Monday 01 December 2014

Psalm: Psalm 27

Background

As today is St Andrew's day, we focus the account of his call tobe a disciple in John's Gospel. Andrew and another unnamed discipleof John the Baptist respond to the declaration by the Baptist thatJesus is the Lamb of God. This follows on from his earlierstatement in John 1:29. Verse 37 says that the two menfollowed Jesus. In John's Gospel, 'follow' can be understood in twoways - the simple physical action of following after someone andthe deeper sense of following as a disciple. Perhaps John's Gospelis hinting here the two men's first steps on the road ofdiscipleship.

Written for a Gentile (non Jewish) audience, John's Gospeldefines its terms beginning with the address "Rabbi" (v. 38). Bythe time the Gospel was written a rabbi was a religious teacher whohad undertaken training and accreditation, but at the time of Jesusit was a term of respect meaning 'my great one'. Thus it could beapplied to Jesus even though he had not had formal rabbinicaltraining. Andrew and his companion stayed with Jesus from fouro'clock onwards, probably late into the evening, and we can imaginethem deep in conversation. We are not told what they said to eachother, but clearly Andrew was convinced that what the Baptist hadsaid about Jesus was true. It was probably the next morning whenAndrew "first found his brother Simon" (v. 41).

Andrew is best remembered for bringing Simon to Jesus (verse42). Simon is given a new name by Jesus, Cephas, which John'sGospel obligingly translates as Peter, or Petros, the Greek wordfor 'Rock'. As we read the Gospels, we see Peter as anything butrocklike, but John's Gospel probably means readers to understandthat even at this early stage in the narrative, Jesus saw thatpotential in him. Andrew's important role is over. He remains as a'foot-soldier' amongst the disciples, but appears twice later in asimilar role. It is Andrew who brings to Jesus a boy with hispicnic lunch at the feeding of the five thousand (John6:8-9) and some enquiring Greeks after Jesus has enteredJerusalem in triumph (John12:22).

He brings people to Jesus, who does the rest.

To Ponder

• Did someone close to you introduce you to Jesus? How can you dothis for someone else?

• Andrew is designated a saint by the Church. How do youunderstand sainthood?