be known
throughout all later history: "Thou art Simon the son of Jona; thou
shalt be called Cephas." The new name thus bestowed is the Aramaic or
Syro-Chaldaic equivalent of the Greek "Petros," and of the present
English "Peter," meaning "a stone."[319]

On the following day Jesus set out for Galilee, possibly accompanied by
some or all of his newly-made disciples; and on the way He found a man
named Philip, in whom He recognized another choice son of Israel. Unto
Philip He said: "Follow me." It was customary with rabbis and other
teachers of that time to strive for popularity, that many might be drawn
to them to sit at their feet and be known as their disciples. Jesus,
however, selected His own immediate associates; and, as He found them
and discerned in them the spirits who, in their preexistent state had
been chosen for the earthly mission of the apostleship, He summoned
them. They were the servants; He was the Master.[320]

Philip soon found his friend Nathanael, to whom he testified that He of
whom Moses and the prophets had written had at last been found; and that
He was none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael, as his later
history demonstrates, was a righteous man, earnest in his hope and
expectation of the Messiah, yet seemingly imbued with the belief common
throughout Jewry--that the Christ was to come in royal state as seemed
befitting the Son of David. The mention of such a One coming from
Nazareth, the reputed son of a humble carpenter, provoked wonder if not
incredulity in the guileless mind of Nathanael, and he exclaimed: "Can
there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip's answer was a
repetition of Christ's words to Andrew and John--"Come and see."
Nathanael left his seat under the fig tree,[321] where Philip had found
him, and went to see for himself. As he approached, Jesus said: "Behold
an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile." Nathanael saw that Jesus
could read his mind, and asked in surprize: "Whence knowest thou me?" In
reply Jesus showed even greater powers of penetration and perception
under conditions that made ordinary observation unlikely if not
impossible: "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the
fig tree, I saw thee." Nathanael replied with conviction: "Rabbi, thou
art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." Earnest as the man's
testimony was, it rested mainly on his recognition of what he took to be
a supernatural power in Jesus; our Lord assured him th