Who is…
Andrew

Greek: Ἀνδρέας —transliteration: Andreas —meaning: manliness, manly, manhood, brave, valor

Andrew is one of the Apostles of our Lord. He was from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44), and was the brother of Simon Peter (Matthew 4:18; 10:2).

On one occasion John the Baptist, whose disciple he then was, pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:40); and Andrew, hearing him, immediately became a follower of Jesus, the first of his disciples.

After Andrew had been led to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, his first desire was to bring his brother Simon to Jesus.

After this, the two brothers seem to have continued being fishermen for a while, and did not become the fully follow the Lord as attendants till after John’s imprisonment (Matthew 4:18-19; Mark 1:16-17).

The Bible tells us very little about Andrew. He was one of the confidential disciples (John 6:8; 12:22), and with Peter, James, and John questioned our Lord privately concerning his future coming (Mark 13:3). He was present at the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:9), and he introduced the Greeks who desired to see Jesus (John 12:22). Little else is known about him.

It is noteworthy that Andrew brings others to Christ 3 times:

  1. Peter
  2. the lad with the loaves
  3. certain Greeks

These incidents provide a key to understanding his character.

Death

Tradition says that Andrew was martyred on this form of a cross shaped like this: ☓ or ✕ —the crux decussata, which is why this type of cross is called by some “Saint Andrew’s cross” or “The saltire” and is displayed on flags of various of nations of christian heritage.

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Article Version: July 18, 2021