Andrew and Peter

10. September 2008 by Bernice Davis.

Hello: 

Our text for today is:

1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew;

 Let’s learn a little bit about the disciples.  Today we will focus on Peter and his brother Andrew.   Did you even know that Peter had a brother?    In Scriptures, Peter is the more dominant character but it was actually his brother Andrew that introduced him to Jesus. 

Let’s look at this story:

John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 ”Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

As you can see in this story with John the Baptist, Andrew was originally a follower of John the Baptist.  Andrew had been taught from John about Jesus and how that they were simply preparing the way for him.    John saw Jesus in the presence of Andrew one day and identified Jesus as the long awaited Messiah and Andrew begin to follow Jesus.  After Andrew spends some time with Jesus, he is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah and goes and tells his brother Peter that they have found the Messiah and Andrew is the one that brings Peter to Jesus.

It is amazing how Andrew first travels with John and then becomes a follower of Jesus but yet his brother will become the more popular disciple though Andrew appeared to be the more spiritual for Peter was brought into the “game” later. 

Often in ministry, there can be much jealousy and fighting for positions.  Sometimes we feel faithfulness and longevity of time should guarantee us certain positions over against others.  It is sometimes very difficult to see others come in and “appear” to supersede us or be more in front than we are and it often leads to conflict and tension. 

I love this story because it shows that though Andrew was the one that had been trained by John and Andrew is the one that encounters Jesus first and Andrew is the one that introduces Peter to Jesus there is no evidence in the scripture that Andrew had a problem with Peter’s fame and popularity over against his.

Sometimes God has us in places just to be the witness to the one that will be in the forefront and we may be the support system for that person and we may have to live in their shadows.  Spreading the gospel is a team effort.  Everyone has their part.   We should not worry who gets the credit as long as God gets the glory.   All of us have different roles and each role is just as important as the other whether we’re out front or the support system.  We all matter and we’re all important. 

Fighting amongst ourselves is simply a distraction that holds up “kingdom business.” 

This story also helps us understand that despite what is often preached; Peter just didn’t stop everything and follow Jesus.  In some of the remote accounts, you have stories that say he saw Peter fishing and said come and follow me and they stopped everything and followed Jesus.   While this statement of course is true, Peter was being taught all along by his brother Andrew about Jesus from the ministry of John the Baptist and after Andrew was convinced that Jesus was the messiah, he brought Peter to Jesus. 

Tomorrow, we’ll talk about Peter.

Stay encouraged!!!!!!!!    God Bless!!!!!!!!!! Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.

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