Answer Like Peter. Act Like Andrew.

Answer Like Peter. Act Like Andrew. Consider these two questions asked by Jesus: “Who do people say the Son of Man is? ... Who do you say I am?” (Mt. 16:13,15). Most people today would have no trouble with the first. It’s safe because it’s about someone else. The second, however, gets personal – and that’s a whole other issue! For the true followers of Christ neither question posed any particular threat. They had been with Jesus as He spoke to the crowds and performed miracles, so they had heard the onlookers speculate that He must be “John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” The answer to His first question was easy. When Jesus asked them the second question – and it was directed to the whole group – Simon Peter answered for them: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16:16). The Lord Himself tells us why this answer was more significant: “This was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven” (Mt. 16:17). In other words, Peter’s answer was evidence of the work of God, the Father, in his life. It was a confession of personal faith in the the Son of the Living God – a confession that went beyond the knowledge and experience of the disciples up to this point. It was an answer Peter would later more fully understand and write of: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). Do you have any friends who might have trouble answering the second question? Maybe it’s because they don’t know Christ as their Savior. If they don’t, God has put them in your life to give you the opportunity to do what Andrew did. After telling Peter he had “found the Messiah,” he took his brother to meet Him (Jn. 1:40-42). By the power of the Spirit, you can do the same thing. Tell them how you met Jesus, then take them to church. This month’s features are about Peter, the most well-known disciple in the Bible. But if it weren’t for his brother, the little-known Andrew, we might be saying, “Who’s Peter?” By Larry Ondrejack