Friday, October 26, 2007
John 1:40 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah." (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.
FORERUNNERS OF THE REFORMATION: JEROME OF PRAGUE (1379-1416)
Andrew seems a quiet fellow. With a brother like Peter, we don't wonder why. Yet Andrew was given a job to do in God's Kingdom work, as are all followers of Christ.
Peter would play a huge rule in the establishment of the New Testament church. But it was quiet Andrew who brought Peter to Jesus in the beginning. I would imagine that most of the great figures of church history had their own "Andrews" too. Huss certainly did.
Years after the corrupt church burned John Huss as a heretic, Martin Luther would read his work "On the Church." Upon completion Luther exclaimed, "Without being aware of it, I have hitherto proclaimed and contended for all the doctrines of Huss . . . we are all Hussites without knowing it; in the end Paul and Augustine, too, are Hussites to the letter."
So what about Jerome of Prague? He introduced John Huss to the writings of an earlier student of the Bible, John Wyclif. Though he would never know the man, Huss would be greatly influenced by the teachings of Wyclif. But it was Jerome of Prague who introduced Huss to Wyclif's teachings in the beginning.
Jerome would eventually face the same death as Huss. Imprisoned, abused, and condemned by the church, Jerome of Prague was burned to death on the same spot of ground where Huss had left this world.
Jerome was little remembered outside of his time. He is still little appreciated by the children of the Reformation. But this "Andrew" was greatly loved by Christ, and given a role to play in preparing the world for the Reformation.
Are you a Peter or an Andrew? A Huss or a Jerome? Either way, dear Christian, your Savior has a role for you to play too. What is your role?
