This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, an act of which is perhaps as great a service to the Church as ever any one did. Jesus gave the newcomer a searching look and proceeded to rename him. This must be understood in the light of the significance attached to the “name” in antiquity. It stood for the whole person. It summed up the entire personality. The giving of a new name is an assertion of the authority of the giver (e.g., 2 Kings 23:34; 24:17). When done by God it speaks in an addition of a new character in which the person henceforth appears (e.g., Gen. 32:28). There is something of both ideas here. Simon is from this time Jesus’ man. But he is also a different man, and the new name points to his character as “the rock”. Peter appears in all the Gospels as anything but a rock. He is impulsive, volatile, unreliable. But that was not God’s last word for Peter. Jesus’ renaming of the man points to the change that would be wrought in him by the power of God. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Three times Andrew is doing something in this gospel. And each time he is bringing someone to Jesus. First, his brother, Simon (v.40). Then, a boy with five barley loaves and two fish (6:8); and finally, “some Greeks” (12:20-22), which signals the hour for the Son of Man to be glorified. Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. It was about four in the afternoon. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 Then he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you will be called Kephas” (which is translated Peter).  Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” 

As the two approached Jesus he turned and asked, “What are you looking for?” Jesus initiates the conversation and the question makes sense in the narrative flow. But also note that these are Jesus’ first words in this gospel and forms one of the central questions of the gospel: what do people seek when they follow Jesus? Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time. Each year in the Lectionary Cycle (A: Matthew; B:Mark; C:Luke) the gospel for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time is taken from the first chapter of the Gospel according to John. The purpose for this is essentially the same – following the baptism of the Lord, which reveals the relationship of the Father to the Son and to the Holy Spirit – this week’s gospel reveals the relationship of Jesus to the disciples.  And perhaps no one does so more robustly than the Fourth Evangelist. Continue reading →