John 6:1-15 (14)
November 16, 2025 St. Andrew Day St. Andrew Church Rev. Anne McAnelly
Have you ever been in a tough spot, faced with a situation and all you wanted was to talk with
your best friend to help you sort out what you should do? You know the person you can count
on in a pinch. The one who knows all about you and still loves you. Your person when the
chips are down. I have had several such people throughout my life and feel very blessed to say
that. Some of you have had the same person for your entire life. The one you can count on no
matter what.
Scripture tells us where some of the disciples are from. But we do not know much about the
relationship between the twelve disciples, other than familial relations: Simon Peter is Andrew’s
brother and James and John are also brothers. But when I read the feeding of the 5,000 it seemed
like when Jesus is testing Philip, Andrew quickly came to his aid with the five loaves and two
fish. Something a good friend would do. Now we are going to hear another story with Andrew
and Philip, and I want you to consider what you hear. You should know that this text follows
directly after Jesus raised Lazarus and John’s account of Palm Sunday with Jesus entering
Jerusalem. READ John 12:20-26.
Does it sound like Andrew and Philip were friends? Do you think they were close? The Greeks
wanted to see Jesus. They approached Philip, the only disciple with a Greek name, to make that
happen. Yet Philip does not go directly to Jesus rather he loops in his pal- Andrew and together
they take the Greeks to see Jesus.
We read the feeding of the 5,000 with Philip and Andrew named in that miracle of abundance,
and this moment, when Philip gets Andrew’s support before seeking out Jesus. But let’s also
consider when Andrew and another disciple, both followers of John the Baptist, spent the day
with Jesus. Directly following, Andrew and this other disciple spending the day with Jesus, then
Andrew recruits his brother Simon Peter, telling him, “We have found the Messiah” (1:41).
We do not know who the other disciple was, but there is a clue. Jesus, Peter and Andrew go to
Galilee. Then we are told, “Jesus found Philip and said to him ‘Follow me’” (1:43). Finding
usually implies looking, not just for anyone, but for someone specific. Jesus found Philip. What
if Andrew and Philip were the two disciples? What if they had spent the day together with
Jesus? What if since they were from the same hometown they had been longtime friends?
Every year we celebrate St. Andrew Day, and I look for another aspect of our namesake. Yes,
we wear tartans and do the Kirking of the Clan, but the hope is that we get inspired by Andrew’s
work as a disciple. In John’s gospel, Andrew was the first disciple named and was a former
follower of John the Baptist. After a very short time with Jesus, he recruited his brother, Simon
Peter, by calling Jesus the Messiah. As you know the gospel of John tells the story of Jesus’ life
differently than the other three. More theological, more signs than miracles, no birth narrative,
but the defining declaration, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God…”
John has his own way of telling Jesus’ story. In bringing Greeks to Jesus, Andrew had faith that
Jesus’ intention was to save all people, and he was right. Jesus has come for more than the Jews;
Jesus is the Messiah of the entire world. We see this when Jesus responded by saying, “The hour
has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” The hour has come means the crucifixion,
resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Something Jesus subtly and frequently talks about in John’s
gospel. Remember he has just raised Lazarus, and now Jesus is announcing his own death and
resurrection.
I recently learned how to dry flowers and extract the seeds so that they can be plated the
following year. From one dead flower I can get hundreds of tiny seeds all with the ability to
generate an entirely new plant. So, when Jesus talks about a grain of wheat dying, that image
has so much more power. Of course, Jesus is not just talking about plants, but humans. Our
need to die to our old selves in order to grow into the person Jesus is calling us to be. Oh you
can continue on with the life you love, or the life you hate, but if you do not die to yourself then
you will never fully become a radically new person as a follower of Jesus.
Jesus makes this point even more clearly by referring to himself as the Son of Man, a title Jesus
calls himself over 80 times compared to the Son of God which occurs only 7 times. Some think
the Son of Man is about Jesus’ humanity while the other title is about his divinity. Brian
McLaren explains the Son of Man this way. The Son of Man means the son of humanity, the
essence of or a new generation of what it means to be a human being. “Jesus is the new
generation of humanity, a new humanity, Humanity 2.0 we might say.” “His invitation to follow
me, means to imitate me, join me on my journey towards a new way of being human…eager to
embody a way of being human that is pro-justice, pro-kindness and pro-humility” (Do I Stay
Christian, p. 303, 306). Echoing the prophet Micah. This is the seed dying part, we have to die
to become this new kind of human being. “You don’t have to wait for some distant future to
start practicing kindness, nonviolence, reconciliation, reverence, joy, hope, neighborliness, and
peace. You can leave the old humanity behind and start practicing this new humanity now”
(Brian McLaren).
Jesus wants us to become a new kind of human being. Andrew and Philip led the Greeks to
Jesus when he shared this wisdom. Andrew and Philip were also at the feeding of the 5,000.
Yet John is the only gospel writer who tells us about Philip being tested and Andrew bringing the
bread and the fish. Yet with the two stories, it seems like John wants us to see Andrew and
Philip. See them as ones who facilitate Jesus’ mission. See them as possible friends.
At first, I did not get why Jesus wanted to test Philip. Why were Andrew and Philip mentioned
when the three other gospels excluded them. John tells the story in a way that echoes Moses and
the feeding and liberation of God’s people. In the previous verses, Jesus says, “If you believed
Moses, you would believe me” (5:46). But they do not believe Jesus, so John tells the story of
feeding the 5,000 with Exodus overtones. Jesus crosses water climbs a mountain, tests Philip
like he tested the people with manna (Ex. 16:4), multiplies food before offering God’s provision
and feeding, with abundance enough for the 12 tribes of Israel, represented in the gathered
baskets. Jesus fed the 5,000 in ways reminiscent of Moses. Ultimately, they see Jesus as a
prophet, like Moses was a prophet.
These two stories with Andrew and Philip are at the heart of who Jesus is: the Son of Man or the
new Moses. Both ask us who Jesus is in our lives today. I don’t know if Andrew and Philip were
good friends, but I do know they were named in moments of Jesus’ earthly life that encourage
US to define who Jesus is for us today. Does Jesus liberate you? Is Jesus the Bread of your life?
Does the Son of Man help you embrace your humanity and strive for more peace and justice
rather than wealth and success?
Soon we will come to the Lord’s table. We will partake in a meal that Jesus has prepared. Much
like Jesus shared a meal with the 5,000 that echoed Moses leading and provision in the
wilderness, may this sacrament be for us a liberation from all the anxiety we are feeling, a form
of nourishment for our time in the wilderness, help us to see Jesus as the Son of Man, the one we
relate to and follow, the one we seek to imitate within our new humanity. Amen.
