Faithful on Fridays Blog

Part Two

Andrew was a devoted disciple (learner) from the get-go. Beginning as a student of John the Baptizer he knew that Jesus was the Son of God. Andrew had a married brother (probably older) and shared in the commercial fishing business, plus a few friends from the same area of Bethsaida just north of the Sea of Galilee. Since his name means ‘a man’s man’ he was undoubtedly into sports, good food, and maybe even girls since history tells us ‘disciples’ were typically midteens. His calling is recounted in John 1:35-42 where he left the baptizer’s tutelage for Jesus’: the Lamb of God. Jesus turned and looked at Andrew and another one of John’s disciples (probably Philip) and asked, “What’s up?” They literally followed their new Rabbi and stayed with Him all day listening and learning. Was He explaining that He was the fulfillment of the ancient prophecies, maybe describing His mission on earth, but whatever it was Jesus invited them to “come and see.” In the lower story they’re in the presence of God made Man, but in the upper story Jesus was the Light of revelation John talked about (John 1:8). 

In his enthusiasm, Andrew’s first objective was find Simon, his big brother, and bring him to Jesus who unexpectedly prophesied his new name: Peter, the rock. In Matt. 4:18-20 we find Jesus walking along the shores of the Sea again and spotted these two brothers fishing and invited them to “follow Me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” 

Andrew’s heart was to tell his family first, make a commitment to follow Christ, and leave behind his former life for a new one. That’s brave. Even though little is mentioned about him, Andrew was present when Jesus taught, preached, healed, and delivered because he was part of The Twelve. Alongside the other eleven he was given authority to cast out evil spirits, preach repentance, and power for healing (Mark 6:7, 12-13) and yet we don’t hear much more about him until John 12:21-22. There Philip was approached by some people who wanted to meet Jesus and he retrieved Andrew for backup. 

This first disciple called by Jesus understood humility; he was willing to stay in the background while his brother became the center of attention. He served in any way Jesus asked him, always content with his assignment, large or small, and had a heart to learn accompanied by devotion. He stuck with Jesus through his brutal death, mysterious resurrection, and miraculous ascension. Undoubtedly he had many questions, confusion, sometimes lack of faith, but he was chosen as one of The Twelve: a highly privileged group. 

Church history tells us Andrew went to Eastern Europe preaching the gospel and is considered a ‘hero of the faith’ by the Orthodox Church. It’s also written that he was martyred by Nero’s official with a crossway crucifixion in Greece. His shadowy life shows many characteristics of the heart of a disciple we can easily miss.