Jesus' Close Friend -- Andrew - Part 1

Jesus' Close Friend - Andrew

Setting the scene....

The River Jordan, where John the Baptizer is with two of his disciples (Andrew and the unnamed disciple - probably John, the brother of James, who later became the famous disciple of Jesus).

Jesus, returning from his 40 days in the wilderness,
had seen the Baptizer the day before and had requested that he himself be baptized. John reluctantly agreed and received the heavenly sign that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah.

Now Jesus approaches the area again.


     The next day John was there again with two of
     his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he
     said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

     When the two disciples heard him say this, they
     followed Jesus.

     Turning around, Jesus saw them following and
     asked, "What do you want?"

     They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher),
     "Where are you staying?"

     "Come," he replied, "and you will see."

     So they went and saw where he was staying
     and spent that day with him. It was about the
     tenth hour.

     Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the
     two who heard what John had said and who had
     followed Jesus.

     The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother
     Simon, and tell him, "We have found the
     Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him
     to Jesus.
                        --John 1:35-42



Scripture does not tell us a lot about Andrew. Certainly far less than of his famous brother, Simon Peter.

But we do know that Andrew is the one who first recognized the Messiah and the one who brought Peter to that same knowledge.

Mostly we refer to Andrew today as "The brother of Simon Peter."

What do we know about Andrew?

There are only three pictures of Andrew himself given us in the New Testament.

One is this glimpse here of Andrew's eagerness to share his great news -- We have found the Messiah -- with his prominent brother.


The second story is in John 6 when a multitude of spiritually hungry folks are listening to Christ's message (after all, He is the "Bread of Life") and it comes time for physical food to feed them.

Jesus asks his disciples, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (They were on the far side of the Sea of Galilee.)

Philip quickly answers, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

But Andrew, appearing before Jesus with a young boy, says, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves, and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

This story still amazes me. Why would Andrew even mention the boy with his small lunch? Did the other disciples roll their eyes in scorn?

"Andrew, for Pete's sake (pardon the pun), why are you bothering Jesus with that information?"

Was Andrew expecting something miraculous? We know from the early verses in John 6 that the crowds had been seeing the miraculous signs Jesus performed with the sick. Was Andrew looking for another miracle? Well, that's what he got! We call this event in  Christ's ministry The Feeding of the 5000.

If I had been there, would I have brought the boy over to Jesus and offered that small meal? Or would I have reacted like Philip -- looking for an earthly, human solution to a crisis?

But Andrew expressed some kind of positive trust and hope in his statement -- "What are they among so many?"


In the third picture of Andrew's life (recorded for us in John 12), some Greeks, in Israel to "worship", came to Philip and said they wanted to be introduced to Christ.

The text says they were "Greeks," not Hellenistic Jews. So they must have been Gentiles, perhaps hearing about the Passover Feast, in curiosity, traveling to Jerusalem to be part of what was going on.

Or maybe they had family in the Jewish faith and took this opportunity to visit them.

Or maybe they were "seekers" who were drawn to the Holy City who truly wanted to find and worship the One Holy God. 

This was Passover Week, the last week of Christ's ministry. Their famous request was, "We would like to see Jesus!"

So Philip went to Andrew and then both men went to Jesus and told him about the request from the Greeks.

Andrew Brings Others

So in these three brief glimpses of Andrew (from the beginning of Christ's ministry to the end) we see that he is someone to comes to Christ and who brings others.

As soon as he identified Christ he brought his brother. He brought the young boy with his meager lunch to Jesus. And then he comes with Philip to share the request of the Greeks visitors, who said they wanted to see Jesus.

Andrew does not rush off on his own (as perhaps his brother might) but he relies on his closeness to Jesus for his answers.

Notice in John 1 when Andrew and John (the other disciple referred to) meet Jesus they spent "the day" with him. Hours of listening to the Master, to the Teacher.

It was not until after these hours of sitting at the feet of Jesus that Andrew went to find his brother. Is there a lesson here for us?

AfterWords

When Things Happened

1. John the Baptizer baptized Jesus.

2. Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days.

3. John the Baptizer pointed out Jesus to Andrew and John (John 1:35: "Look, the Lamb of God!") and they followed Jesus to where He was staying.

4. Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter, and tells him, "We have found the Messiah!" Andrew brings him to Jesus.

5. John the Baptizer sent to prison by Herod for speaking out against his marriage to Herodias

6. Jesus begins His ministry in Galilee and calls His first official disciples: Peter and Andrew and James and John.

     After John was put in prison, Jesus went into

     Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

     "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom

     of God is near. Repent and  believe the good

     news!"  -- Mark 1:15


[Note: The Herod who arrested John the Baptizer was Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great (who, thirty years earlier, had the babies killed in the vicinity of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth, to destroy the new-born 'King of the Jews'. He was also, like his father, a cruel client king of Rome. He ruled an area smaller than his father's for about 40 years, and died a few years after Christ's crucifixion (39 AD).]