GEJ 1.8

This text too follows from the preceding ones and is more historical than spiritual. For here begins the familiar acceptance of the apostles, still entirely material in its nature at first, in the same area where John was active: Bethabara, an extremely poor little township inhabited by poor fishermen. For this reason, the two disciples immediately ask about My lodging, in effect asking which hut I live in.

For before the baptism I Myself had spent forty days in this area, preparing My human nature through fasting and other exercises for the teaching ministry about to begin. It is therefore also historically clear and certain that I must have had some lodging in that township for this purpose. It lay in that same desolate and most inhospitable area which I had recognized as the most suitable for My intention.

The two disciples knew very well that I had been living in this area for some time. They had probably already seen Me there several times and probably knew who I was. They therefore immediately asked not about My actual birthplace, but only about My lodging in Bethabara. The township consisted mainly of the poorest fishermen’s huts, built of clay and reeds, often scarcely high enough for a man to stand upright inside.

I too lived in a similar hut, fairly deep in the wilderness, which was the work of My hands. From this derive the hermitages still found today in almost all Christian lands.

This lodging was therefore not far from the place where John was active. So I said to the two disciples: ‘Come and see!’ Both then followed Me without hesitation, soon reached My lodging with Me, and were greatly astonished that God’s Anointed One lived in almost the most inconspicuous hut of all, in one of the most inhospitable parts of this wilderness!

This did not take place at the time when Christian communities now customarily observe the forty-day fast, but two months later. When we reached the lodging, it was the tenth hour by the reckoning of that time, or about three in the afternoon by present-day reckoning, since sunrise then determined the first hour of the day. But as sunrise does not always occur at the same time, the divisions of the day then called ‘hours’ can be matched to the present division of the day only approximately, not exactly. That is why I said above: It was about three in the afternoon when I, with the two disciples … [The sentence breaks off syntactically here in the 1871 edition.] The two spent that day with Me until sunset. Every inquiring reader will therefore surely wonder what the three of us did in and around My lodging from three until about eight o’clock. For nothing about it is written anywhere. The matter is, so to speak, self-evident: I instructed the two about their future calling and also showed them how and where I would first begin My teaching ministry, and how I would accept several more people of their spirit and will as My disciples in this area. At the same time, I instructed them to inquire and consult among their companions, most of whom were also fishermen, as to whether any would be willing to join Me. This was our conversation during that time. When evening came, I dismissed the two, and they returned to their families, in part, but also deep in thought; for they had wives and children and did not know what they should do with them.

One of the two, named Andrew, soon makes up his mind and wishes to follow Me at any cost. He therefore immediately seeks his brother Simon, who was still busy somewhere with his fishing nets.

When he finds him after some searching, he has nothing more important to do than hastily begin telling Simon that he has found the promised Messiah together with another disciple. This other disciple’s resolve to follow Me was not so firm.

When Simon hears Me spoken of in this way, he eagerly expresses the wish to see Me as soon as possible, since he had not been present at the baptism. Andrew says: ‘It cannot conveniently be arranged today, but tomorrow you shall be with Him at daybreak.’

Simon, who was constantly dreaming of the Messiah in everything he did, and believed that the Messiah would help the poor and utterly destroy the hardhearted rich, then says: ‘Brother, there is not a moment to lose! I will leave everything at once and follow Him to the ends of the earth if He asks it. So take me to Him immediately, for I feel a mighty urgency and must speak to Him today. The night is bright, and His hut is not far away, so let us set out for Him at once! Who knows whether we would still find Him tomorrow?’

At this insistence, Andrew leads him to Me. As the two approach My lodging, already quite late at night, Peter stops about thirty paces away, overcome with sweet delight, and says to Andrew: ‘I feel strange! A sublime, sweet trembling takes hold of me. I scarcely dare to take another step, and yet I have such a burning desire to see Him!’

Here I come out of My hut to meet the two brothers. This is what is said and shown by the statement that I saw him. It is self-evident that being seen by Me signifies My coming to meet someone who, like Simon, comes to Me above all in his heart. For this reason he is also immediately recognized by Me, that is, accepted, and a new name is his first share in My kingdom. Simon immediately receives here the name Cephas, or ‘a rock in faith in Me’, for I had long seen what spirit Peter is and was covered with.

For Peter, or Simon, this address of Mine was sufficient proof that I was unquestionably the promised Messiah. From then on he gave no further room in his heart to any doubt about Me, nor did he ever ask Me so much as a word about whether I was really the right One; for his heart was his sole sure and valid guarantee. Both now remained with Me until morning and no longer left Me.