ANDREW THE FIRST DISCIPLE
30 AD Jordan River Valley
That night, Andrew and his friend John, son of Zebedee, brought the Baptist his evening meal.
“Master, when will the Messiah come?” asked John.
“He is already here!” he said. Andrew’s ears perked up at what was said. “You both didnot join me yet. It was more than a month ago. I was there at the river baptising people, when I noticed walking through the crowd the one person that I didnot ever expect to come to me for baptism.”
“Who was it, Master? Please…” asked Andrew eagerly.
“You have heard the tale of my birth, have you not? Of how an angel appeared to my father and told him of my coming as the one who will precede the promised Messiah? And of how I was miraculously born of parents who were old and barren?” Both he and John nodded. “Well, my birth was not the only birth that was extraordinary. Heed first this prophecy of Isaiah, ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son…’ [Isaiah 7:14 NLT]
“Six months before I was born, a young maiden was also visited by the same angel that appeared before my father. After the angel revealed what the Lord wanted her to know, she traveled a long distance to see my mother. From what my mother told me, it was a meeting of recognition but not between mothers but between me and him, though we were yet born. I was twelve years old when my aged told me this. She told me that the Holy Spirit had conceived in her the son of God. A month later, my mother joined my father in the bosom of Abraham and grew up the rest of my childhood with kin in Jerusalem.
“Of course, I thought I met him once. Though, I am not sure but there was this one boy I ran into during the Festival of Booths. We looked almost the same age. We passed each other but then our eyes locked for what seem like a longtime. It was like we have met before. Then, we lost sight of each other. For years, after that I left my kin and sought out the secretive society of the Essenes. I thought I’d never see him again but then last year, I had a vision of how to recognise the chosen one.”
“Master, tell us, how did you recognise him?”
“When he approached, it was like I knew him before. However, I was puzzled why he wanted to be baptized. I said to him that it should be I to be baptized by him. But his reply to me was that ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’ So, I immersed him and when he came out, a dove landed on his shoulder. Then I heard an echoing voice from Heaven, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ * It was the vision I saw come to life. Then he smiled at me and left.”
[* Matthew 3:15,17 NIV]
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