There are many lessons that we could learn from each one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. For each one, in their various relationships with our Lord, presents his own unique facet of what discipleship means. As we consider them we often think that we could never attain to their feats or the standards of discipleship that they set, even if we were called to perform some great thing. For most of us, however, it will be the everyday and perhaps ordinary features of discipleship that we are called upon to manifest. It is therefore apposite that such characteristics are to be seen in Andrew, one of the twelve. His is a pattern that we can all identify with more easily, for Andrew showed those ordinary and oftentimes less glamorous, yet ever necessary, features which are within reach of us all, and as such are expected of us all.
Andrew receives scant mention in the Gospel records. In the synoptic records there is no mention of him other than in the lists of the twelve and in Mark 13:3. It is only in the Gospel record by John that Andrew appears as a person and acquires a personality. On three occasions in John, Andrew emerges from the background, and he has the unique distinction on each occasion of introducing someone else to Jesus.
The periods of the incidents are also significantly chosen. The first is at the commencement of our Lord’s public work; the second is at the close of the great Galilean ministry; whilst the third marks the end of the public ministry of the Lord.
In John 1 we have our first reference to Andrew, and it concerns his first meeting with Jesus. The occasion was shortly after Jesus emerged from the wilderness temptation. The Lord now made that critical decision to go forward in obedience to do the Father’s will. John the Baptist had also publicly confirmed that decision and resolve of the Lord in declaring the mission of Jesus: “Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (v. 29). It was with that declaration that the public ministry of Jesus commenced.
It was on the day after this (vv. 35,36) that John pointed out Jesus to two of his disciples as the one that he had been speaking about. They clearly understood what John was saying, and had been saying, about this man, for it resulted in the two disciples following Jesus. And “One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother” (v. 40). The Lord’s dealings with Andrew commenced with a question: “What seek ye?”. It was a question relating to spiritual matters. The significance was, what are you looking for? not, who are you looking for? Andrew had come a long way. He had heard John the Baptist. He had obeyed. He was looking for the Kingdom of God. He had confessed the fact of sin and he was longing for complete deliverance from all its effects. He had heard John say that this man was the Lamb of God. So, with the opportunity to spend the day with Jesus, it meant far more than seeing where Jesus lived. It was an opportunity to be taught the ways of God more perfectly, and to have a clearer understanding of what their priorities in life should be.
Although we do not know what transpired that day between Jesus and the two disciples, it clearly focused on the question of salvation and the relationship between the Lamb of God and the Kingdom of God. It had therefore been a memorable day. Andrew had been with Jesus. He had seen and talked with the Messiah. It was truly good news, and such good news must be first told at home.
In what follows we have one of those lovely glimpses of discipleship which the record about Andrew is intended to teach us.
“He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah” (Jno. 1:41).
In going to his own home and to his brother Andrew did one of the most difficult things to do in those circumstances. There are few households that have in their entirety received the Truth without some experience of scorn, mocking and sometimes hatred and affliction. Yet it is at home that Andrew gives us the example of where truth must be preached first of all. But Andrew did more than talk. Words now resulted in action:
“And he brought him to Jesus” (v. 42).
Andrew led him to the Lord. Here is that unique characteristic of Andrew: he stands out as a man whose one desire was to share the glory. He is a man with an evangelist’s heart. Having found the Truth himself, he spent the remainder of his life bringing others to the fount of all Truth. Andrew just could not keep Jesus to himself; and what a lesson that should be for us!
The second occasion that we meet Andrew is in John 6. It is the incident of the Feeding of the Five Thousand and it occurred towards the close of the Galilean ministry. It was also the Feast of Passover, only twelve months before the Lord’s rejection and death. The story is well known. Jesus had spent the whole day teaching the multitude the things concerning the Kingdom of God (Lk. 9:11). The day was now far spent, and at the sight of the crowd he was moved with compassion. The people were hungry, and they were tired; they must be fed. Jesus asked Philip: “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (Jno. 6:5). Although the question was directed to Philip it was intended for all the disciples, for it was quickly followed by Jesus telling them to give the people food to eat.
However, it is John who tells us the reason for Jesus saying these things: “And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do” (Jno. 6:6). Jesus had highlighted the problem of providing food. The difficulty is also revealed in the answer given by Philip and the other disciples. They had calculated the cost. Philip said: “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient” (v. 7). The others suggested that they went to buy bread. But Jesus had asked the question to prove them, “for he himself knew what he would do” (v. 6). Like Philip the other disciples lacked that necessary faith. They had all done their calculations on how much food was required, but failed to manifest faith. They had totally overlooked the power and the ability of the Lord to do more than they could ask or think. Yet perhaps there was one disciple who understood, or who was prepared to have confidence in what Jesus could do. For it was Andrew who brought the lad to Jesus, and by bringing him made the miracle possible. “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes”, he said (v. 9), and in the bringing of the lad we are able to appreciate yet another characteristic of Andrew.
Andrew fully understood that in no way could such a small amount of food be sufficient for that multitude, and yet he brought the lad. Andrew was prepared to bring the problem to Jesus even though he could not see a solution. Nevertheless the problem would be brought to the Master for his attention. Here too is a lesson for us. No matter what the size of the problem, or how small and insignificant our resources may seem to be, no matter how much we think it to be impossible with what we have, our Lord can do far more than we care to think. Andrew had the faith and confidence that his Lord would settle the problem. No one, and least of all Andrew, knew what would happen when he brought the lad. Only Jesus knew what he would do.
Our third reference is in John 12. It is now twelve months on from the Feeding of the Five Thousand, and we are again at the Feast of Passover the one that would coincide with the Lord’s sacrifice and death. This incident of the Greeks wishing to see Jesus in verse 20 is the last incident recorded by John in the Lord’s public ministry. It was also an incident that marked the climax of the Lord’s mission as Saviour of the world. The response of Jesus to his disciples when they told him that Greeks (Gentiles, and not Hellenistic Jews) wanted to see him was to refer to his impending death (Jno. 12:23). The hour had now come, toward which he had been moving during those past three and a half years, the hour in which he was now to give himself as that Lamb without spot and blemish.
The coming of the Greeks indicated that the time had now come for Jesus to die for the world; not for the Jews only, but also for the Gentiles: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (v. 32). In the coming of the Greeks there was therefore a kind of foretaste of what his mission would finally accomplish, even the receiving of the Gentiles also.
But Gentiles to see Jesus? This was the problem that Philip had as the Greeks came to him with the request. No doubt his hesitation was because he was unsure whether Jesus would be prepared to receive Gentiles. So with some perplexity, and perhaps thinking that it was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that Jesus had come, Philip seeks out Andrew to see what should be done: “Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus” (v. 22).
It is, then, Andrew who takes the initiative and with Philip takes the request from the Greeks direct to Jesus. It was unnatural for a Jew to think that anyone of another race could possibly be of any use to God. To the rigid Jew the Gentiles were beyond the pale, and Philip found difficulty in coming to Jesus with it. “We have some strangers outside, what shall we do?” appears to have been his thoughts expressed to Andrew. In contrast, Andrew was a man of decision, and he wanted immediate action. Without hesitation he was again prepared to come and tell Jesus. Philip might hesitate, but Andrew was convinced that the right thing to do was to tell the Lord.
It appears, therefore, that Andrew was perhaps the very first to see the universal nature of the gospel and to feel instinctively that Jesus had a message and a welcome for all who would seek him. So, if any man, even a Gentile, should hunger and thirst after righteousness, Andrew would bring him to the Lord. Andrew had discovered one thing about Jesus. He knew that no one could be a nuisance to him. He never doubted the ability of his Lord to supply the needs of all who came in faith.
“We would see Jesus”, was the cry a cry that is constantly and often unconsciously heard in the world today as men and women are searching and groping in darkness for some meaning to their lives. The work of the disciple is to ensure that they have that opportunity to come and see the Lord, so that they with us might “know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings” (Phil. 3:10).
In this selective look at Andrew we see him as an example of discipleship, the characteristics of which are within the grasp of each one of us.
True, they may seem to be small actions in comparison with the scheme of events that took place in the three incidents of our Lord’s life. Yet such actions resulted in momentous works from the Lord. Therefore, no matter how small our efforts may seem to be, it is the Lord that will put them to their full use.
Although Andrew was not with his brother and his two lifelong fishing companions: James and John, as part of that inner circle of disciples, there was no bitterness in him, no chip on his shoulder. He did not push to go with Peter, as James was with John. He did not overreach himself, but made full use of what was given to him. He made the most of what he was in Christ’s service. In fact, Andrew was Christ’s man in all things. The Lord does not ask anything more of us.
Andrew’s character is completely alien to that which is prevalent in our world today. He was a man who thought more of service than of reputation, more of the work to be done than of the place given to the worker. Such an attitude of mind is clearly a reflection of the character of the Lord, who himself “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45).
May that pattern of discipleship exemplified by Andrew be ours, to the end that we may enjoy that true and abiding fellowship which the Lord has promised to all those that serve him. For “If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be” (John 12:26).
And what more could a disciple wish?
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One