gospel · 28 · Bethany beyond the Jordan
John tells the calling differently from the synoptics and earlier: two of the Baptist's own disciples heard him say 'behold, the Lamb of God' and followed. One was Andrew; the other John never names, which is why the tradition has always taken him for John himself. Andrew went first to find his brother Simon — 'we have found the Messiah' — and Jesus looked at him and said he would be called Cephas. The next day Philip, and Philip found Nathanael under the fig tree. Andrew's going first for his brother is the whole of his Eastern title: Protokletos, the First-Called.
Four of the Twelve are called, and Simon is given the name Cephas.