The next day John was standing there again with two of his
disciples, when he saw Jesus walking by. "There is the Lamb of
God!" he said. The two disciples heard him say this and went with
Jesus. Jesus turned, saw them following him, and asked, "What are
you looking for?"
They answered, "Where do you live, Rabbi?" (This word means
"Teacher".)
"Come and see," he answered. (It was then about four o'clock in
the afternoon.) So they went with him and saw where he lived, and
spent the rest of that day with him. One of them was Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother. At once he found his brother Simon and told him,
"We have found the Messiah." (This word means "Christ".) Then he
took Simon to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "Your name is Simon son of John, but
you will be called Cephas." (This is the same as Peter and means "a
rock".)
Throughout Advent and Christmas we hear about the
miraculous births of both Jesus and John the Baptist. In this
reading the two come together in a dramatic way which has a great
impact on the disciples. The story brings out the relationships
between disciples and a special play on words (pun) where Jesus
speaks of Peter as being the 'rock' on which the church will be
built.