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by Katie Erickson

As we continue our look at who Jesus’ disciples were, this week we’ll learn a bit more about Andrew.

Andrew’s name is Greek, and it means “manliness.” We read about Andrew being from Bethsaida in Galilee, along with Philip and Peter, in John 1:44, and in fact, Andrew was Peter’s brother (Matthew 10:2).

Andrew was one of the very first disciples who Jesus called. The gospel of John tells us the detailed story in John 1:35-41:
“The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’
They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’), ‘where are you staying?’
‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).’”

Matthew 4:18-20 gives us the highlights of this same story: “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.”

We see from both of these accounts that Andrew was the first disciple whom Jesus called, and then Peter was shortly thereafter. They both left their occupation as fishermen to follow Jesus, and they did so pretty immediately.

Another time we see Andrew called out specifically in Scripture is in the feeding of the 5000 in John 6:1-15. In verse 8, Andrew is the one who finds the boy with five loaves and two fishes that Jesus ends up multiplying to feed the very large crowd.

While Peter, James, and John are generally considered to be Jesus’ “inner circle” of His twelve disciples, we see that Andrew was included in this group in Mark 13 when Jesus is discussing signs of the end times. Andrew is one of those who asked Jesus about when the temple would be destroyed in verse 3. After that question, Jesus goes into a great discourse about the end times and what will happen, though of course, we still do not know the day or the hour when that will occur (verse 32).

Andrew was also involved when some of the Greeks wanted to see Jesus. John 12:20-22 says, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” Perhaps Philip included Andrew in this because of his Greek name, but that is only speculation.

Andrew is also mentioned in Acts 1:13 as being with the group of the disciples after Jesus ascended into heaven. “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:14). Andrew remained as one of Jesus’ disciples after His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension; he kept the faith and did not fall away.

There is a theme in three of these encounters that’s important to note: Andrew was instrumental in bringing 3 different people to Christ: his brother Peter, the boy with the loaves and fish, and the Greeks. While that does not necessarily mean bringing them to faith in Christ as we’re familiar with that phrase today, but simply bringing these people into the presence of Jesus while He was on earth. Sometimes all it takes is one encounter with Jesus for a person to have faith, and while we do know Peter’s story, we don’t know what happened with the boy or the Greeks. Perhaps they became believers in Jesus too because of Andrew’s involvement; we don’t have that recorded in Scripture.

Who are you leading to Jesus? That may not mean actually praying the prayer that helps that person come to faith, but perhaps just introducing someone to Jesus through your actions or words. Sometimes, all it takes is one encounter with Jesus for a person to dedicate their life to Him. Are you allowing the Spirit to guide you and use you as Andrew was used to bring people into an encounter with Jesus?

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