/Andrew the Apostle/

Despite his seemingly important role as an early follower of Christ, Andrew is only mentioned 12 times in the entire New Testament—and four of those times are simply lists of the 12 apostles. He comes onto the scene early in the gospels, but only plays a minor role. However, his prominence in the lists of disciples and the few glimpses we get of him seem to suggest he was one of the main apostles—even if he wasn’t one of the “pillars of the church” (Peter, James, and John).

From the handful of passages he appears in, we can make several observations about who Andrew was. Here are the basics.

Andrew is Andreas in Greek, coming from the root word aner or andros, meaning “man.” The name is related to andreia, meaning “courage,” and it’s most often defined as “manly.” That’s a strange way to describe a baby, if you ask me.

Interestingly, Andrew’s name is Greek, even though his family is Jewish and his brother’s name is Aramaic (Simon). Since no other name is ever given for Andrew, this probably means his family was at least open to non-Jewish cultures.

Two lists of the disciples (Acts 1:13 and Mark 3:16-19) list Andrew after Peter, James, and John. Given his relationship to Peter, it seems more likely that the writers (John Mark and Luke) are ordering the disciples based on their importance.

Like his brother Simon Peter and several of the other disciples, Andrew was a fisherman. In Matthew 4:18–20 and Mark 1:16–20, Jesus first encounters Andrew when he’s fishing near the shore of the Sea of Galilee with Peter.

Luke 5:1–11 gives a similar account, but doesn’t actually name Andrew among the fishermen. It does, however, add that James and John (also brothers), were Peter’s partners. From the narrative in Luke, it seems likely that Peter had a more prominent role in the business than Andrew (Luke claims Jesus gets into the boat that belongs to Peter, and the other presumably belongs to James and John). This could support the idea that Andrew was Peter’s younger brother.

In all three accounts, Jesus tells the fishermen some variation of, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” They all drop their nets and follow Jesus.

While the New Testament doesn’t record much of Andrew’s personal ministry activity, other accounts claim he brought the gospel to various countries. In Church History, Eusebius of Caesarea claims Origin said Andrew was sent to Scythia (an ancient region in central Eurasia). A much later work added that he preached in regions surrounding the Black Sea. And an ancient apocryphal text claimed he preached in Achaea. For centuries, church tradition has supported Andrew’s ministry in many of these regions.

In Mark 13, Jesus leaves the temple and tells his disciples that one day it will be destroyed—“Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down” (Mark 13:2). Later, on the Mount of Olives, Peter, James, John, and Andrew “privately” ask Jesus to tell them when this will happen, and he launches into a lengthy teaching about the end times.

This passage is one of the main arguments that Andrew was one of the more prominent apostles, because Peter, James, and John saw more of Jesus’ ministry than anyone else, and here Andrew is privy to teaching they received in private.

Philip appears to defer to Andrew, possibly because he had more authority among the apostles, he was closer to Jesus, or Philip simply trusted him to make the call. Whatever the reason, this is another brief account which gives us another glimpse of Andrew, and it doesn’t appear in any of the other gospels.

Tradition holds that Andrew was martyred by crucifixion in the Greek city of Patras around 60 AD. Like his brother, Peter, Andrew allegedly didn’t consider himself worthy to die in the same way as Jesus, and tradition claims he was bound—not nailed—to a cross which was hung in an X shape instead of a T.

However, the earliest origin of this narrative that we can identify today comes from Acts of Andrew, an apocryphal text which also includes numerous supernatural accounts of Andrew’s miracles which are recorded nowhere else—including a claim that he preached for three days straight as he hung on the cross—and it didn’t emerge until decades, possibly centuries after his death.

Andrew was a fisherman. But he was searching for something more important than life on the sea could give him. Like many faithful Jews of his time, Andrew was waiting for God to send the Savior he had promised.

Andrew first learned about Jesus from the preaching of John the Baptist. John told the people, “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:7-8). One day, Andrew and his friend heard John the Baptist say, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36) as a stranger walked by. The stranger was Jesus! The two men immediately began to follow Jesus, who invited them to join him. Andrew could not keep this good news to himself. He ran to get his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. These three men became Jesus’ first disciples.

Nothing made Andrew happier than bringing people to meet and believe in Jesus. In John’s Gospel, we learn that it was Andrew who found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish and brought him to the Lord, leading to Jesus feeding a crowd of more than 5,000 people.

After Pentecost, the Holy Spirit helped Andrew continue to bring people to Christ. His stories about Jesus convinced many people to be baptized. Andrew was a true missionary for Christ, preaching in Greece and Russia.

Scottish tradition says that many years ago, the country was being threatened by a much stronger army. King Angus prayed that God would save his country from the invaders. As he prayed, an “X”-shaped cross appeared in the sky. The King recognized the cross as a sign of St. Andrew’s protection. The Scots were victorious, and King Angus immediately decreed that Andrew would forever be the patron saint of his country. Today, if you look closely at a picture of the flag of Scotland, you will see the X-shaped cross that recalls St. Andrew the Apostle. His feast day is the national day of Scotland.

According to the Christian Bible, Jesus Christ had 12 principal followers. One of them, however, had to be first. That person was Andrew, known in ecclesiastic traditions as the Protocletus, or the first called. Disciple, apostle, and saint, Andrew holds a special place in Christian cultures. After all, it's a big deal to be first.

Andrew was Saint Peter’s brother, and was called with him. “As [Jesus] was walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is now called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, ‘Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:18-20).

John the Evangelist presents Andrew as a disciple of John the Baptist. When Jesus walked by one day, John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Andrew and another disciple followed Jesus. “Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come, and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day” (John 1:38-39a).

Little else is said about Andrew in the Gospels. Before the multiplication of the loaves, it was Andrew who spoke up about the boy who had the barley loaves and fishes. When the Gentiles went to see Jesus, they came to Philip, but Philip then had recourse to Andrew.

The first Apostle. Fisherman by trade. Brother of Simon Peter. Follower of John the Baptist. Andrew went through life leading people to Jesus, both before and after the Crucifixion. Missionary in Asia Minor and Greece, and possibly areas in modern Russia and Poland. Martyred on an saltire (x-shaped) cross, he is said to have preached for two days from it.