Day 10

We Have found the Messiah
 
Yesterday we spoke about the Apostle Philip and how he is in some small way connected to this present Fast. Today, we are going to stay in that scripture passage in the Gospel of St. John as we talk about St. Andrew, who is known in the Orthodox Church as the "First-called". 

Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.

As we can see, St. Andrew is the first named Disciple of Jesus, and one of the two Disciples of St. John the Baptist who were the first to hear Jesus speak and then follow Him. He brought his brother Simon Peter to see Jesus and told him that they had found the Messiah:

41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

This passage of St. John is exciting in that we see the very beginnings of Christ's public ministry. We see Him inspire these men simply by His presence and by His words. I have often looked at the 40 days of the Nativity fast as a reimagining of this moment in our present day. Throughout this Fast, the church calls us to come and see what is going to happen. Hopefully, we have the strength and the courage to be like Andrew, Philip, Simon Peter, Nathaniel and the others to give ourselves over to God. They could have walked away, gone on with their lives, but they didn't. They chose to follow Christ. 

During this Nativity Fast the Church invites us to come and see this great mystery. 

As Archimandrite Vassilios says, not only is "God with us", He is one of us!

 
In Christ
Fr. David