“The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went [with Him] and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first looked for and found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means the Christ). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated Peter).” John 1:37-42
Reading the latter part of John chapter one, one can see two important lessons. One lesson is the importance of getting to know Jesus personally, and the second lesson is bringing others to Jesus. Andrew, one of the first disciples, teaches us these lessons.
Andrew and the other disciple, not named here, of John the Baptist heard about Jesus from John. They decided to take initiative and do some research. They approached Jesus and asked Him about Himself.
We have the same ability today. We are able to read the Word without hinderance. We learn about people best when we go to them rather than listening to others’ opinions about them. The Bible tells us everything we need to know about Jesus’ character, His mission, His life, and His desire, which is to know us and love us.
Once Andrew realized Jesus’ credibility, he sought out the person he loved, maybe most of all, and brought him to Jesus. This is the kindest thing we can do for our families and our friends- take them to Jesus. If we get a clear understanding of who Jesus truly is, we can’t keep Him to ourselves.
Wouldn’t we want our family and friends to show us the best thing they’d ever seen? Wouldn’t we want to meet the person who changed their lives dramatically? Wouldn’t we want to have a chance to be transformed and given hope too?
The best thing we can do for ourselves is get to know Jesus personally. The best thing we can do for our family and friends is take them to Jesus. The introductions might not all look the same or sound the same. Some instances might be gradual seed planting while others are more frank and to the point.
We aren’t responsible for their decision. We are accountable for listening to or ignoring the prompting of the Spirit, but God does the work of making the planted seeds grow.
Look at the verse from Acts. Imagine how different the early church, the Bible as we know it, and Christianity might be if Andrew didn’t go and get his brother.
“to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power].”Acts 5:15
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