The Feast of St. Andrew, Monday, November 30, 2020

Matthew 4:18-22

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.

We learn from the Gospel of St. John that Andrew was a follower of John the Baptist.  After the baptism of Jesus, at which Andrew must have been present, John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God”, and Andrew decided to trail him to find out who this was.  Jesus finally turned and asked Andrew what he was looking for.  We ought to try to imagine the instant that the eyes of the two men met for the first time.  Whatever Andrew thought he might say, all he could get out was, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”  Andrew did not hear from John the Baptist that Jesus was a “rabbi”: he must have seen in the Lord’s eyes a strength and wisdom that far surpassed anyone else’s.  This alone entitled him to be called “rabbi”.  Andrew must also have wondered at the voice that came from this man.  He had said: “Come and see.”  Andrew would have known him as a fellow Galilean by his accent.  But what was he doing down in Judea?  The man was not a disciple of John the Baptist, and he lived in a crude lean-to of fallen tree branches and logs along the Jordan.  Also, the answer the man gave him was laconic, even terse.  The man clearly was not trying to impress anyone.  And yet John the Baptist had called him “the Lamb of God”.  St. John, later an Apostle, accompanied Andrew to the place where Jesus stayed, and he tells us that they talked for several hours.  John does not tell us what they talked about.  Probably, we can guess, about the teachings of the Prophets about the Messiah.  We can surmise this because John the Baptist had many times announced that he had come to prepare Israel for the Messiah.  John’s followers would be watching for him.  After talking with Jesus, Andrew is a new man.  With great excitement he brings his older brother Simon to meet Jesus.  We do not know how long this initial encounter between Jesus, Simon, Andrew, and John the son of Zebedee lasted.  Perhaps a day or two.  Maybe longer.  But the Lord performs no miracle at this time.  Nor does the Lord present himself as a learned preacher living in a rich man’s house.  These men are attracted to Jesus simply by his personality and his words.  Later, Simon, Andrew, and John will return to the Sea of Galilee.  Do they follow Jesus to Capernaum or does Jesus follow them, like a shepherd following his sheep?  And then comes the early morning scene captured by St. Matthew in which Jesus calls to Andrew and Simon at the time when they would be least likely to follow him, and still they do.

From the hints in the Gospels, we learn that Andrew, who lived with his brother, his brother’s wife, and the wife’s mother, was not married at the time he was called.  This in turn tells us that he was a younger man, not yet of marrying age.  Since this is Simon’s house, we can infer that their father, John, is already deceased.  It is entirely possible that Andrew, like the also young sons of Zebedee, James and John, remained unmarried throughout his life.  At some point after Pentecost, perhaps within three years, Andrew seems to have left Jerusalem.  Tradition tells us that he preached the Gospel in Greece and that he was crucified there during the reign of the Emperor Nero.  When Andrew was brought to the cross on which he would be bound, he is said to have embraced it and to have said to it, “God bless you, precious cross, be welcome to the follower of Him that hung on you, even my Master Christ.”  These words are used in the office for his feast.