Read John 6:1-15

ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which means ‘Christ’)”  (John 1:40-41, NLT).

When we think of God’s people, we tend to think one of two things. We might think of the Israelites who were God’s “chosen people”, or we might think of specific characters in the Bible. Either way, we tend to idealize the people we are thinking about. For instance, we may think that God’s people are super faithful, holy, perform miracles and live wholly devout and righteous lives. Unfortunately, this idealism enables us to distance ourselves from being God’s people, because we feel that we fall short of those ideals. As such, I have decided to write a devotion series on specific characters in the Bible in order to show you how much these Biblical people are truly like us, and how much we are truly called to be God’s people.

Part 166: Andrew. When it comes to the disciples there are a few we know without thinking hard about. Peter is the first to come to mind because he was not only the first called by Jesus, but he also was the one who Jesus renamed from Simon to Peter and said that he was the “rock” or “pebble” (depending on interpretation of the Greek) upon which Christ was going to build his church.  The next are a pair of disciples named James and John. John is the most known of those two; however, because James is so often paired with him they get notoriety together. They are the one’s Jesus humorously and affectionately nicknamed Boanerges, or Sons of Thunder. They must have been a fiery pair.

Another disciple who is forever etched in our memory is Matthew, the reformed tax collector, as well as Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. Then, perhaps, we might remember Andrew, who was Peter’s brother, if we remember him at all. Of course, most who have read the gospels will remember him; however, outside of Biblical literacy, there is a less likely chance that someone would remember Andrew alongside the aforementioned disciples.

With all of that said, Andrew was actually among the core leadership with in the group of twelve disciples. Since his name was always mentioned after Peter’s, it can be safely presumed that Andrew was most likely Peter’s younger brother. While we cannot be sure why Andrew is less present when Jesus’ is alone with his “inner circle”, he was among the four disciples who were closest to Jesus.

Andrew has rightly become known as the disciple who brought people into a personal relationship with Christ. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the events a bit differently, in John 1:40-42, we find that Andrew was the one who brought his brother Simon to meet Jesus. In the Synoptic Gospels, it just states that Jesus saw Peter and Andrew fishing and called out to them. This could be simply away of just condensing the story.

In John, on the other hand, the account is more fleshed out with detail. For instance, we learn that Andrew and the beloved disciple (who may or may not have been John) were followers the Baptist, who pointed Jesus out to them as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. From that point on, Andrew and the beloved disciple followed Jesus and Andrew brought Jesus to Simon, who was renamed Cephas (which is Aramaic for Peter).

Also, when Jesus was preaching to the multitude (over 5,000 men, women and children), Jesus asked the disciples to feed the people. They all begin to panic, for how could they possibly feed that many people. It was in this moment that Andrew spoke up and brought a little boy to Jesus, and pointed out that this boy had a basket with five loaves of bread and two fish. Here, again, Andrew was bringing someone into contact and relationship with the Lord.

Yet, Andrew was not necessarily a person with rock solid faith. In fact, as you will see, none of the disciples were. In the same breath that he pointed out the boy to Jesus, he anxiously marveled, “But what good are [these 5 loaves and 2 fish] with a crowd this size?” Even Andrew, who proclaimed to Simon Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41), found himself lacking in faith in the midst of seemingly impossible circumstances. Yet, the Lord did not reject Andrew as a result of his faithlessness, rather he performed a miraculous sign out of the meager offering of the boy Andrew brought to him.

The question for us is this: do we find ourselves doubting even though we know that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords? The challenge for us is to step out in faith even when the odds seem squarely against us. The challenge is to let Christ work IN SPITE of the circumstances. The challenge for us is also to trust that even when we fail and/or fall short, that Christ does not reject us, but works in spite of us and shows us that he truly is in control. Let us be a people who, like Andrew, eagerly bring people to the Lord even when we are not certain where we stand on the circumstances around us. Let us dare to bring people to the One who is not imprisoned by the fear that shackles us.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

PRAYER
Lord, thank you for loving me even when I fail to live into the faith you’ve called me. Give me an eagerness to share your love with others and bring them into a relationship with you. Amen.