The
Apostles –
Becoming Unified Through Diversity
·
Andrew
was often known as "Peter's brother" (John 6:8; Matt. 4:18, 10:2;
Luke 6:14). I wonder how Andrew felt, always being in Peter's shadow (see Acts
5:15) John had to contend with that with James, but unlike the "Sons of
Thunder", Andrew was quieter and more spiritual
·
We
first meet Andrew near Bethany (John 1:28) a ways from his hometown of
Bethsaida (1:44) Andrew was there because he had already become a disciple of
John the Baptist (1:35,40) Many people had heard of John (Mark 1:5), and Andrew
was drawn to John's message (Mark 1:14)
·
John
spoke of one to come (1:15,23) Andrew must have wondered whom John was talking
about. Andrew soon found out (1:35,36) At this point, Andrew started to follow
Jesus (1:37), and eventually spent the day with Jesus (1:39)
·
After
this experience, the first thing Andrew did was to go tell his brother Peter
that they had found the Messiah! (1:41) From the beginning, we see Andrew
spiritually tuned to the Lord
·
Andrew's
spiritual fervor is a contrast to Peter, James and John. Andrew traveled a ways
from his home to follow John, and then was interested enough to follow Jesus
and spend time with him. However, Andrew would soon face a painful experience.
·
Because
John confronted Herod about his adulterous affair with Herodius, King Herod and
John imprisoned (Matt. 4:12; 14:3-5) After John was imprisoned, his disciples
seemed to scatter. Andrew returned to Galilee. Even Jesus went to Galilee (Mark
1:14). There, Peter, James, John and Andrew probably had many chances to hear
Jesus teach and preach. It was there in Galilee that Jesus called these four as
disciples (Matt. 4:18-19) Again, think of the motivations that each of these
four men had when they decided to follow Jesus
·
In
Mark 1:21-39, Jesus was staying in Andrew's home. There Jesus healed Peter's
mother-in-law. From there Jesus slipped away to pray, and it was Peter who led
a search for him (Mark 1:35) From this point, Peter begins to take the reigns
of leadership with the disciples.
·
Consider
what Andrew had to struggle with. He was the first to become convinced that
Jesus was the Messiah. He seemed to be the most spiritual. He was the one who
brought Peter to Jesus. Andrew started out being listed second in the list of
apostles (Matt. 10:2, Luke 6:14) But as we've seen, Jesus chose Peter, James
and John as his inner circle. From second to fourth…
·
Yet,
we never see Andrew complain about his position. Instead, we see evidence of
his faith growing. (See John 6:7-9) Another time, we see Andrew bringing others
to Christ (John 12:20-22)
·
Sometimes,
Andrew was with the inner circle (Mark 13:2-4) Andrew was a good example of
what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 20:25-28
#1) Jesus needs many people like
Andrew, true servant leaders who will build His church
#2) Some of the strongest and
most effective people in Christian ministry are behind the scenes
For
next week read John 1:43-45; John 6:1-13; John 14:1-11
