The day following Jesus went forth into Galilee, and found Philip, and said unto him,
Follow me.
All Commentaries on John 1:43 Go To John 1
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
On the morrow, &c. That out of Galilee He might call untutored fishermen, to create them His Apostles, and the preachers of His Gospel, lest the Christian faith should be supposed to be the work of Prayer of Manasseh , not of God. For the Apostles were Galileans. For the Galileans were poor and ignoble in comparison with the Jews who were sprung from Judah, which was the royal tribe.
He findeth Philippians , not by chance, but going of set purpose to the place where He knew Philip was. There He found him whom He carefully sought, and whom He destined to be an Apostle.
And Jesus saith unto him. This is the first exterior calling by Christ. For Peter and Andrew were first called by an inward inspiration, not outwardly by Christ"s external voice, but by hearing the voice of John the Baptist their master saying of Christ, Behold the Lamb of God! They were not called by Him, but of their own accord they came to Jesus, in order to find out His doctrine and life, but not, as it were, about to become His sure and firm disciples. Thus Toletus. To Philip therefore this praise and glory is due that he was the first of all to hear Christ say, follow Me, and to experience an outward call at the same time that the Holy Ghost influenced his mind inwardly; and obedient to this vocation he straightway followed Christ, for he was himself a student of the Mosaic law, and anxious about the coming of Christ, as Theophylact says. Theophylact gives as the cause of his following the attractive voice of Christ, "The voice of the Lord seems to have touched his mind as it were with a goad of love." For it was not merely the Saviour"s voice which spoke, but He forthwith made those to whom He spoke worthy to be inflamed with His love, even as Cleophas said, "Did not our heart burn within us, whilst He talked with us by the way?"
