Understanding the Twelve-Andrew
“35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.”
John 1:35-40
Not every one of the disciples took center stage like Simon Peter. Some were happy taking the moment to sit back and learn as much as they could, this is the case for our next disciple, Andrew.
It is rather funny that the brother of Simon Peter, is hardly mentioned at all. However, this does not make him less valuable as a disciple than Peter, and as we will see Andrew was the one who introduced Peter to Jesus.
In John 1:35-40, we see that Andrew is following John the Baptist, who had been going out and declaring the soon coming of the Messiah. Because of this, we can see that Andrew was already on the look out for Christ, this is why when John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew leaves to follow after Him.
The next recorded instance we have of Andrew is him seeking out his brother. “41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).” John 1:41-42. From this we can determine a remarkable trait about Andrew, he brings others to Christ.
This trait is shown again when Jesus feeds the five thousand. While the other disciples are floundering and trying to figure out how to feed the masses, Andrew brings an unlikely solution to the problem.
“4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” 10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.”
John 6:4-11
Once again we see that Andrew is bringing someone to Christ. Unlike other religious leaders of the day, Andrew wanted to bring whoever he could to Jesus no matter who they were. Andrew was able to identify that God loved everyone and wanted to bring them to Him.
Now this doesn’t mean that Andrew acted completely without doubt, in fact, we see it in this passage. After bringing the boy to Jesus, Andrew then follows up with “What are these five loaves and two small fish to feed a crowd”. While he might have doubted if Jesus could feed the masses with such a small offering, Andrew was still willing to bring it to Him and see what He would do. How easy would it have been for him to turn the boy away? To see the small sacrifice that the boy was making and determine that it wasn’t enough? However, Andrew did neither of these things. He brought the boy and his gift to Jesus, and then allowed God to do the work. This shows a man of remarkable faith!
After Jesus’s ascension, Andrew goes out to preach to the Scythians (modern day Ukraine, Southern Russia, and Central Asia) as well as the Thracian (modern day Southeast Europe, Northeastern Greece, and European Turkey). Like his brother, Andrew felt unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus. Instead, he was crucified on an “X” shaped cross and was buried at Patrae, a town of Achaia, which is in modern day Greece.
Andrew can teach believers today that you don’t need to be loud to lead others to Christ. Sometimes all you need is the willingness to bring them to Jesus and allow Him to mold others into who He needs them to be.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex