James and John
| Mark 1:19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James[1] the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. | Matt 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James[1] the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. |
John 1:43 [2] The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
John 1:44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael [3], and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write [4], Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
John 1:46a And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
John 1:46b Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
John 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!
John 1:48a Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me?
John 1:48b Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree [5], I saw thee.
John 1:49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
John 1:50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily [6], I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man [7].
[1] Note that James appears 12 times in Mark (1:19, 1:29, 3:17, 5:37, 6:3, 9:2, 10:35, 10:41, 13:3, 14:33, 15:40, 16:1), six times in Matthew (4:21, 10:2, 13:55, 17:1, 27:56), and seven times in Luke (5:10, 6:14, 6:15, 8:51, 9:28, 9:54, 24:10) but not at all in John. There is a possibility that the James listed in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 and called the brother of Jesus is not the same as the James in the other verses, and in this case there are two James' who John does not mention.
[2]Matthew and Mark place Jesus in Galilee before he meets Andrew and Simon Peter.
[3]Nathanael appears again in John 21:2, but does not appear in any of the other gospels.
[4]For example: Deuteronomy 18:15 The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken.
[5]Zechariah 3:10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree. See also Micah 4:4 and 1 Kings 4:25 (Interpreter's One-Volume Commentary, p. 711).
[6]John uses the phrase "Verily, verily, I say unto you/thee" in 3:3, 3:5, 3:11, 5:19, 5:24, 5:25, 6:26, 6:32, 6:47, 6:53, 8:34, 8:51, 8:58, 10:1, 10:7, 12:24, 13:16, 13:20, 13:21, 13:38, 14:12, 16:20, 16:23, 21:18. In the other three gospels Jesus uses the phrase "Verily I say unto you/thee."
[7]Genesis 28:12 And he [the prophet Jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
