The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 178

. . . The history shows he was not decrivC'd g-i'l'en at first, but we flnd that he !oon in P<'ter." 'i'his narrRtive cannot be I\ lmmed tbo Pame grrllt lc~son ns thl\t whi<lb J nbnnniue B<'ttin1' forth of 1he :first call the other disciples h11d aequired, and he or the four d,eciples as giYcn in the !\lathes them iu memorable wordll. Now ~ynoptiRts. If it be, it is I\ fictitious modi- Philip was from lletbaaida, of the olty of fication. Place, oocasion, nnd immediate Andrew and Peter. '!'his is a reme.rk of the ll'IBult are all profoundly different. 'l'ho evangelist, who did not consider it neceesnry one narrative onnnot be twisted into the to say from what city or neighbourhood he other. Are the anti-hnrmonists correct in bad himself issued. This town hl\e utterly sa~·in~ that tlwy are i1Teconoilable? Cer- perished (Matt. :r.i. 20), although some tain!, nnt. There is no indication that travellers (Hohinson, iii. 85!1; Wilson nnd lwfore John was cast into prison, before Warren) believe tbnt indicntions were found ,Jesus commenced his public ministry in north of Khan Minyeh, and others b11Ve Galilee. he had called disciples away from i<fontificd it with Tell-Hum. Some writers their ordinary duties to be his npostles. (' Picturesque Palestine,' \'Ol. ii. 74, 81, etc.) :-,omc, of these four may have returned, as discover it in A.in et Ttibighah, where eome Jesus himself did, to his family and do- remains of a fountain-reservoir and other mestic surroundings (ell. ii. 12). John may buildings lll"e found. It was identified by have accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem and Thomson with Abu-Zany, on the west of throug-11 Sunrnria. But there is much to make the entrance of Jordau into the lake. Thf it probable that Simon, Andrew, and James, two pairs of brothers must have been fo. at least, were, duriug the ·whole of that miliar with Pllilip. Some interesting hinta period, on the lake pondering the future. of character are attninable from eh. vi. 5, in Christ's solemn, sudden call to them to be- which au incident occurs where Philip re- cowe ":fishers of men," after a manifesta- vealed a prnctical wisdom aud confident tion to them of his supernatural powers, purpose, and again in eh. :r.ii. 21, 22, where presupposes rather than excludes this en.rlier Andrew and Philip are mRde the confido.nts inteniew. Simon, on tbo.t oeca.qion, by the of the Greeks, and Philip is the one who exclamation recorded (Luke v. 5), reveals an seems able and willing to introduce them to earlier o.cquaiutance with and reverence for Jesus. In eh. xiv. 8 Philip uttered one of his i,rurrcf.,-71s (see e.n ndmin,ble vindication of the great longings of the human heo.rt-s this position in Weiss,• Life of Jesus,' vol. i.). passionate desire to solve all mysteries, by The Lord, in this first interview, pcnetmtes the vision of the Father; but he lets out the nnd denominates the character of the most fact that he hnd not seen all that he might illustrious of his followers. His rocklike have seen and known in Jesus himself fortitude, which, though sorely assailed and Subsequent history shows thai Philip was chafed by the storms of the great sea of one of the " grent lights of Asia,'' and was opinion and prejudice, formed tl.le central held in the highe~t esteem (Eusebius, nucleus of that Church against which the 'Hist. Eccl.,' iii. 31). He must, not be con- gates of hell have not prevailed. Our Lord founded with Philip the evangelist, whose implied the strength ofhi.s nature, even when daughters prophesied (Acts viii. ; :r.xi. 8). he predicted his great fell (Luke xxii. 32). Ver. 45.-Further convictions of the dis- V ers. 43, 44.--0n the morrow-i.e. on the ciples. (b) The theme of the Old Testament. fourth dny after the deputation from the Philip :6.ndeth Nathanael. He has no sooner Sanhedrin-he willed-or was minded-to accepted the Lord who found him, than he go forth into Galilee, to commence his home- is eager to communicate the Divine secret ward journey. Whether this implies an to others. It seems widely accepted, though actual beginning of his route, or suggests, without any positive proof, that this N atho.nael before e.ny step was to.ken in thnt direction, was identical with the Bartholomew (Dar that the following incidents occurred, eannot Tolmai. son of Ptolemy) of the four lists be deterlllined, though col1iJilente.tors take of apostles, on the following g1:ounds: (l) onposite sideE, as though something impor- In eh. ::r.:r.i. 2 Nathanael once more appears tantdepended upon it. The former supposi- among the innerlllost circle of the apostles, tion is, however, in keeping with the consider- and is moreover mentioned there in company able distance, on any hypothesis of the sil.e with Thomas. In the synoptic Gospels of Bethany, between it and Cana. And he Bartholomew is associated also with Philip, (the Lord hiruself "finds;" the two earliest although in Acts, Luke ranks him with disciples had sought and found him) fuideth Matthew. (2) It is probable thRt Nathano.el Philip; very probably on the route from the was one of the twelve, and, this being so, it sceue of John's baptism to the Bethsai.da is more probable that he should have been on the western shore of the Lake of Galilee. identical with Bartholomew than with any And Jesus seith to him, Follow me ; become other. He is distinguished from Thomas one of my iucd}l.01160,. 'l'lle arguments, the and the two sons of Zebedee in eh. xxi. 2, reasoIUi, which weighed with him e.re not and the whole circumstance of his co.ll sug- on. r. 1-51.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 3D