Andrew the Apostle

Andrew Character in the Chosen

Andrew was one of the original twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was the brother of Simon Peter and is first mentioned as a disciple of John the Baptist.

In John 1:35-42 we find Andrew with John the Baptist and another disciples when John declared Jesus to be the "Lamb of God" signifying that He was the Messiah.

As soon as Andrew believed that Jesus was the awaited 0ne, he ran to find his brother and upon finding Peter proclaimed, "we have found the Messiah" (see John 1:41.)

There are few mentions of Andrew in the New Testament. He was overshadowed by his brother Peter. But from the information about both he and his brother, we do know a few things about Andrew.

Early Years

Childhood

Andrew was born the son of a fisherman named Jonas (or John) in the town of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. He most likely attended the first level of Hebrew school called Beth Sefer, which focused on reading and memorizing the Torah (1st 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures) before dropping out and helping his father with the family fishing business. Further evidence that Andrew and his brother Peter dropped out of school early is in Acts 4:13 when Peter is mentioned as an "unschooled, ordinary" man. Bethsaida is most probably the location of the feeding of the 5,000 that is recorded in all four of the Gospels.

It is thought that both Andrew and his brother Simon Peter may have been disciples of John the Baptist. (John 1:35-41) Andrew was definitely named as a disciple of John the Baptist.

The Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee, also known as the Lake of Gennesaret, is noted to be the place where Jesus spent a lot of his time. It is the region where he walked, taught, calmed the storm, caused miraculous catches of fish and called most of his disciples (see more here.) The Sea of Galilee lies about 700 feet below the sea level, making it the world's lowest fresh water lake and the second lowest lake after the Dead Sea.

Andrew's Ministry with Jesus

The crowning glory of Andrew's life was his quick response to Jesus. Immediately after John proclaimed Jesus to be the Messiah, Andrew began sharing the "good news" with the people close to him. He didn't hesitate or delay to proclaim Jesus as the sent one. Although Andrew was very important to the story of Christ as he introduced his brother to the Messiah, he is only mentioned 12 times in 5 different books of the Bible.

Bible Verses Referring to Andrew in the Gospels and Acts

• Matthew 4:18-19 - Jesus' Call to Follow Him as Disciples
• Matthew 10:2-4 - Named as one of the 12 Apostles and also named as the brother of Peter
• Mark 1:16-18 - A parallel to Matthew 4:18-19 and the call of Jesus
• Mark 1:29 - Jesus visited his home and it appears he lived with his brother and family
• Mark 3:18 - He's named among the original 12 Apostles
• Mark 13:3 - With the inner circle of Jesus (Peter, James and John) when they asked about the destruction of the temple
• Luke 6:14 - Named among the 12 original Apostles
• John 1:40-42 - Named as a disciple of John the Baptist and one of the 2 who heard him proclaim Jesus as Son of God and immediately informed his brother Peter
• John 1:44 - Named as from the city of Bethsaida
• John 6:8-9 - Informed Jesus of the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish that fed the 5,000. "How far will this go among so many?"
• John 12:22 - Along with Philip, informed Jesus that the Greeks were looking for Him.
• Acts 1:13 - Named among those staying in the upper room.

Andrew's Later Years and Death

The St. Andrews Cross modeled after the tradiona belief that he was tied to an x-shaped cross to lengthen his crucifixion.

As Jesus' story developed we read of a couple of instances where Andrew engaged with Him. At the feeding of the 5,000, Andrew was the disciple who located the little boy with five loaves and two fish. He is recorded asking Jesus how it would be that that would feed the crowd.

We also read of Andrew finding himself among Jesus' inner circle asking for more information about the destruction of the temple.

Other than that, we don't have much detail about the life of Andrew and his contribution to the disciple group.

After Jesus ascended, it is believed that Andrew traveled around making disciples and evangelizing cities, but it is not known for sure.

Here is an excerpt from learnreligions.com.

Origen and Eusebius believed that Saint Andrew initially traveled around the Black Sea as far as Ukraine and Russia (hence his status as patron saint of Russia, Rumania, and Ukraine), while other accounts focus on Andrew's later evangelism in Byzantium and Asia Minor. He is credited with founding the see of Byzantium (later Constantinople) in the year 38, which is why he remains the patron saint of the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, though Andrew himself was not the first bishop there.

As best we know, Andrew was martyred on November 30th of the year 60 during the persecution by Nero in the Greek city of Petrae. Tradition says, like his brother, Peter, he didn't feel worthy to die like Jesus, so he was hung on an X-shaped cross. To this day, an x-shaped cross is know as a St. Andrew's Cross.Tradition also says instead of being nailed to the cross, he was tied, making his crucifixion longer.