243
already being disciples of John * and working at their own craft and attending to their discipleship, having likewise spent the first day with Jesus, on the next day, having departed, they were again occupied in fishing, as the sequences of the other gospels have it. For after Jesus went out on the morrow, the sequence immediately states that "on the third day a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding." But from both the words of the minute detail and the hypothesis, it must be understood that he also took along other disciples, who remained with him, perhaps those with Nathanael and Philip and some others. For those with Andrew withdrew; but those who had remained with him were also invited to the wedding. And after performing this first sign, he went down to the parts of Capernaum and dwelt there. And from then on he began to perform other signs there, when he healed the hand of the one who had it withered, but also the mother-in-law of Peter, who was from Bethsaida but had married from Capernaum, these places not being far apart in distance, he released her from the fever and having been healed she served; so that this is * the sequence. And after these things, when he returned again to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, then he read the book of Isaiah the prophet, he himself from then on anticipating them and saying that "Doubtless you will say to me this proverb, 'Physician, heal yourself; whatever signs we have heard were done in Capernaum, do also here in your hometown'." And do you see how 2.269 the sequence is of the truth? "And he did not do," it says, "any sign because of their unbelief." And passing on from there to Capernaum, he dwelt there again. And coming to the parts of the sea, as Matthew says, he saw Simon Peter and Andrew his brother casting their nets, and again James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and he called them finally, and casting aside their nets from then on, they followed him. But Luke also indicates the precision of the matter, that they followed from then on irrevocably, no longer putting off the call, saying that "when he came to the lake of Gennesaret, he saw Simon and Andrew mending the nets and he got into the boat, which was Simon's," he says, "Peter's and Andrew's." And this signifies that he was already known to them, wherefore because of their acquaintance they also received him, and going up he sat down; when he says to Peter after the teaching, "Put out into the deep and let down the nets," and they said "Master," for they already called him Master because of the testimony of John, those who had previously heard concerning him that "behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," and because they remained with him for one day. And on the second they went out afterwards for a catch, at the multitude of their fish they marvelled and Peter said that "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord;" for perhaps he even repented for having been called previously and returning to the fish and the whole work of fishing. But he said "Do not be afraid," encouraging him, that he was not forbidden but still is able to hold to the call, because, he says, from now on you will be catching men; when they also signaled to the partners in the other boat to come to help with the same catch. For they were partners, as he says, with Simon; just as has been previously shown by me from this hypothesis of the two who followed 2.270 him, having heard from John *, of which two one was Andrew, as we have said, we having understood most excellently that the other was again perhaps one of the sons of Zebedee on account of his being a co-worker and partner and associate. And from then on, after all these things, the four, having left behind both the boats and simply everything, as he says, having left them on the land, followed him, as the testimony of Luke has it. So that from
243
Ἰωάννῃ ἤδη μαθητευόμενοι * καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν τέχνην ἐργαζόμενοι καὶ τῇ μαθητείᾳ προσανέχοντες, ὡσαύτως καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἰησοῦ ποιήσαντες πρώτην ἡμέραν, τῇ ἑξῆς ἀπελθόντες πάλιν ἐν τῇ ἁλείᾳ ἐσχόλαζον, ὡς ἔχουσιν αἱ ἀκολουθίαι τῶν ἑτέρων εὐαγγελίων. μετὰ γὰρ τὸ τῇ αὔριον ἐξελθεῖν τὸν Ἰησοῦν εὐθὺς ἡ ἀκολουθία φάσκει ὅτι «τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ γάμος ἐγένετο ἐν Κανᾷ τῆς Γαλιλαίας καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· ἐκλήθη δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν γάμον». ἀπὸ δὲ ἑκατέρων τῶν τῆς λεπτολογίας ῥημάτων καὶ ὑποθέσεως ἰστέον ἐστίν, ὅτι καὶ ἑτέρους συμπαρείληφε μαθητάς, οἵτινες σὺν αὐτῷ ἔμειναν, τάχα δὲ οἱ περὶ Ναθαναὴλ καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ ἄλλοι τινές. οἱ γὰρ περὶ Ἀνδρέαν ἀνεχώρησαν· οἱ δὲ παρ' αὐτῷ μεμενηκότες ἐκλήθησαν καὶ αὐτοὶ εἰς τοὺς γάμους. καὶ μετὰ τὰ ποιῆσαι τοῦτο πρῶτον σημεῖον κατελθὼν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς Καφαρναοὺμ ἐκεῖ κατῴκησε. καὶ λοιπὸν σημεῖα ἐκεῖ ἄρχεται ἐργάζεσθαι ἕτερα, ὅτε τὴν τοῦ ξηρὰν ἔχοντος χεῖρα ἰάσατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν πενθερὰν τοῦ Πέτρου, τοῦ μὲν ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ ὄντος γήμαντος δὲ ἀπὸ Καφαρναούμ, οὐ μακρὰν ὄντων τῶν τόπων τούτων τῷ διαστήματι, ταύτην ἀπὸ τοῦ πυρετοῦ ἀνῆκεν καὶ θεραπευθεῖσα διηκόνει· ὥστε εἶναι * ταύτην τὴν ἀκολουθίαν. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πάλιν αὐτοῦ ἀναστρέψαντος εἰς τὴν Ναζαρέτ, ὅπου ἦν ἀνατεθραμμένος, τότε ἀνέγνω τὸ βιβλίον Ἠσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου, αὐτοῦ λοιπὸν προλαβόντος αὐτοὺς καὶ λέγοντος ὅτι «πάντως ἐρεῖτέ μοι τὴν παραβολήν, ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν· ὅσα ἠκούσαμεν σημεῖα γενόμενα ἐν Καφαρναούμ, ποίησον καὶ ὧδε ἐν τῇ πατρίδι σου». καὶ ὁρᾷς ὡς 2.269 ἔστιν τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ ἀκολουθία; «καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησε διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν αὐτῶν, φησίν, σημεῖον οὐδέν». κἀκεῖθεν παρελθὼν εἰς τὴν Καφαρναοὺμ πάλιν κατῴκησε. καὶ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὰ μέρη τῆς θαλάσσης, ὥς φησιν ὁ Ματθαῖος, εἶδε Σίμωνα Πέτρον καὶ Ἀνδρέαν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ βάλλοντας τὰ δίκτυα καὶ πάλιν Ἰάκωβον καὶ Ἰωάννην υἱοὺς Ζεβεδαίου, καὶ τέλεον αὐτοὺς ἐκάλεσε καὶ ῥίψαντες λοιπὸν τὰ δίκτυα ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν σημαίνει τοῦ πράγματος, ὅτι καὶ ἠκολούθησαν λοιπὸν ἀμεταστρεπτὶ μηκέτι ἀναβαλλόμενοι τῆς κλήσεως, φήσας ὅτι «ἐλθόντος αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν λίμνην Γεννησαρέθ, εἶδε Σίμωνα καὶ Ἀνδρέαν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, ὃ ἦν Σίμωνος, φησίν, Πέτρου καὶ Ἀνδρέου» τοῦτο δὲ σημαίνει, ὡς ἤδη ὄντος αὐτοῦ αὐτοῖς ἐν γνώσει διὸ διὰ τὴν συνήθειαν καὶ προσήκαντο καὶ ἀνελθὼν ἐκάθισεν· ὅτε λέγει τῷ Πέτρῳ μετὰ τὴν διδασκαλίαν «ἐπανάγαγε εἰς τὸ βάθος καὶ χαλάσατε τὰ δίκτυα», οἱ δὲ εἶπον «ἐπιστάτα» ἤδη γὰρ διὰ τὴν τοῦ Ἰωάννου μαρτυρίαν ἐπιστάτην αὐτὸν ἐκάλουν οἱ πρότερον περὶ αὐτοῦ ἀκούσαντες ὅτι «ἰδού, ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ αἴρων τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τοῦ κόσμου», καὶ ὅτι παρ' αὐτῷ ἔμειναν τὴν μίαν ἡμέραν. καὶ εἰς τὴν δευτέραν ἐξῆλθον μετέπειτα ἄγραν, ἐπὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἰχθύων αὐτῶν θαυμασάντων καὶ Πέτρου λέγοντος ὅτι «ἔξελθε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ, ὅτι ἀνὴρ ἁμαρτωλός εἰμι, κύριε»· τάχα γὰρ καὶ μετεμέλετο διὰ τὸ πρότερον αὐτὸν κεκλῆσθαι καὶ ἐπιστρέψαι ἐπὶ τοὺς ἰχθύας καὶ τὴν πᾶσαν ἐργασίαν τῆς ἁλείας. ὁ δὲ εἶπε «μὴ φοβοῦ», παραθαρσύνων αὐτόν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπηγορεύθη ἀλλὰ ἔτι δύναται τῆς κλήσεως ἔχεσθαι, ὅτι, φησίν, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν ἀνθρώπους ἔσῃ ζωγρῶν· ὅτε καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις τοῖς ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ πλοίῳ ἔνευσαν εἰς σύλληψιν ἥκειν τῆς αὐτῆς ἄγρας. ἦσαν γὰρ κοινωνοί, ὥς φησι, τῷ Σίμωνι· καθάπερ ἄνω κἀμοὶ προδεδήλωται ἐκ τῆς ὑποθέσεως ταύτης τῶν δύο μὲν ἀκολουθησάντων 2.270 αὐτῷ παρὰ Ἰωάννου δὲ ἀκηκοότων *, ὧν δύο εἷς ἦν ὁ Ἀνδρέας, καθὼς ἔφημεν, διανενοημένοι καλλίστως τὸν ἕτερον εἶναι πάλιν τάχα ἕνα τῶν υἱῶν Ζεβεδαίου διά τε τὸ συνεργὸν καὶ μέτοχον καὶ κοινωνικόν. καὶ λοιπὸν μετὰ ταῦτα πάντα καταλείψαντες οἱ τέσσαρες τά τε πλοῖα καὶ ἁπλῶς ἅπαντα, ὥς φησιν, ἀφέντες εἰς τὴν γῆν ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ, ὡς ἔχει ἡ τοῦ Λουκᾶ μαρτυρία. ὥστε ἐξ