The Friday after the Festival of the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 10, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. John 1:35-42 (NKJV)
1:35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Devotion
The wise men were the first Gentiles to hear about, see, and believe on Jesus, and then several decades pass before there is any mention in the Scriptures about a Gentile interaction with our Lord. Today, we are presented with the calling of our Lord’s first Apostles. These are the men who would go into all the nations, teaching them about the Lord Jesus and baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
St. Andrew is the Apostle mentioned by St. John to be one of the two disciples of St. John the Baptist who would follow Jesus. The other was St. John himself, but he does not name himself. St. Peter is also mentioned as the brother of St. Andrew. We can assume, then, that St. James, the brother of St. John, is also among these first Apostles called by our Lord.
St. Andrew would preach in Greece and Turkey. St. Peter would be the first to preach to a Gentile. Cornelius, a Roman centurion of Caesarea, would have a vision of an angel telling him to summon one named Peter. St. Peter in turn had a dream about eating unclean things. He would meet with Cornelius, and having heard the Word of the Lord, Cornelius and his entire family would be baptized. Eventually, by the preaching and teaching of the Apostles, the entire Gentile world would hear of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Collect: O God, Who by the leading of a star didst manifest Thine Only-begotten Son to the Gentiles: Mercifully grant, that we, who know Thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of Thy glorious Godhead; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
