Ordinary Time

January 15, 2023

Scripture Reading: John 1:29-42

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter). John 1:35-42

The story of John’s disciples leaving him and immediately following Jesus is somewhat truncated in the telling. We do not know how long John had been preaching that the Messiah was coming. His disciples were probably well versed in the scriptures from the prophets and most likely had heard John refer to him as the Lamb of God. After spending time with Jesus, John’s disciples accepted him as the One and immediately went to bring others into the group. Andrew’s first response was to tell his brother, Simon Peter.

I have always assumed that Peter was the older brother, which may or may not be true. He was a leader, a take-charge person, and somewhat impulsive. At the beginning of Peter’s relationship with Jesus, he was not necessarily the kind of person one would describe as a rock, but he became one.  Jesus saw that trait in Peter from the beginning. Even though Jesus chastises Peter at one point, saying, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.’ (Matthew 16:23). And at Jesus’s trial, Jesus said to Peter, ‘Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.’ (Matthew 26:34) Yet Peter became a rock for the beginning of the church.

We are each called for service that only we can do with the guidance of the Spirit we need to fulfill being the person God created us to be as we fulfill that calling. We may not be Peter, but we would never have had Peter without Andrew.

Prayer: Lord, help us to find our calling and guide us in fulfilling it. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.