Today the Orthodox church commemorates Jesus’ first disciple, Andrew [Ed: according to the new calendar]. Two weeks ago we celebrated his fellow disciple, Philip. The pair are featured in the opening chapter of John’s gospel and have something to teach us this Advent season.
We first find Andrew standing with John the Baptist. It was the day after Christ’s baptism in the Jordan, and Jesus passed by the two men and another of the Baptists’ disciples.
“Behold,” said John, “the Lamb of God!”
Upon hearing the declaration, Andrew and the other disciple—perhaps the evangelist himself, as some have speculated—immediately started walking after Jesus. When he realized he was being followed, Jesus turned and asked the pair what they wanted.
“Rabbi, where are you staying?” they asked.
“Come and see,” he answered.
The two men stayed with Jesus until mid-afternoon. And those few short hours were all it took. Andrew left to find his brother Peter and tell him the news: They had found the Christ.
Heeding the call
Andrew heard the testimony of the Baptist and heeded the call. In this he is like another first-called—Abraham. Moved by faith, Andrew unhesitatingly followed the leading of God just as his forebear had done.
And what about Philip?
Philip was a neighbor of Andrew and Peter. John tells us that Jesus found him and then directed him to follow as well. It doesn’t say why Jesus picked him, but Philip’s reaction is all the reason we need. Philip was so expectant and so eager, the scripture doesn’t even indicate his consent. It presumes it.
After Jesus’ call, Philip immediately went and told Nathanael about his encounter with Jesus.
“We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the Prophets wrote,” said Philip, “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael was open but a bit skeptical. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” he asked. Philip answered like Jesus answered: “Come and see.”
Different men, different approaches
Like Andrew, Jesus called Philip and he followed. But unlike Andrew, who believed the testimony of his friend the Baptist and from experiencing Jesus’ company first hand, Philip knew Jesus was the messiah because he was well studied in the oracles of God.
And we should be encouraged by that difference.
Some people make Christianity primarily an intellectual thing, others an experiential matter. The stories of Andrew and Philip show us that both are valid—never one to the exclusion of the other.
“Jesus is the only way,” as John Fischer once sang, but “there’s more than one way to Jesus.” God has different kinds of people and he uses different means to draw them. But the response of us all must be the same faith shown by both Andrew and Philip.
In commemorating these two disciples so close to Christmas, the church is telling is that we should have the same expectation for the coming of Christ, the same willingness to follow, and the same commitment to the savior no matter what our approach.
