Greetings
Reach for the Living Water. Today’s Holy Nougat requires a bit of inner refreshing to proceed.
“Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.” John 6:8 NLT
Why would Andrew speak up? Jesus was not speaking to him and his interjection (by his own admission) could not seriously impact the crisis. Yet, he spoke up.
Before exploring motive etc; let’s ensure that we are one the same page. Miracles had been abounding left, right and central Galilee as partial evidence of Jesus’ divinity. His actions had ‘gone viral’ as the crowd was often a crush or a press (perhaps what we’d see when charismatic healers or televangelists are in town – relatively speaking). This day was no different. Perhaps they were hoping to impact a different crowd, or maybe they were avoiding them, but the Rabbi (Jesus) and his disciples had gone to the ‘Far side’ of the Sea of Galilee; which suggests they were skirting Gentile territory! That was not a crowd deterrent.
No one had food with them
Nor were there any enterprising vendors selling ‘proviisions’ or any such items to meet the needs of the crowd. Jesus ‘sussed out’ the situation and, seemingly wondered what to do. He asked Philip what next.
Now there’s no mention of Philip as treasurer nor chef, nor does it seem as if Philip was from the area! Yet, knowing what was happening AND what He had in mind, Jesus asked Philip about the food crisis!
And that’s when Andrew spoke up.
You see, sometimes, when our brother or sister (by blood or through the Blood) is in a crisis; we MUST respond! Andrew KNEW what he was suggesting was not a dent in the crowd’s hunger management; but he added his observation. Some might argue that he was ‘one-upping’ Philip, other’s might argue that he was poking his nose where it didn’t belong, I might further argue that he hoped to mobilize solutions by getting others to admit that they had food; but ultimately Andrew was part of the team. And teammates support each other!
Not much is said about Andrew, especially because of his famous brother. But, consider another Andrew cameo appearance in the Gospel narratives. According to John’s account, Jesus called Andrew and another disciple First. He met Jesus, was impacted by the man and His divinity; AND proceeded to invite his brother Simon to follow Jesus also. He was a true team player.
So we fast forward to the 21st century. The crowd is thicker and hungrier than before. Some aren’t even aware of their hunger or that they need to be following Jesus. But, that is truly our current reality. Despite the crush, we KNOW we have access to the Bread of Life, the Living Water. Will we allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the crowd, or do we offer support; knowing that the Living Water flows forever giving eternal refreshing and that the Bread of Life is forever multiplying?
Can we please share Jesus with a body today? Andrew-style?
In Christ’s love and grace . . .
