“He Must Increase, but I Must Decrease” John 1:35–42
St.
Andrew, Apostle, Advent Midweek Series # 1, 2012
1.
In
the name of Jesus Amen. You may have
grown up in a family where you weren’t the one who always got the attention. A
brother or a sister did better than you at sports, in school or in music and
got most of the recognition. Maybe you were sometimes introduced as “so-and-so’s brother or sister.” You
always were a little bit more in the background. It must have been that way for Andrew, for he
was the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew lived in his brother’s shadow. Out of
the dozen or so times his name occurs in Scripture, only once does it appear
without Peter’s name mentioned too. In fact, Andrew is often referred to as “Simon’s Peter’s brother,” as he is in
today’s Gospel (v 40). Andrew was the first one to follow Jesus, but it
was his brother who would become first of the apostles and be in Jesus’ inner
circle—Peter, James, and John. In fact, that name, Peter or Cephas,
was a special name given by Jesus, meaning “a
rock.” Andrew would simply be one of the Twelve.
2.
But
that doesn’t mean that we should feel bad for Andrew. Because he had his own
special, God-given role as an apostle. Not everyone is called to be the prominent
one. In fact, it’s a uniquely Christian virtue not to seek glory and honor and
the first place, but to be humble, considering others better than yourself
(Phil 2:3). Jesus himself would say, “Whoever
humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:12).
3.
This
was the way of Andrew, even as it was the way of Andrew’s first teacher and
rabbi, John the Baptist. John’s task was to prepare the way of the Lord, to
point to Jesus and say, “Behold, the Lamb
of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). John’s purpose
wasn’t to gain disciples for himself, but to lose his disciples to Jesus.
Later, John would say of Jesus, “He Must
Increase, but I Must Decrease” (Jn 3:30).
It was time for John to fade from the scene and for Jesus to
become the focus, so that all may know that He’s the One to follow, the
fulfillment of prophecy, the promised Messiah.
4.
“He
must increase, but I must decrease.” That’s true not only for John or Andrew
but for all of us, especially during this penitential season of Advent. You are
to decrease, to die to yourself and your own desires, so that Jesus might come
forth and be magnified in you with His abounding mercy and life. It’s written
in Galatians 2, “I have been crucified
with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the
life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me” (v 20). Having been baptized into Jesus’ death,
your old Adam is to fade from the scene and be drowned through repentance, so
that the new man, Christ, may arise in you to live by faith toward the Father
and by love toward your neighbor.
5.
“He
must increase, but I must decrease.” This saying showed itself in Andrew’s life
in the way he directed others not to himself, but to Christ. He brought
people to Jesus. For instance, in John 6, when the disciples were trying to
figure out how to feed the 5000 who had gathered to see Jesus, Andrew brought a
young boy to Jesus and said, “There is a
boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so
many?” (v 9). Andrew didn’t know if what he did would help, but he brought
the boy and his food to Jesus anyway, so that the Lord might do His work. And Jesus
did miraculous things with that boy’s food. Also, in John 12 some Greeks wanted
to see Jesus. Andrew, along with Philip, brought this request to Jesus, so that
the Greeks might have an audience with Him and hear His Word (vv 20–26). For
the Gospel of Christ is the power of God for the salvation of both Jew and
Greek. In today’s Gospel, it’s written that Andrew brought Peter to Jesus.
Andrew believed that Jesus was the Messiah, and that faith led Him to seek out
His brother and tell Him. It was the first thing that he did. Andrew may not
have been the most prominent of the apostles, but he was the one who saw to it
that Peter came to know Jesus.
6.
You
also get to be like Andrew. You may not be the most prominent one in the
congregation. But you can do things to help lead people to Jesus. When you see
to it that a child is brought to church to be baptized, you’re being like
Andrew, for Jesus is present at the font to do His miraculous saving work for
that little one. When you invite or give someone a ride to the Divine Service
or a Bible study, you are being like Andrew. For Jesus is living and active in
the proclamation of His Word to save those who hear and believe. Just as Andrew
led Peter to the place where Jesus was staying, so also you get to welcome
others to come and see where Jesus abides for us with His life-giving gifts. We
decrease and Christ increases as we direct people away from ourselves to Him,
the only Savior.
7.
Jesus
became your Savior by taking the least and the lowest place for Himself. He
humbled himself to be born of a virgin, subjecting himself to the curse of our
sin. He decreased to the point of death on a cross for you, so that you might
increase with the riches of His forgiveness and grace. Jesus is the Lamb of
God, whose shed blood causes death to pass over you. The blessed Virgin Mary
had a little Lamb who makes your sins as white as snow. You are covered with
the robe of Jesus’ righteousness. He who was humbled is now risen and exalted
to the highest place and given the name that is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow.
8.
Andrew
was called and sent to preach that name of Jesus, so that many more might
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Tradition
has it that Andrew, a former fisherman, became a fisher of men in Greece. Even
as he had previously told Jesus of the Greeks’ request to see Him, so now he
would preach the Gospel to the Greeks that they might truly see Jesus and be
saved. Andrew made converts of many in a town called Patras. This angered the
pagan proconsul of the town. Andrew ended up in jail. The Christians became
enraged at this, and a riot would have broken out had not Andrew urged the
people to imitate the patience and humility of Jesus. Eventually, Andrew’s
death was decreed. He would be crucified on a cross in the shape of an X. It’s
said that Andrew greeted his cross with these words: “Hail, precious cross, that has been consecrated by the body of my
Lord, and adorned with his limbs as with rich jewels. I come to you exulting
and glad: receive me with joy into your arms. O good cross, that has received
beauty from our Lord’s limbs; I have ardently loved you; long have I desired
and sought you: now you are found by me, and are made ready for my longing
soul; receive me into your arms, taking me from among men, and present me to my
master; that he who redeemed me on you, may receive me by you.” Andrew
preached Christ for two days on that cross, continuing to point people to him,
before his suffering finally ended and he died.
9.
In
this way, Andrew’s life as a disciple came full circle. For when Andrew first
met Jesus, our Lord said to him, “Come
and you will see [the place where I am staying]” (v 39). Now at the last,
Andrew again went to where our Lord was. For Jesus said, “I am going . . . to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be
where I am” (Jn 14:2–3 NIV). Andrew is with Christ. We join with Andrew,
along with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, in lauding and
magnifying the glorious name of our Redeemer. For we believe that Jesus will
also come back for us who have been marked with the holy cross. He will take us
to be with Himself—in soul at our death and in body at the resurrection on the
Last Day.
10. Since we have this certain hope
in Christ, let us learn from the example of Andrew’s humility. Let us “humble [ourselves], therefore, under God’s
mighty hand, that he may lift [us] up in due time” (1 Pet 5:6 NIV). Amen.
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