So we have seen that the New Testament only gives us 3 personal pictures of Andrew. And we see from these 3 incidents that he was a man who brought others to Christ, including his famous brother, Simon Peter.
Notes
1. Andrew's first mission field was his family. "We have found the Messiah!" he proclaimed to his brother.
Not, "we might have..", "we think we have..." "we want your opinion..."
No, he declared as clearly as a gold miner might cry out: "Eureka! I found it!"
WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH!
The long-expected and longed-for Messiah, the Son of God, the Anointed of God to redeem His people had arrived!
There was no doubt in Andrew's mind.
It was true then, and it is true now, that most people who come to Christ, come because of a testimony of another family member. The biggest mission field in the world is right at our own doorstep.
2. Andrew was sure of his message because he had spent many hours with Christ. From 4 PM until the following morning he had experienced being in the presence of God. We don't know what they discussed, likely much like Jesus' words to the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24) when they reported, "were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
Andrew did not go into great explanation to Simon. He did not argue. He did not "set up" the conversation with questions and thought-provoking
scenarios. Just a statement: "We have found the Messiah!"
When we have spent time with Jesus, our hearts will "burn within us" and we will feel compelled to go to our family and friends, with fervor and confidence.
"Come and you will see," Jesus had told them. And they did.
3. What happened to Andrew? According to tradition, Andrew was crucified during the reign of Nero, about 60 AD, in Patrae, Greece. We are told he "embraced" his cross and welcomed the opportunity to suffer as Christ suffered.
A more recent legend (14th century or so) tell us that he was given (or requested) an X-shaped cross, like we see today on his icons for his position as Patron Saint of both Scotland and Russia, as well as various
old manuscript illustrations and tapestries and paintings.
Questions
1. When Andrew brought his brother to Jesus, do you think he knew he would himself take a smaller role in the group of followers around Jesus? Did he anticipate that his brother would eclipse him in position and influence?
(Andrew is always listed in the group of disciples as one of the first four - along with Peter, James and John.)
2. Why do you think Andrew told Jesus about the young boy with a few loaves and fishes in John 6 at the Feeding of the Five Thousand event?
3. What do you admire most in Andrew's life? What would you wish to imitate?
4. When the Greek came to Philip and asked to meet Christ, why do you think Philip went to Andrew first? Why did the Greeks approach Philip?
Philip was a Greek name, meaning, "lover of horses" and was a popular name among Greeks, probably because of Alexander the Great's famous father, Philip of Macedon, who lived in the 4th century BC.
Did Philip perhaps speak Greek? (Andrew was also a Greek name.)
AfterThoughts
Hardly anyone remembers the name of Mr. Edward Kimball. But he was a very influential man and his dedication to Christ's mission changed the lives of thousands about a hundred years ago, just as Andrew's testimony to his brother Peter changed history two thousand years ago.
Mr. Kimball was a Sunday School teacher at Mount Vernon Church (Boston) where one of his young students (age 16) was Dwight L. Moody.
On young Moody's first Sunday in class, Mr. Kimball handed him a closed Bible and told him the lesson was in John. Moody fingered the Bible, opened it and began looking for the text.
Other young boys began to react to his ignorance, making fun of him as he attempted to locate the proper place in scripture.
Mr. Kimball realized what was happening and gave him his own Bible which was already opened to the text. Moody recalled that kind act years later.
But just teaching Sunday School class was not Mr. Kimball's full mission. He also visited with his young students and sought every opportunity to explain the full gospel message to them.
He decided to visit Moody at his work (Moody was a shoe salesman at Holston's shoe store). Kimball relates later:
I started down to Holston's. When I was nearly
there, I began to wonder whether I ought to go
just then, during business hours. And I thought
maybe my mission might embarrass the boy, that
when I went away the other clerks might ask who
I was and when they learned they might taunt
Moody and ask if I was trying to make a good
boy out of him.
While I was pondering over it all, I passed the
store without noticing it. Then when I found I
had passed the door, I determined to make a
dash for it and have it over at once.
I found Moody in the back part of the store
wrapping up shoes in paper and putting them
on shelves.
I went up to him and out my hand on his shoulder,
and as I leaned over I made my plea, and I feel
it was a very weak one. I don't know what words I
used...I simply told him of Christ's love for him
and the love Christ wanted in return. That was all
there was to it.
I think Mr. Moody said later that there were
tears in my eyes. It seemed the young man was
just ready for the light that then broke over him,
for there in the back of that shoe store in Boston
the future great evangelist gave himself and his
life to Christ.
Later Mr. Moody recalled, "....here is a man who
never saw me until lately, and he is weeping over
my sins and I never shed a tear about them.
"But I understand it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for men's souls and weep over
their sins. I don't remember what he said, but I
can feel the power of that man's hand on my
shoulder here to-night."
~~~~~
Historical Marker
Historical Plaque commemorating the place where Dwight Moody was converted in 1855:
D. L. Moody
Christian Evangelist
Friend of Man
Founder of the
Northfield Schools
Was Converted to God
In a Shoe Store On
This Site
April 21, 1855
Christian Evangelist
Friend of Man
Founder of the
Northfield Schools
Was Converted to God
In a Shoe Store On
This Site
April 21, 1855
~~~~~
[Note: Notice Kimball's hesitation and second thoughts before he actually came to Moody and spoke with him. Ever feel that way?]
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