But Jesus having turned, and seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And *they* said to him, Rabbi (which, being interpreted, signifies Teacher), where abidest thou?
Two men have just left John the Baptist to walk after Jesus. The first words the Lord speaks in this Gospel are a question, and their answer asks not for a lesson but for His address.
These two were new to Him and still timid. He met that weakness with gentleness.
Nothing more delights the heart of Christ than the desires of the soul after Him. Drawn to Him, these two disciples would learn more of the One whose beauty had begun to dawn upon their souls. What they grasped so far was still feeble and inadequate. The Lord knew their weakness, and so He drew them on by His gentleness and grace. Reserve might have put two such timid men off; but He who does not quench the smoking flax will deepen their interest and desire.
Their answer shows why they were walking behind Him at all.
In the case of the two disciples the Lord's testing question brings out the true motive, seen in their question, "Master, where do You dwell?" It becomes plain that they had not taken their place outside the Jewish system just to escape its corruptions. Nor had they come for some benefit for themselves. They came because they longed to be with One who had drawn their affection to Himself. The motive was not self, but Himself.
John stops to translate the word for readers who would not know it. It was one rung on a ladder of honour — and a title the Lord later kept for Himself alone.
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning "master, teacher," though no one is known to have used it until the time of Herod the Great. Among the Jews the grades of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and then to Rabban or Rabboni. Jesus forbade the disciples to be called Rabbi, for one was their Master, even Christ (Matthew 23:8).
The placing of that title is worth noticing. In this Gospel, the first time Jesus is called Teacher, no lesson is being requested — company is.
In the gospel of John the Lord, as "the Sent One," is intent on revealing the glories of the Father to the disciples — His Name, His Word, His love, His hand, His house. So it is significant that the first time this Gospel calls the Lord "Teacher" (John 1), a realm of affection is in view.
They had to ask where He lived. Hardly anyone could have told them.
"Rabbi," they at once replied, "where do You dwell?" What a question to put to the Lamb of God, the Son of God! How it told of His humiliation! There was no need for anyone to ask where the high priest lived — everyone knew. The angelic hosts, too, surely knew where the incarnate One dwelt on earth. But who among men cared to know, or could have told those two, if asked, where He dwelt? Low indeed had He come, yet He came to bless hearts made ready to receive Him.
They asked for nothing He could hand over. They wanted His presence, and God had put that longing in them first.
They followed Him, not for anything more that they could get from Him, but with a longing created by God that His presence alone could satisfy. And what it tells of the manner of the love shown in God come into this world in Christ! He had won the confidence of these two hearts completely, drawing them to Himself. So on the first day they ever knew Him, their one aim is to find out where He dwells, so that they may dwell with Him.
Commentators differ on what the disciples were asking for. Some read it plainly — a house in a real town.
Jesus' dwelling-place was at Capernaum, a very ungodly city. It is called "his own city" in Matthew 9. What did they want? They wanted to know the spot where they would be sure of finding Him.
Others hear a far larger request in it than the two men themselves understood.
The Lord was a wanderer on this earth. We read in the other gospels that He had nowhere to lay His head. But in this gospel He has a dwelling-place, and His great delight is to lead the hearts of His own into it. No human language can describe that home. If you want to know it you must "come and see." It was in the bosom of the Father that He found His home.
- Followed — two men leave their teacher and walk after Jesus, drawn by a longing God had already created in them.
- Asked — the Lord turns and asks what they are seeking, and He draws them on by gentleness and grace.
- Tested — their answer shows the motive: not escape, not benefit, but Himself.
- Taught — the title they use means Teacher, and the first lesson they ask for is His address, not His doctrine.
- Dwelt — men had to ask the Lamb of God where He lived, so low had He come; and His home, the Father's bosom, is where He leads His own.
He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour.
Two of John the Baptist's disciples had heard him point to Jesus and had begun to follow. Jesus asked what they wanted. They asked where He was staying. His reply was an invitation, not an address.
The Lord does not treat a first stirring of interest as a nuisance. He knows how weak it is, and He meets it with gentleness.
Nothing more delights the heart of Christ than the desires of the soul after Him. These two disciples were drawn to Him. They would learn more of the One whose beauty had begun to dawn on their souls. Their grasp of Him was still weak and poor. The Lord knew their weakness, and so He draws them on by His gentleness and grace. They were timid, and a cool welcome could have driven them back. But He who does not quench the smoking flax will deepen their interest and desire.
So where does the Son of God live?
The Lord was a wanderer on this earth. The other Gospels tell us He had nowhere to lay His head. But in this Gospel He has a dwelling-place. His great delight is to lead the hearts of His own into it. But no human words can describe that home. If you want to know it you must come and see for yourself. He found His home in the bosom of the Father. At that time no one knew that bosom but Himself.
They did not look and leave.
As it has been said, we can have as much of Christ as we want. At once the Lord replies to these disciples, "Come and you will see." And we read, "So they came and saw where He was staying." Nothing in this world speaks of Christ. Whatever there may be in our homes, we may be sure that nothing in His home drew them away from Himself. They saw where He was staying and came to know Him in His own home. Knowing Him, they gladly stayed with Him that day. The Person who had drawn them outside was the One who held them there.
Time with Him was not just pleasant company.
What cravings of the soul and spiritual needs were met and satisfied as they stayed with Him that day! Who but Himself could reveal the Lamb of God, whom John had announced to them? Where had He come from? Where was He going? Why was He born and why did He come into the world? How many difficulties disappeared that day! How much darkness fled away, while they stayed in the presence of "the Light of life"!
Commentators differ on the clock. One writer sees the question itself as a mark of how low the Lord had come, and reads the hour as late afternoon:
What a question to put to the Lamb of God, the Son of God! How it told of His humiliation! No one needed to ask where the high priest lived — everyone knew. But who among men cared to know, or could have told those two, if asked, where He was staying? "It was about the tenth hour" — that is, about 4 p.m.
Others argue that John counts hours the way we do, which moves the scene to mid-morning:
It appears that the marginal annotators were reckoning time by the Jewish method, which was the tenth hour from sunrise. The other three Gospel writers use Jewish time, but John uses Roman time, counting from midnight and noon as we do. If we miss this, John 19:14 creates a difficulty. It says our Lord was still in the hall before Pilate at the sixth hour. Yet the other Gospels tell us He was on the cross at that time. This "tenth hour" was probably ten o'clock in the morning.
Either way, those hours did not stay private.
The tenth hour left two hours of the day. Oh, those two hours with Jesus! I ask you, have you ever spent two hours with Jesus? I am sure that if you have, you have come out and tried to take somebody else back to enjoy what you enjoyed. These disciples did. Individual testimony comes out at once, and let me tell you that quiet personal testimony is often worth far more than public preaching.
The stay was short. Yet writers see in it a picture of something lasting.
There is no doubt about the joy of His own heart in inviting them to "Come and you will see." We are not told where the Lord was living at this time. What matters more to us is that this is a picture of His eternal dwelling. They stayed with Him only that day, but "we shall dwell with God's Beloved through God's eternal day."
- Desire — a soul moving toward Christ is never brushed aside; He knows how weak it is and draws it on by gentleness.
- Invitation — His answer gives access, not information; no words can describe His home, so you must come and see.
- Company — they came, saw, and stayed; nothing in His home competed with Him, so the Person who attracted them also kept them.
- Hour — commentators divide over whether the tenth hour means about 4 p.m. by Jewish reckoning or ten in the morning by Roman.
- Overflow — hours with Jesus send a person out to find someone else; and one day with Him points on to God's eternal day.