Andrew the Rodeo Announcer
Rodeo announcers are an integral part of the Rodeo. The Rodeo Announcer will tell about each cowboy and cowgirl’s hometown and perhaps some of their accomplishments. The audience connects better when the announcer tells something about the person they are watching. I like to know where the cowboys are from and what experiences they have had in life; it makes the rodeo more interesting. A good rodeo announcer will get to know the cowboys and will study up on them. Having an announcer with a good working knowledge of each cowboy allows the crowd to be mentally closer to the competitors. Out of all the disciples there is one disciple that has the appeal of a rodeo announcer; Peter’s brother Andrew.
Announcers occasionally make mistakes but these mistakes add to their character. The following story going around the internet makes a good point about an experience of a new young minister:
As a young minister, I was asked by a funeral director to hold a
graveside service in a new cemetery for a derelict man (with no family
or friends) who had died while traveling through the area.
The cemetery was way back in the country. This man would be the first
to be laid to rest at this new cemetery.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods area, I became lost.
Being the typical man I didn’t stop for directions. And when I finally
arrived an hour late, I saw a crew and a backhoe, but the hearse was
nowhere in sight.
The workmen were eating lunch. I apologized for my tardiness, but the
workers just looked puzzled. I stepped to the side of the open grave,
to find the vault lid already in place.
I assured the workers I would not hold them long, but this was the
proper thing to do.
As the workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. I poured out
my heart and soul.
As I preached, the workers began to say "Amen," "Praise the Lord" and
"Glory," (they must have all been Baptist).
I preached, and I preached, like I’d never preached before. I began
from Genesis and worked all the way through to Revelation.
I preached for 45 minutes.
It was a long service. Finally, I closed in prayer and it was
finished.
As I was walking to my car, I felt that I had done my duty and I would
leave with a renewed sense of purpose and dedication, in spite of my
tardiness.
As I was opening the door and taking off my coat, I overheard one of
the workers saying to another...
"Ya know, I’ve been putting in septic tanks for 20 years, but I ain’t
never seen anything like that before
This could be a mistake anyone of us could make. Andrew was a thoughtful disciple and wanted to do things right and not get ahead of Jesus. Andrew was one of the twelve disciples, who like Peter (his brother) and Philip, are all from a fishing village called Bethsaida. Bethsaida is on the upper end of the Sea of Galilee. Andrew, like Peter, was a Galilean which meant he had a specific accent in his speech. This accent was easily recognized, similar to a Texan going to New York, his accent gives him away. When I spoke to people the first thing they would ask me “Are you from Texas?” Andrew is closely associated with Peter, James and John as they were all partners in the fishing business (Luke 5:10).
Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and when John announced the Messiah Jesus Christ; Andrew immediately started to follow Jesus and became one of his twelve closest disciples (John 1:40). The first thing Andrew did after he started following Christ was to bring his brother Simon to Jesus. Jesus immediately changed Simon’s name to Peter. Andrew is mentioned fourteen times in the New Testament. Out of those fourteen times we see him in action during only three events. All three events that specifically mention the actions of Andrew by himself all share one common theme, Andrew was an announcer, and he introduced people to Jesus. The first event we see is Andrew announcing Peter to Jesus (John 1:41). The second event we see Andrew introducing a small boy to Jesus that only had five loaves of bread and two fishes (John 6:8). The third event we see Andrew performing is when some Greeks, during the week Jesus was to be crucified, came by and wanted to see Jesus (John 12:22).
The Greeks That Wanted to See Jesus (John 12:22)
During the week of Passover, the same week that Jesus was crucified, some Greeks came by and wanted to see Jesus. The Greeks coming to Jesus was a confirmation of what the Pharisees (the religious people) said about Jesus in John 12:19, “Look the world has gone after him!” Jesus’ response to the Greeks was spoken to His disciples, “Look, the hour has at last arrived.” Andrew had the opportunity to introduce the climax of Jesus ministry.
Philip was unsure as to whether Jesus would speak to a gentile because in Matthew 10:5 when Jesus sent the disciples out on their first missionary journey, He told them to go to the lost Sheep of Israel and not the Gentiles. Philip tends to see difficulties and Andrew sees possibilities. Andrew’s name means “manliness” and being a typical man he has more the practical mind and proposes a way out of difficulties. Philip and Andrew are seen together at two encounters; with the Greeks and the feeding of the 5,000; Philip seeing the difficulties and Andrew seeing the possibilities.
Andrew could have remembered the time when he first met Jesus and he immediately followed Jesus (John1:40). Like the rodeo announcers who intimately know the cowboys they are introducing; Andrew could have been hoping that these Greeks would recognize Jesus as their Savior and follow him too. According to John Chapter 1, John the Baptist was standing with Andrew and one other disciple, could have been Philip or John, when Jesus walked by. John said “Behold the Lamb of God.” Andrew and the other disciple immediately followed Jesus after John spoke. Jesus asked the two disciples what they were looking for and their response was “Where are you staying.” Jesus replied “Come and see”; from that day forward they remained with Jesus. Andrew’s response was not the typical. Jesus told one wanna be disciple that He had no where to lay his head. Andrew must have seen the humble circumstances where Jesus lived and realized Jesus must be the real thing, because He had been discipled by John; and John was in the same condition, as one wandering through the wilderness. Looking at the men Andrew followed and was associated with, this was a man who was looking for truth and not fluff. He wasn’t impressed with wealth and that was not a requirement for his teachers, who had no earthly wealth. We can all learn something from Andrew and follow his example, look at Jesus and follow him, then announce Him to our family and friends.
The Feeding of the 5000 – Announced the Lad with Loaves
After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
8One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
The Background
In verse one “and after these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee” he was going to a remote place to spend some time with His disciples. Jesus had sent the disciples out on their first missionary journey and they have now returned. The disciples had come back from being sent out to preach the Kingdom of God, heal the sick and cast out demons and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1-2). Jesus was in Jerusalem teaching and this was probably a low point in His ministry. The reason for the low point resulted from the Jews were trying to kill Him in Jerusalem because He broke the Sabbath and said that God was His Father, which made Him equal with God (John 5:18). At this point the ministry of Jesus was actually turning from a public ministry to a private ministry. Meaning the people will start to seek out Jesus rather than Jesus going openly into the towns. At this point Jesus is still about a year away from the cross.
If it’s not bad enough having people wanting to kill you Jesus hears from John the Baptist’s disciples, that John had been beheaded by Herod, the local ruler. Jesus and John’s mothers were cousins, who made Jesus and John cousins. The two were very close and John and Jesus were also about the same age, John being six months older than Jesus. Jesus said there was no one greater than John the Baptist (Matt 11:11). At the same time all this is happening the disciples are on a spiritual high from all that they had seen and done. This would be a good time to get some down time with his disciples and share with them about the things they had experienced.
Jesus got in the boat and crossed over the Sea of Galilee. Great things never go unnoticed by people and the people followed Jesus by land to get to where Jesus was. Jesus was on the mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee amidst the green grass because it was spring time of the year (verse 4) spending some down time with His disciples. Jesus looked up and saw the crowd of people coming His way. Matthew 14:21 agrees with John 6:10 but also Matthew mentions there were also women and children to be added. The sum total was probably better than 15,000 people total. Stephenville Texas where I went to college at Tarleton State University has a total population of 15,000 people. Athens Texas has a population of 15,000 people. Both of these cities are good sized cities and I could not imagine all of them coming to one place at the same time. What a sight this must have been to see 15,000 people making their way around the lake to get to Jesus. The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake that is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide at its widest point.
As the day wore on the disciples realized it was getting late and all the fast food places and grocery stores were either closed or too far away. This created a problem; however it was a problem that Jesus expected.
The Test
Jesus asked Philip where they were going to buy bread to eat; John 6:6 says this was a test. Why a test? Since the beginning of time God has been testing his people to see if their hearts are after Him. The first test was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. God told Adam he could eat from any tree except for one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). That is a very clear command; this command needs no further explanation. We all know how the story turned out; Eve ate the fruit after being tempted by the devil and shared some with Adam. This brings up an important point. There are two types of tests that God gives us and there are also temptations. The difference between a test and a temptation lies at the source and motivations of each. A temptation never comes from God, James tells us in (James 1:13-15) that God tempts no man. Each person is tempted when, by his own evil desire, is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Therefore, temptation comes from us not controlling our thoughts then the devil comes along and throws gas on the fire. The devil has been in the temptation business a long time and knows exactly where our weaknesses lie. When the devil tempts or tests us he wants us to fail. When God tests us He wants us to succeed, that is the major differences in the motivations of different tests.
My horse Saches has a history of making bad choices when it comes to the choice of fresh green grass or listening to my commands. Saches does not realize that the grass is not what sustains him but me giving him the grass. I like to saddle my horses without having to tie them up to the fence or the trailer because I feel like this is teaching them to be dependent on me. Keeping a horse tied up does not give him the opportunity to choose and therefore it would do nothing as far as taking the relationship to the next level. I will saddle Saches while he is standing in green grass, Saches will repeatedly drop his head to take a little nibble. I have to keep pulling his head up so I can get the halter on him and make him useful for work. The more experiences Saches has with me providing for him the more his trust will grow toward me. This is the same with God; he will give us tests to enlarge our understanding of Him and to enlarge our trust in Him. What do we do with all this trust and confidence in the Lord? The first thing is we learn to truly experience life to the fullest; our relationship with the Lord and with other people in our lives start to blossom. Secondly, we live a life that is pleasing to God and this life will start to produce fruit. People will see the love of God reflecting from us and that reflection will draw people to the source of the reflection…Jesus Christ.
Abraham’s Test
There are two types of tests, one is a test of obedience and the other is a test of trust. Sometimes the two go hand in hand. For example, in Genesis 22:1-19 God tests Abraham to sacrifice his own son. God was not tempting Abraham to commit murder but was testing Abraham’s heart to see if who he loved the most; God or Isaac. This was a test of both obedience and trust. Abraham believed that God would raise his son back from the dead (Hebrews 11:19) so God wanted to see if Abraham truly believed this. Furthermore, we now have Abraham’s testimony of trusting God which encourages us to trust God.
How long did Abraham and Sarah wait for the arrival of their promised heir, Isaac? God first revealed to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations when he called him to leave his country and go to the land God would show him. Abraham was 75 years old. Fifteen years later, when Abraham was 90, God renewed his promise. Ten years later, at age 100, Abraham and Sarah finally had their son. That’s a total of twenty-five years before Abraham finally had his promised son. Abraham was putting it all on the line to prove his trust of God, and God came through at the last moment and provided a ram for the sacrifice and said to Abraham (Gen 22:12) “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your from me your son, your only son.” God knows all things and how we are going to do on each test so why test? The test is for our benefit and for the benefit of others to learn from our experiences. Abraham experienced God in a whole new light and because of that experience Abraham had no problem trusting the Lord in and with all things.
Israelites Test
After God delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt he took them out into the wilderness where they wandered for forty years because they could not pass the faith test. Three days after the Lord split the Red Sea so the Israelites could pass through (Exodus 15:24) the people complained against Moses because they had no water to drink. The Lord caused the bitter waters to turn sweet and the people moved on. Forty five days after the escape from Egypt the people had a hunger revolt saying that Moses had brought them out to the desert to die. The people remembered sitting by “pots of meat” and “had bread to the full.” God told Moses that He would “rain bread from heaven” but was going to test the Israelites. God gave the Israelites bread with a test, the test was for the Israelites to take only what they needed. Over time some would take more and some would take less, but what is interesting the Bible says in Exodus 16:18 those who gathered much had nothing left and those who gathered little had no lack. God was teaching them that they can have all the bread they want but (Deuteronomy 8:3) “man does not live on bread alone, but the Word of God.” God humbled the Israelites by leaving them to suffer hunger from the want of food, and then supplying them with food in a miraculous manner. They were thus taught that their life depended wholly on God, who could, by his own creative power, without any of the ordinary means, provide for the sustaining of their life.
The bread is not what sustains a person but it is the Lord that sustains a person. The Lord built the body he knows what it takes for it to perform. However, the Lord is equally concerned about your soul, and you being dependent on him for everything. The disciples were tested to teach them the same thing, but according to Mark 8.
The Disciples Test
Jesus was now going to test Philip and Jesus already knew how He was going to feed the 5,000. Philip looked at the physical ignoring the spiritual, this is a common theme for Philip…identifying the difficulties. Philip saw the resources and Andrew saw the resource. Philip said they only had enough money that amounted to eight months of wages (200 denarii) or $10.00 dollars. It would be impossible to buy this much food with so little money. And Jesus knew this.
The Loaves and Fishes
The basic problem at this point is it is late in the day, there is not enough money to buy them food, and there are too many people to feed. This problem could have been addressed in a variety of ways. Jesus could have called down bread “manna” from heaven, Jesus could have miraculously made the people not hungry, Jesus could have told the fisherman to get in their boat and go catch some fish. These are all the expected things that could have been done, but Jesus is in the business of doing the unexpected and He uses the Andrew’s people skills to solve the dilemma.
In John 6:9, like a good rodeo announcer, Andrew gets to know the people who are at the gathering. Andrew finds a little boy who has two fish (sardines probably) and five loaves of bread. Andrew introduces a little boy who has five loaves of bread and two “small” fish. Why did he mention the fish were small? It’s not like the boy is going to be carrying around two whales or two eighteen pound catfish. Even if he was carrying fifty pounds of catfish that still wouldn’t be enough to feed the large numbers of people. John is emphasizing the fish were small in comparison to the large crowd. Where did the boy come from? It’s not likely he was carrying food for his family because his mother would have been the one that would take care of the food. This could have been the boy’s lunch his mother packed for him that morning, and then being an inquisitive young man he saw the large crowd and wanted to see what was happening.
There is something about the faith of a child and their willingness to give. One time at Cowboy Church a young boy about the age of 6 came up to me and gave me a self made check wrote with a crayon to the sum of one million dollars. The gesture really floored me because somehow he knew the church needed money to buy land and he wanted help out where he could. This young man came from a poor family who was being raised by his grandparents. I keep this “check” with me in the visor of my truck and it constantly reminds me of the faith and generosity of a child. This boy that Andrew found was willing to give what he had to help others. Out of this small gift over 15,000 people were helped.
Jesus didn’t hesitate and immediately had the people sit in groups of fifties (Luke 9:14). Do the math; that means each disciple had approximately twenty five groups of fifty to feed. Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks to His Father for the bread that was given. This is a picture of a father at the head table giving thanks for the food that his family is about to partake. Imagine what the other disciples were thinking as Jesus was thanking God for the food they were getting ready to eat. I would have been wondering if there was going to be a riot when the other 14,995 people did not get anything to eat. We can all learn something from the generosity of this little boy.
The Miracle of Giving
If the seed-time was when Jesus blessed the bread it was harvest time when He broke it. It is always seed time when we pray, it prepares us for the blessing that we are about to receive. When we pray for something and when that prayer is answered, many times not in the way we expect, God gets the glory and it draws us closer to Him because our minds were prepared. This is the first miracle Jesus performed where the disciples participated. Imagine the first disciple in line to get some bread and fish and goes to his first group of fifty. I would be thinking, should I just pass the basket around or ration the food out myself. What do you tell the first person that sticks his hand out for some food? Do you break off a crumb of bread and perhaps part of the fishes tail and say” here you go, enjoy it.” The scriptures do not tell us how the process took place but Luke 9:16 says Jesus kept giving the food to the disciples to give to the people.
After the second group the giving of the food probably became a lot easier because the disciples should have figured out what was happening then started to give with a cheerful heart. This is the same thing that happens to us when we start giving. The first few times it is very difficult but after we realize where the source of our money and things come from, and realize that source never runs out it becomes so much easier to give. This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” So the question is not to give, but to give what you determine in your heart is right and have joy that God has blessed you and will continue to bless you when you give.
There is an account in the Old Testament about the Jewish Prophet Elijah. In 1 Kings 17 Elijah is told to go to a widow in the town of Zarephath a non Jewish town during a drought. Elijah goes to Zarephath and finds the widow, upon arrival Elijah asks the widow to bring him a piece of bread to eat. The widow replies “I don’t have any bread, only a handful of flour and a little oil. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die.” Not exactly the answer Elijah was looking for, but Elijah had faith in the Lord and told the woman to do as she said but also make a small piece of bread for him. The widow did as she was told and the Bible says that her flour and oil never went dry until rain came on the land. This was such a powerful testimony to the provision of God Jesus even told the Jewish Rabbis the story and emphasized the fact the widow was non Jewish (a gentile) in Luke 4.
The Leftovers
After the bread and fish was given the Bible says the people were filled (John 6:12). The first thing that pops into my head as I read about all 15,000 plus being filled is Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for right standing with God, for they will be filled.” When God touches our lives there is never an emptiness associated with that touch. In John 4:14 Jesus tells the woman at the well that the water that Jesus gives will cause a person to never thirst again. The filling of the people shows how complete the blessings of God are in our lives, but what about the leftovers?
Jesus told his disciples to gather up the pieces that were left over. The disciples were not to pick up the crumbs but the left over pieces of bread and fish. We know that all twelve disciples were involved with the passing of the bread and fish because there were twelve basketfuls left over. What kind of baskets were they a person might ask? The Jews customarily carried their food in a feed pouch called a “corbis”. This wicker basket is the typical basket a person would be found carrying the food in for a journey. The overabundance was to be a slap in the face to the doctrine of the scribes and Pharisees who tried to give as little as possible. This new doctrine was from above and it exceeds all expectations.
The leftover baskets were probably to used to provide food for the disciples at a later time because the disciples, being typical men, had a tendency to forget details like bringing food for a journey. (Mark 8:14). However we can’t be too hard on the disciples for forgetting small details at time. When a person is focused on Jesus they tend to pay attention to the more important things. Many times when a team roper goes running down the arena on horseback his hat will fly off his head. You will never see a roper stop the run and go back and pick up his hat. The roper is focused on one task and that is roping the steer, after the steer is caught and the time is entered, the roper will then go back and pick up his hat. Are you constantly getting off your Jesus horse to pick up your hat? Stay focused on pursuing Him, He will provide what you need.
The After Effect
What happened after this event to the disciple’s faith exploded like a football player on steroids? The event that followed is the famous Peter walking on the water episode. The disciples learned that Jesus is Lord over the food but also Lord over the elements, in other words Jesus is Lord over all. Andrew went on being the rodeo announcer and even “Andrew” is specially mentioned as being one of those present with John in Ephesus, who urged him to write his Gospel
Andrew announced Jesus to three specific people; his brother Peter, the little boy with a lunch and the Greek worshipers. Who have you introduced to Jesus?
