John 1:39, commentary and pictures

Jesus invited the two disciples who were following Him, Andrew and John, to come to where He was staying, and they came and remained with Him that day until about the tenth hour because they wanted private time to know Him and hear His teaching.
That day He gave them simple practical lessons that opened to them the great plan of salvation and gave them faith and assurance that He was the Messiah.
His teaching and personal welcome were so precious and winning that they at once sought their friends and brought them to share what they had learned, as when Andrew brought his brother Simon.
Their example shows that all who know and find Christ should tell others and personally bring relatives, friends, and neighbors to the Saviour, for the church is built through individual effort and not by ministers alone.
Their coming and staying illustrates the close intimacy with God that seekers may enter, seen in John lingering in absorbed wonder by Jesus, longing for nearer companionship until his proud and ambitious nature was transformed into likeness to his Master.

Meeting Jesus That Day

John 1:39 belongs to the account in John 1:19-51 where Jesus receives His first followers who declare they have found the Messias. It stands at the beginning of His earthly work when He gathered John, Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathanael to accompany Him, receive His teachings, witness His miracles, and publish them to the world.

He spoke the invitation, Come and see, to the two disciples who were seeking and following Him, Andrew and John the son of Zebedee, to come and see where He lived and stayed. They accepted, came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. They did so because they were not satisfied with a brief conversation and wanted private time to know Him, hear His words, and receive His instruction.

That day He gave them simple, practical lessons that deeply impressed and moved them. He opened to them the great plan of salvation, and what He taught was so precious that it gave them faith and assurance that He was the Messiah. It gave them what they later told others they had seen and heard at the Jordan, a testimony that helped kindle hope that God had raised up a deliverer for His people.

Bringing Others to Christ

The Baptist pointed two of his own disciples to Jesus, and after they accepted Christ's invitation to come and see where He lodged and remained with Him that day until about the tenth hour, hearing His words gave them faith and assurance that He was the Messiah. One of the two was Andrew, who then went to share the news with his brother Simon and bring him to Jesus. While Andrew hurried away to call his brother, the other disciple, John, stayed with Jesus beside the Jordan, silently listening in absorbed wonder and eagerly following Him as one drawn to His teaching.

What He opened to them that day was the great plan of salvation, truth so precious that they could not keep it to themselves. His personal welcome was so winning and His teaching so moving that as soon as they had learned from Him they immediately sought out their friends to share what they had learned and bring them to Him.

Their course belongs to the beginning of His earthly work when those who followed Him listened to His teaching and became His disciples, and it stands as the pattern that those who come to know and find Christ should tell others about Him. Those who find Him should want to make Him known by personally inviting and bringing relatives, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to the Saviour. This personal work of appeal is the means by which people are brought to Christ, and it is a work for persons of every age.

The coming of the first disciples in this way shows the Christian church being built through individual effort, as disciples personally bring others, including relatives and acquaintances, to the Saviour. Every follower therefore has a part in this work and should not leave it to ministers alone. Doing the work God gives exercises faith and causes it to grow.

Abiding in Close Fellowship

The two were not satisfied with a brief conversation, but went to where He lived and stayed with Him that day, and their desire for His company illustrates the close intimacy and communion with God that those who seek Him may enter.

That staying was the first conference between Jesus and John beside the Jordan. While Andrew hurried away to call his brother, John stayed silent, rapt in contemplation of wondrous themes. He remained in absorbed wonder and followed Jesus as an eager, absorbed listener drawn to His teaching.

His staying reveals a nature longing for love, sympathy, and companionship, satisfied only with still nearer intimacy with Jesus, which he obtained and sought at every opportunity. That seeking was granted, so that his relationship to Jesus became the closest among the twelve. He pressed close to Him, sat by His side and leaned upon His breast, drinking in divine light and life as a flower drinks sun and dew. Beholding the Saviour in adoration and love, likeness to Christ and fellowship with Him became his one desire.

Coming and abiding with Him meant forsaking home and friends to be with Him, walking and talking with Him in the privacy of the home and in public assemblies. He was taught with patience and tenderness, with fears quieted, dangers removed, sufferings relieved and grief comforted, until his heart was linked with His in ardent love. That love made John take his place next to Jesus at every possible opportunity, and made him and his brother James long to be nearest to Him in His kingdom. By nature he was proud, ambitious, and combative, a son of thunder, yet Jesus discerned beneath it an ardent, sincere, loving heart. He revealed to him the beauty of holiness and His own transforming love, rebuking, disappointing, and testing him until his character reflected his Master's character.