Jesus and Andrew and His Friend.
(See John 1:35-47)
John the Baptist stood talking to Andrew and another of his followers. They heard footsteps. They looked up. Jesus was walking near by. John had baptized Jesus. He knew that God had sent Jesus to the world.
John turned to his two followers. "Behold, the Lamb of God!" he said. John meant that Jesus was the Son of God, that he was the Messiah. the Savior. The followers understood what John meant. They looked at Jesus. Every Jew who studied the Law and Writings of the prophets and the men of God was looking for the One whom God would send.
"I would like to talk to him", one of the disciples said. They began to go after Jesus.
Jesus turned. He saw the two men following him. He said, "What do you want?"
They said, "Teacher, where are you staying?"
Jesus said, "Come and see."
Jesus was ready to talk to those who wanted to know more about God and more about himself. The men went with Jesus. They came to the house where Jesus was staying. The sun was still in the sky. It was about two hours before night. There was time for Jesus to talk to them. Andrew and his friend listened carefully. Thet asked questions.
As they listened the friends knew that Jesus was indeed the Messiah whom God had promised to send to the world. John the Baptist was right. Jesus was the Son of God.
As Andrew left Jesus he hurried away to find his brother.
"Simon must know Jesus," Andrew said to himself.
When Andrew found his brother, Simon, he smiled. He was happy to bring, his news to his brother. "We have found the Messiah, the Christ," he said.
Simon went with Andrew. Together they went to Jesus. Jesus smiled as Andrew introduced his brother. Jesus looked at Simon.
"So you are Simon the son of John?" said Jesus. "You shall be called Peter." The name "Peter" meant "the stone." Jesus was saying that Simon Peter would be his brave , strong, and true helper, as dependable as a stone.
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip who was from the same city as Andrew and Simon Peter. Jesus asked Philip to go with him. Philip went to bring his friend Nathanael to Jesus. So it was that these four friends were the first special friends and helpers to follow Jesus.
Story by Ethel M. Phillps, 1948
