“Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’” (Mark 2:3–5 nkjv)
The Gospel writers give us very little insight into why Jesus chose the people He did to serve as His disciples. We can get a sense of the personalities of Simon Peter, John—and Judas Iscariot—because they are featured prominently in certain stories. But for the rest of the Twelve, we must rely on quick glimpses. We must look beyond the words to the circumstances in which they’re mentioned to see just a little of what Jesus saw in them.
Case in point: Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. We find the origin story of Andrew’s discipleship in John 1. Andrew was first a disciple of John the Baptist. One day, as Jesus walked past, John the Baptist pointed at Him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (verse 36 nkjv).
That was all Andrew needed to hear. He immediately started following Jesus. But that’s not all he did. “He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus” (verses 41–42 nkjv).
The thing about Andrew is that once he was convinced, he was convinced. He saw for himself. He believed. And he immediately went out to tell his brother Simon.
How we need more Andrews today. If we had more Andrews, we would have more Simon Peters. One person bringing another person to Jesus—it’s so simple. It’s so effective. And it’s so neglected.
Mark 2 gives an account of four men who brought their paralyzed friend to Christ. As Jesus was teaching inside a house overflowing with people, these four persistent men climbed up to the roof and lowered their friend inside. Jesus was so impressed with their demonstration of faith that He forgave the paralyzed man of his sins and healed him (see Mark 2:3–5).
This story serves as an inspiration and a reminder that sometimes a number of Christians working together can bring a person to Christ more effectively than one person working alone. As Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6 nkjv). We all have a part in God’s plan.
Andrew was brand-new in the faith, and often the newest converts are the most zealous evangelists. That’s probably because they are so cognizant of the fact that they have just been saved from a miserable lifestyle. That was Andrew. Maybe we, too, need to remind ourselves time and time again of what God has done for us.
Reflection question: Who can you bring to Jesus?
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Greg Laurie is the pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and of Harvest Crusades. He is an evangelist, best-selling author, and movie producer. His latest film ‘Jesus Revolution,’ from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, is now available on-demand worldwide.
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