Simon Peter’s Brother, Andrew

I Andrew was ordinary:

            1. Andrew’s name is mentioned only 13 times in the New Testament.

            2. Son of Jonas or John, John. 21:15

            3. From the town of Bethsaida, just north of the Sea of Galilee

            4. A fisherman Matthew 4:18-- wind beaten, sun scorched, muscular physique

            5. Simon Peter’s brother Matthew 4:18

II. Andrew was godly:

            1 Always put the kingdom of God first in his life

                        1. A disciple of John, John. 1:35

                        3. Immediately followed Jesus, --not caught up in indecision.

                        2. An apostle of Jesusn John. 1:38, 39

            2. Not easily offended.

                        1. Always referred to as Simon Peter’s brother

                        2. Always left out.

III. Andrew was always bringing what he had to Jesus.

            Consider who he brought to Jesus

                        Brother: Some would have been embarrassed to bring Peter

                        Boy’s lunch: Some would have been embarrassed.

                        Greeks: Some would have been embarrassed

            He brought his brother to Jesus

            Peter’s fruit is his fruit

.

THE GLORY OF THE ORDINARY

ANDREW

(A lesson I adapted from one of Dayton Keesee’s sermons)

John 1:

The Bible is filled with interesting stories but most of the stories are short and you could read the Bible through several times without being empresses with their significance. The Bible is filled with stories of heroes, but by far the hero are heroes in small things, though important things. You have probably felt that you could never be as great as Moses, Paul or Peter and you are probably right. Sometimes we say, “It’s no use, I can’t be like that, I might as well quit, I can’t do that!” We say these things, not because we have tried and failed but because we have compared ourselves with the great giants of the Bible. We need to compare ourselves with people that are more like us. Our story today is about an ordinary man, just like you and me.

But first a pop test.

What was the name of Peter’s brother? Andrew

What can you tell me about Andrew?

How many times is Andrew’s name mentioned in the Bible? 13

How many times is Andrew’s brother Peter mentioned in the Bible? 225

What do you know about Peter?

1. Outstandingly zealous; lots of get up and go; jumped head over heals into everything.

2. Wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet then demanded that Jesus give him a bath.

3. Jumped out of the boat when he saw Jesus on the shore.

4. Walked on water to see Jesus.

5. Promised before them all that he would never deny Jesus, and then swear that he didn’t know him.

6. Preached a sermon with 3,000 converts

7. Wrote two books of the Bible

Who was Andrew?

1. Ordinary fellow like you and me.

2. Not a great preacher like his brother Peter.

THE GLORY OF THE ORDINARY.

John 1:35-43 (NIV)

V35     The next day John was there again with two of his disciples.

V36     When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"

V37     When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.

V38     Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi"
             (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"

V39     "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent
            that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.

V40     Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had
            followed Jesus.

V41     The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the
            Messiah" (that is, the Christ).

V42     And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You
            will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).

V43     The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."

V40     Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who
           had followed Jesus.

The Apostle John did his Bible writhing around 100 AD. Sixty years after the events that he wrote about in his gospel, yet it seems he was afraid that we would not know who Andrew was therefore he reminds us that Andrew is Simon Peter’s brother. Only three times does John mention his life long personal friend Andrew, and two of these times he feels it necessary to remind us that he is Simon Peter’s brother. This is not only true of John but in Matthew 4:18, Matthew did the same thing, he mentioned him as Simon Peter’s brother. In Mark chapter one Mark calls him, “Simon Peter’s brother. In Luke 6 Luke call’s him, Simon Peter’s brother. “ANDREW, Simon Peter’s brother.  aNDREW, Simon Peter’s Brother! ANDREW, Simon Peter’s brother!! People probably said that so much that they thought it was part of Andrew’s name.  Have you ever heard an Andrew being introduced? It goes something like this. “George I want you to meet Roger.” George shakes hands politely but is not really seeing or thinking of Roger. The one doing the introducing sees this and then adds, “This is Roger Clinton, president Clinton’s brother.” At once interest is alive. “Oh, you are Bill Clinton’s brother!” And he has to say it again, “So your Bill Clinton’s brother!” It’s interesting here to note that although Andrew is constantly being introduced as Simon Peter’s brother, Peter is never introduced as being Andrew’s brother. Being called somebody’s brother or sister is almost as bad as wearing hand-me-down cloths. If you were ever known as someone’s brother or sister you know the difficult time Andrew could have had. But Andrew was not easily offended. Someone has suggested that Andrew had the most difficult position to fill of all the Apostles.

Andrew did not have the dynamic character of his brother Peter or his two closest friends, James and John. He was part of that group that Abraham Lincoln said God must have loved because He made so many of them. Andrew was just ordinary. Here is a comforting fact: Jesus has an important place for ordinary people.

One day Andrew heard John the Baptist say that Jesus was as the Lamb of God, he started following Jesus, and spent the day with him. Thus Andrew was either the second or possibly the very first disciple to follow Jesus.

Matthew 4:18, 19(NIV)

V18     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.

V19     "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men," Matthew 4:21.

V21     Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.
            They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,

1. Andrew was just ordinary

Peter, James and John seemingly had more talents than Andrew but Jesus called them all to be fishers of men. Jesus wants all of us to be fishers of men.

Jesus does not make distinctions among people like we do. Had we been creating the world all our trees would probably been Giant Redwoods. We might have filled the air with eagles and probably would have no place for the black bird or sparrow. When I was a boy I wanted to be Roy Rogers, not Gabby Hayes. As a preacher I often pictured my self as a Billy Graham or the Apostle Paul but never a Thomas or Thaddaeus.

When Jesus was looking over all the people on earth, he chose ordinary Andrew. Andrew never appeared to be a genius, a great organizer, a leader or even a preacher. If he ever preached a sermon it is not recorded. But Andrew became extra ordinary in his inner life. Andrew developed the spirit of Christ within himself.

It has been suggested that Andrew had the most difficult position to fill of all the Apostles. Before his call to the Apostleship, he had been intimately associated with three others who also became apostles. They were Peter, James and John. He had been partners with them in the fishing business-maybe all four grew up together. They battled the storms together. They faced prosperity and hard times together. They faced death together and now they were together with Jesus, and seemingly, Andrew was the one that brought about this new work relationship.

Here there comes a measure of separation. You remember that there was an inter circle among the Apostles. The four that constituted the inter circle were, Peter, James, John and Jesus. Andrew was left out.

One day, Jesus went into a house where a little girl had died (Luke 8:49-56). Jesus allowed no other man to enter in except Peter, James and John. Andrew was left out. On another occasion Jesus went up into a mountain to pray, (Matthew 17). It was on that day that Jesus’ face shown as the sun and his garments became white as light. Also, from the past there came Moses and Elijah to speak to him. And most glorious of all, the disciples who were with Jesus got to hear something few Bible characters ever heard-- the voice of God spoke out from a cloud. Who was it that experienced the transfiguring of Jesus and heard God’s voice? Peter, James and John. Andrew was left behind. Reading further in Matthew 17 we find that Andrew was a part of the humiliated and defeated nine down at the foot of the mountain. An epileptic was brought before them and they could not heal him. Andrew not only missed out on the transfiguration, he was humiliated by his inability or lack of faith. Then came the black night of Gethsemane, Jesus was very sad. He realized that death was near. He wanted to be with his close friends and pray to God. Who does he select to watch with him? He calls Peter, James and John, but Andrew is left behind. That had to be a hard position to fill. It was doubly hard since he must see his most intimate associates go forward as he remained behind.

How did Andrew react to such treatment? Did he grow bitter with envy? Did he go out and slam the door before him? No he did not. If he ever suffered a single pang of envy the record does not show it. He could have let off steam. What about Peter, James and John all going to sleep while Jesus prayed? Andrew could have bowled his brother out for his laziness. But Andrew loved his lord and put the cause of Christ before his own desires. May God give us more Ordinary Andrews.

B. Andrew was Godly.

Peter was by nature an impressive figure. He had a personality. He commanded respect. He was a born leader. He was a compelling preacher. Be it said to Andrew’s credit, he never tried to imitate Peter. With faith in his Lord’s wisdom, Andrew seems to be willing and glad to be just plain, ordinary Andrew.

Andrew was willing to do the work that Andrew could do. There were some things that Peter, James and John could do that Andrew could not. Two of them wrote part of the New Testament, but we have no record to show that Andrew could even write. The outstanding feature of Andrew was that he seemed to bring everything to Jesus. No sooner had he found Jesus himself he went at once for his own brother Peter. When Andrew came to Peter he didn’t give him a good lecture about his swearing and cursing. There is no doubt Peter did this. He was so use to doing it that three years later, when he forgot himself at the trial of Jesus, he let out a blue streak. But Andrew emphasized the positive. With enthusiasm he spoke with absolute certainty, “We have found the Messiah!” Do we speak that way about our find? The scripture says, “He brought him to Jesus.” And he let Jesus stop the cursing tongue and iron out the wrinkles.

C. Andrew brought what he could to Jesus.

John 1:41-42

V41     The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the
             Messiah" (that is, the Christ).

V42     And he brought him to Jesus.

John 6:5-9

V5       When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall
            we buy bread for these people to eat?"

V6       He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

V7       Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a
            bite!"

V8       Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,

V9       "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among
            so many?"

One day Jesus was out by the seaside with his apostles and he saw a great crowd coming toward him. He asked Philip about feeding the multitude. Philip estimated what he thought it would cost but had no suggestion how to satisfy the need.

During this time Andrew had made a friend of a little boy. The other disciples had perhaps sought out the learned and influential people in the crowd, but perhaps important people made Andrew uncomfortable, he might have felt less intimidated when he worked with the kids. Perhaps Andrew had an eye for the grate that is hidden in the small. The record does not tell us about the conversation between Andrew and the boy but they had become well enough acquainted the boy had told him about his lunch. Andrew even knew the exact count of both items in the boy’s lunch bag. Maybe the boy was about to share his lunch with Andrew. Can you just imagine the boy, how amazed he was over this great teacher who had been sweeping the country with His wonderful lessons, and now that he is near him, how thrilled he was to have one of Jesus’ closest assistants take time to talk to him!

When Andrew heard Jesus’ inquiry of Philip what to do, he, perhaps very timidly says to Jesus, “Here is a boy with five small loves and two small fish...” Philip had just said that eight months pay (today probably $26,000) would not be enough to buy each person a bite. It would take a whole bakery full of bread. It would take a mountain of bread to feed 5000 men, 15-20,000 people altogether. Most of the people would have laughed Andrew to scorn to even suggest that a little boy’s lunch could be of help. The very idea, five loaves! We need 20,000 loaves!

Most people today would laugh.

            Laugh like David’s brothers laughed at him wanting to fight the giant.

            Laugh like people probably did when Gideon’s army of 300 planed to fight the Midianites.

            Laugh like probably some did when Jesus thought he could get the gospel to every creature with
           12 men.

            Laugh like some of you are prone to do when some one tells you that you can be a soul winner
           for Jesus.

Andrew had better scenic than to think that five loaves would feet 5,000 people. But Andrew, quiet, simple, Andrew had learned that Jesus could start with nothing and come out with all that was needed. Remember the water to wine and the clay to eyes.

Here’s another thing for us to see in Andrew. What he found he always brought to Jesus. He brought Peter and he brought a boy’s lunch. The beauty of all this is that what Andrew brought to Jesus was always what Jesus needed and used. Peter was exactly the man Jesus needed--for him later where was given the keys to the kingdom. The five loaves were exactly what Jesus needed to feed the multitude.

Oh, Jesus could have fed them without any loaves. He could have found someone besides Peter to whom to give the keys--but don’ you get the lesson; Jesus is only going to use what we bring to him. What marvelous things can be done with the little things that his disciples bring. Has Peter ever been any help to you through the things he preached and wrote? If so, you ought to thank ordinary Andrew. Andrew brought Peter to Christ and in John 6 the entire multitude was under obligation to Andrew. He brought the things that the Lord used to satisfy their hunger.

Friends, can’t you see, as you study Andrew, that Jesus has a need for you and the little things you can bring to him? One of the interesting things about the New Testament account of Andrew is that every time you get a glimpse of him he is doing something, nothing outstanding, just little ordinary things, but brethren if everyone of us would work just doing little things, we could double our membership in two years -- maybe less, with just ordinary Andrews.

The next glimpse we get of Andrew was on the Monday of the last week of the Life of Jesus as recorded in John 12. There were some Greeks, probably proselytes who came to Philip with the common longing of so many in that day, saying, “Sir, we would see Jesus” (V21). For some reason Philip hesitated. In fact, He didn’t know what to do with them. He didn’t seem to know what to say. And, he did what is best under such circumstances, he didn’t say anything. In order to help him decide he came to one of the other Apostles for council --whether it was by chance or intention. He came to Andrew. He knew all the Apostles and probably could have gone to anyone of them. Maybe Andrew just happened to be handy. As son as Andrew heard the problem, he knew what to do. He did what he always did, He brought them to Jesus. Every time you read about Andrew he is bringing something to Jesus, a brother, a lunch, and now some Greeks.

There is more involved in this than some might realize. It shows that Andrew’s spirit was far ahead of his time. There is a reason why Philip hesitated; it was a traditional or national reason. These people were Greeks, and it was current thinking that an unclean beast was as worthy of redemption as was a member of the Greek race. Beyond the court of the gentiles, in the Temple grounds, was an inscription over the gateway. “Let no Gentile go further under pain of death.” After Jesus died and even several years after the church was established, the Jews bowled Peter out because he simply sat down at the table and ate with the Gentiles (Acts 11:3). It is easy to see why Philip was wondering what to do.

Also we see the spirit of Andrew; again he is sticking his nick out for ridicule and slander, just as he did when he brought the boy’s lunch to Jesus. He seemed to feel that his duty was to get people to come to Jesus and then it was up to Jesus to accept or reject them. That plan has not changed to this day.

But, Andrew is one of the Apostles before Christ’s death who seems to sense the great commission. Maybe he had already learned what it took three visions to teach his brother Peter,-- that the Gospel Jesus preached was for every creature under Heaven.

We owe much to the men of genius. They have marched on the plane of greatness and been a guide to lead many to a higher rung on the ladder of life. But, I wonder if we don’t owe more to the ordinary men and women, who have filled their humble places faithfully, and loyally, and brought the little things to Christ that he needed.

Common as the wayside grasses, Ordinary as a shrub.

Many, people he daily passes going to and from his job.

Stranger, he is to wealth and fame.

He is only, “What’s his name?”

Not for him the glittering glory. Nor for him the places high.

Week after week, the some old story, try and fail, and fail and try.

All his days seem dull and tame.

Poor old plodding, “What’s his name?”

Though to someone else goes all the glory. Though, but few his worth is known.

His sweat and blood still tell the story of the progress others show.

But oh, the many souls who to Jesus came. All because of what’s his name.

Some day, on the other shore, Jesus will remove from our life’s the veil of the ordinary and the Glory of his father will embrace you as you dwell with him forever.

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