Jn. 1:37-42
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Andrew had been one of the disciples of John the Baptist, so we know that he had been looking forward to the arrival of Messiah. John had his experience at the baptism of Jesus, and he heard the voice of God in that moment. He began to bear witness of the Christ because he was sure of whom he had baptized. When John’s disciples heard the news, they decided to hear for themselves the words of Jesus. What they heard captivated them. They followed Jesus to learn more and became convinced that He is Messiah. Once that happened, Andrew’s first response was to share this news with his brother, which is a cue for every believer.
We do not have many details about this event, but I picture Andrew being excited at meeting Messiah at last. We might expect this of all God’s people who had been waiting for generations for him to arrive, but we know that was not the case for all. We know at least that Andrew was excited enough to follow Jesus and learn more. When he was certain of his finding, he had to share that news. He went to someone very close to him and had to show Jesus to him. I expect that that was not a calm chat but a moment of excitement and urgency. I picture a scene that looked like any moment we share what we consider to be really big news. It is a moment of spiritual show-and-tell that we should see in our lives more than once.
When I came face-to-face with Jesus as an adult, I cannot say that I was looking for him. I cannot say that I was looking for anything. What I can say is that meeting him was a moment of truth and clarity that was real. It let me know that I finally saw things how they are and that I needed to tell others. I shared the gospel excitedly in the beginning as I began to live this Christian life, but that excitement can wane for one reason or another. The hope is that we can sustain what Andrew felt here and what we likely felt in the beginning, to be excited to share Christ always. Father, remind us how important the good news is and of the dire need to share it, and ignite in us an excitement to do that daily.
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