ST. ANDREW: A DISCIPLE WHO FOUND WHAT HE WAS LOOKING FOR.
In the name + of Jesus.
During the Advent season, we prepare for
the coming of our Lord. That could refer
to Christmas, which has a definite deadline.
It could also refer to Jesus’ return on the Last Day. It, too, has a definite deadline, but that is
known only by our Lord. The Old
Testament believers had an Advent season, as it were. Since Adam and Eve had been expelled from the
Garden of Eden, God’s people had been waiting for the Messiah who would open
the way back. The centuries went
by. God’s people waited, hoping to find
what they were looking for. They waited;
for, there was no specific deadline. They
looked, but they never found the fulfillment.
Among those who were waiting and looking
was Andrew, son of John. He was from
Bethsaida in the far north of Galilee. Andrew
knew the promises and had taken them to heart.
He was one of the two disciples who were with John the Baptist, as St.
John described it: “The next day, John was standing there again with two of
his disciples. When John saw Jesus
passing by, he said, ‘Look! The Lamb of
God’” (John 1:35-36)!
John the Baptist preached along the Jordan
River in Judea. If Andrew was from far
north Galilee, how did he become a disciple of John the Baptist? I offer this as a reasonable guess. Since Andrew was a faithful Jew, he would
have regularly attended the festivals in Jerusalem. No doubt, he would have encountered John the Baptist
on his way to and from Jerusalem. The
people regarded John as a prophet, as he called the people to repent and prepared
the way of the Lord. Since Andrew was
looking for the Messiah to come, John’s message would have resonated with
Andrew.
Andrew found what he was looking for. He found a prophet, the likes of which Israel
had not seen for four hundred years.
Andrew not only took his words to heart, he also would have been
baptized by John. And rather than return
immediately to Galilee, he would have remained to listen to John’s preaching. After all, he became one of John’s disciples.
Soon, Andrew truly found what he had been
looking for. “The next day, John was
standing there again with two of his disciples.
When John saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and
they followed Jesus” (John 1:35-37).
Apparently, Jesus had made his way down to Judea from Galilee, too. It was likely for a religious festival. The way John the Baptist identified Jesus
suggests that it was the time of the Passover.
In their Passover celebrations, each
Jewish family would have slaughtered a lamb to roast for their celebratory meal. It commemorated the slaughter of the lambs back
in Egypt on the night when the angel passed over the homes there. The Egyptians had oppressed, enslaved, and endangered
the future of the people of Israel. To
endanger the future of the nation was to endanger the promise of the Messiah. That was a promise that was never to be
threatened. So, the Lord sent his angel
to put the firstborn of every home to death that night. The Israelites, however, were to take the
blood of the lamb and smear it on the doorposts of their homes. When the angel saw the blood of the lamb, he
would pass over those homes.
This was commemorated annually. It was a reminder how God preserved his people. It was a reminder that God preserves his
promise. This commemoration was repeated
so that future generations would never forget the Lord’s deliverance. They were reminded that a lamb was slain in
place of God’s people. They feasted on the
lamb which gave its life for theirs. They
remembered that the blood of the lamb delivered them from death and prepared the
way to deliverance from their enemies.
Now, if they had just celebrated the
Passover, imagine the fireworks going off in the mind of Andrew when John the
Baptist pointed to Jesus and declared, “Look! The Lamb of God” (John 1:36)! Andrew was a disciple who found what he was
looking for. Here is the Lord’s Christ! Here is the one who would be slain in place
of his people. Here is the one whose
blood would be shed to deliver his people from death. Here is the one who would open the way back
into Paradise. For centuries, God’s
people had been looking for the Messiah.
Now Andrew found him.
“The two disciples heard him say this,
and they followed Jesus. When Jesus
turned around and saw them following him, he asked, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which means ‘Teacher’),
‘where are you staying?’ He told them, ‘Come,
and you will see.’ So they came and saw
where he was staying. They stayed with him that day” (John 1:37-39). When Jesus asked John’s two disciples
what they were looking for, I suppose they could have answered, “You!” Instead, they wanted to be with Jesus and
listen to him. It is not enough to just
have knowledge about Jesus. Disciples
listen to their teacher. God’s people
pay attention to his words. They found
what they were looking for and they wanted to keep it. So, they stayed with him that day.
Here is a disciple who found what he was
looking for. Andrew’s heart rejoiced
that the long-awaited Messiah could be seen.
Perhaps Andrew was surprised when he and the other disciple asked, “Rabbi,
where are you staying?” and Jesus did not evade them or regard them as an
imposition. Jesus welcomed them and
spent the whole day with them. Jesus was
not too holy or too important for the likes of Andrew. Yes, Andrew was a sinner, but Jesus had come
for sinners. This disciple found what he
was looking for.
It is no different for you. But then, I guess it also matters what you
are looking for. If you want the Lamb of
God to be cuddly, cute, and harmless, Jesus will be a disappointment for you. For, the Lamb of God did not come to be snuggled. He came to have the sins of the world laid
upon him and to be slain for them. So,
if you are looking for the God who takes away your sins and who delivers you from
the curse of death, then you will find what you are looking for in Jesus. If you are looking for a God who guides you in
paths of righteousness, then you will find what you are looking for in
Jesus. If you are looking for the God
who teaches you to not crave life in this world but to yearn for life in the heavenly
kingdom, then you will find what you are looking for in Jesus. This is the Lamb of God who was slain for
sinners. And now sinners get to feast on
his body and blood to be delivered from death.
If this is what you are looking for, you find it in Jesus.
Andrew not only became a disciple who
found what he was looking for, he also found others who were looking for the
same thing. “Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his
own brother Simon and say to him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ (which is
translated ‘the Christ’). He brought him
to Jesus” (John 1:40-42). Andrew
knew he was not alone in his longing for the Messiah. We would be impressed to hear that Andrew
immediately went all over Galilee to tell others about Jesus, but he didn’t. Instead, Andrew went home. There, he found a brother who also looked for
the Messiah. Just as John the Baptist
directed Andrew to Jesus, Andrew directed Simon to Jesus. And just as Andrew had spent the day with
Jesus to become convinced that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah he was looking
for, Andrew had Simon do the same. “He
brought him to Jesus” (John 1:42).
This is what the Church has always
done. We could go knocking on doors to
invite people to church. We could stand
outside Twelve Oaks Mall with a megaphone to confront the shoppers with their
sins and call them to repent. We could
all get on a plane and visit some distant land to dedicate time and effort to a
foreign mission field. We could do any
of that. Or we could do what the Church has
always done, and what Andrew did: We could bring our own family and friends to
Jesus. We can encourage children who
have been consumed with their schedules to return to God’s house. We can talk to friends who are fearful of the
future or who are plagued by unanswered questions. We can bring them to hear the words of Jesus
so that they can find the relief and the hope that they are looking for. Many look for relief and hope in places that
will only end in death. You know the Messiah
who came to deliver you from death and to grant a life of peace here and a life
of glory to come. This is what many
people are looking for. They will only
find it in Jesus. Like Andrew, you can
bring them to him.
About three years after John the Baptist
pointed Andrew to the Lamb of God, Andrew pointed some others to Jesus. In this case, it was not Jews who were looking
for the Messiah. It was outsiders. St. John wrote, “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, and asked him, ‘Sir, we want to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew came with Philip and told Jesus” (John 12:20-22). Andrew did not tell others what they should
believe. He brought them to Jesus so
that his words would be heard. Jesus’
words would grant them peace and hope.
Jesus’ words would give them what they were looking for. That’s how it always works in the kingdom of
God. Jesus uses his people to bring
others to him. And if a crude fisherman
from the backwoods territory of Galilee can do it, so can you.
We don’t know what happened to Andrew after Jesus ascended to heaven. Traditions don’t help much, either. Different traditions have Andrew travelling in different directions. The one tradition that is consistent is that Andrew died on an X-shaped cross for preaching the good news he found in Jesus. If Andrew had been looking for glory or fame or riches in this world, he did not find it. But that is not what he was looking for. He was looking for the Lamb of God who would be slain for his sin and whose blood would deliver him from death. He was looking for the one who would open the way back into Paradise. He found it in Jesus. That is where you have found it. And it is the only place it can be found.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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