘Follow Me,’ straightway obeyed, and went not
back, but even became a preacher.”
There is promise when a new Christian weighs what he learns
concerning the Lord (e.g. vs. 46). Nathanael weighed Philip’s claim
(vs. 45) against the teaching of the Prophets. As Saint John
observed: “For he thought...that Philip was probably mistaken about the
place.”
There is promise for anyone who readily confesses the Lord
because Christ has confronted him directly.
Again, hear Saint John regarding Nathanael’s confession: “When he
had received an unquestionable proof of His foreknowledge, he hastened to
confess Him.”
Look down, O Lord in mercy upon all who are seeking Thee
from their hearts, and number them with Thy chosen flock, that together we may
glorify Thee unto the ages of ages.
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