John 1:35-42

³⁵ The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”³⁷ When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”³⁹ “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. ⁴¹ Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”).⁴² Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”

Not only did Andrew seek, speak and spend time with the Savior but:

5. He shared the Savior

The Results of an Encounter with Christ will produce a desire to tell others about Him. There is a sense of urgency for Andrew, both the King James and NIV say that the first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” Why is the first thing that Andrew did so often the last things many Christians do? Christ is coming back, and He could return at any moment. That truth has not changed, but has that truth changed us? Do our words and actions reveal a sense of concern for the lost or a sense of complacency? Is the first thing you do to tell others about Jesus or tell Jesus about you?  When he departed from Christ, Andrew had one conviction, Jesus is the Lamb of God. Today, how many of us could go without any doubts in our mind, no question marks, and say, “We have found the Messiah, behold the Lamb which takes away the sin of the world.” Andrew knew not only what he had found but who. When he realized how great a discovery that was, he could think of only one thing, he must share his conviction. The reason you and I don’t talk about Jesus to the people we know and meet is because we haven’t been spending time with the Lord, we have forgotten how great a discovery we have made. Andrew didn’t memorize some plan, he didn’t have the New Testament all he did was spend some time with Jesus and tell others about Him. Many of us feel that we are not prepared to tell others about Jesus, but if we know Jesus as Savior, we know about His forgiveness by grace because of what He did on the cross and that qualifies us. Are you saved? Then tell somebody your experience. Did Jesus meet your need? Then tell somebody who has a need. Did Jesus answer your prayer? Then tell somebody that’s been praying. The first person he led to Christ was a member of his own family, his brother. For many of us this is the hardest group to talk to because they know us, and we care what they think of us. But Andrew was more concerned about Peter being included in God’s family than himself being rejected by his family. Peter becomes great and Andrew is obscured in the shadows, but we might never have had a Peter if there had not first been an Andrew. The Andrews bring the Peters to Christ. They are not those who get the praise and publicity. They are not the stars, but the ordinary men and women. We remember the Peters, but we forget the Andrews because the Andrews don’t write stirring books of the bible, they don’t preach great sermons, they don’t win three thousand souls with one message. We remember the Peters, but we forget the Andrews. Who brought Billy Graham to meet the Lord?  We remember the Peters but forget the Andrews. We have met Andrew twice in the Scripture. First, he introduced himself to Jesus; second, he brought his brother Peter to Jesus but there are 2 more times we see Andrew and each time he is bringing someone to Jesus.

1. Third he brought the boy to Jesus. (John 6:5-9)

For Andrew even the little people that don’t have much to offer are worth bringing to Jesus. When Jesus becomes your reason for life there isn’t room for prejudice. Andrew could have dismissed this boy as useless, but he brought him to Jesus and Jesus used what he had hisfive barley loaves and two fish,to feed 5000.

1. Andrew Introduced the Greeks to Jesus (John 12:20-22, 26)

One of the four encounters we have with Andrew is when we find him bringing a group of Greeks to Jesus. This occurs on Palm Sunday, the last week of the Savior’s life, we think we have all the time in the world to introduce people to Jesus but we don’t. These were not Jewish men but foreigners who came to Phillip but he wasn’t sure what to do with them so he sent them to Andrew who directly took them to Jesus. Andrew lived in one of the most segregated, prejudiced societies in history but he was able to keep the bigger picture in mind and overcome that prejudice. Racism isn’t anything new, Jonah felt it against the people of Nineveh. Peter felt it against the Gentiles. The Jews felt it against the Samaritans and the world tells us that this must continue but when Jesus becomes your reason for life there isn’t room for racism. So, who are you talking to about Jesus?

John 1:35-42

³⁵ The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. ³⁶ As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”³⁷ When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”³⁹ “Come and see,” he said. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon when they went with him to the place where he was staying, and they remained with him the rest of the day.⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of these men who heard what John said and then followed Jesus. ⁴¹ Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”).⁴² Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus. Looking intently at Simon, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”

We don’t hear much about Andrew in the scriptures, but he was the first disciples to be called by Jesus. He lived in Bethsaida of Galilee and was a fisherman. Andrew is the disciple that everyone has heard of and nobody remembers. Most of the time when he is listed as a disciple it says he was the brother of Simon Peter. He was a very ordinary man, more of a behind the scenes person, unlike his brother, Peter who got all of the attention. It was Peter who preached the first sermon in Acts when 3000 came to Christ and were baptized. Peter wrote 2 letters in the Bible he is mentioned by name 153 times in the New Testament. Andrew by contrast is only mentioned by name 12 times in the Bible, and 4 those are just the lists of disciples. He is referred to in only four main occurrences throughout all four gospels. When you study Peter and Andrew you find that these brothers are opposites. Even though they were brought up in the same home and ate the same fish they were opposites. This is true of many families. There may be some things similar, but we are different because God made us different and for Andrew that was ok. Are you ok with people being different? Are you ok with who God made you to be? What we need to see is that Jesus wants to use different kinds of people. He called twelve common, but opposite men that were about the same mission. Today we are letting differences caused division instead of utilizing them for the mission. Why because we have forgotten that what we have in common is Christ. As we come to John 1:35-42 and the story of Andrew we see that:

1. He was Shown the Savior

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist who pointed Andrew to Jesus because John understood that it was all about Jesus. It is interesting to note that even though Andrew was the first disciple to follow Jesus, he is never mentioned first in any list of the twelve disciples. Peter is always first. Andrew is second and he is ok with this because as a disciple first of John he took John’s teachings to heart that it was not about him, but it was about Jesus. We need to understand that it’s not about our position but our passion for Jesus. John described Jesus as The Lamb of God which for us is a common phrase but not a common one in the bible. This is a description which powerfully portrays who Jesus is. A Lamb picks up on the Old Testament sacrificial system where lambs were sacrificed to cover the debt of sin. That is what we celebrate in communion, the Lord laying down His life as a lamb to not just cover sin but conquer it. Why did John point out to his two disciples who Jesus was and then watched them walk away from him? Because he was more concerned with being a follower that having followers. Followers of Jesus don’t have followers of their own! Not only was John the Baptist a great teacher but Andrew was a great student. So, let me ask you who are you pointing to Jesus? Do you spend more time spotlighting self or the Savior? Not only was Andrew shown the Savior but second:

2. He was Seeking the Savior

Andrew went to Jesus and began following Him, this was what John the Baptist wanted, people to follow Christ. Success is not found in Self but in serving the Savior. Jesus asked Him a question that every one of us needs to answer today, “What do you want? What are you looking for? What are you seeking?” In other words, Jesus says to Andrew and He says to you today, “Why are you following me?” So, let me ask you, why are you seeking Jesus, why are you following Him? For Andrew seeking Jesus led to:

3. Speaking with the Savior

What a moment Andrew meets the Messiah that Israel has been waiting for, for hundreds of years and all he could think of to say was, “Where are you hanging out?” The Lord responded in form by saying “Come and see.” What a response! If you could ask Jesus a question what would it be? We talk a lot to Jesus about what we want but Andrew asked for what he needed. We attend church week after week, you may even read your Bible and pray and serve in some capacity, but have you ever really given much thought about why you’re following Jesus?  For Andrew it wasn’t enough just to speak with Jesus:

4. He Spent time with the Savior

Jesus invites Andrew to spend time with Him, Come He replied. Jesus wants you to spend time with Him, He is not too busy for you. This first meeting with Christ was so memorable that notice they even remembered the time it happened, four o’clock in the afternoon. This was an hour of decision, an hour of opportunity, an hour that was to change his life. There will always be pivotal moments in time when we are invited by Jesus to come and see, the question is what will we do with that time. What else could Andrew have done with his evening that would have been more profitable than spending it with Jesus? So, let me ask you, have you had a personal encounter with the Savior? If so are you spending time with Jesus?