Andrew
A fisherman from Bethsaida, the brother of Simon Peter and one of the first disciples Jesus called. In John’s Gospel he had been a disciple of John the Baptist and brought his brother to Jesus.
Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus called them together (Mark 1:16–18). John’s Gospel tells it differently: Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, followed Jesus after hearing the Baptist speak of him, and then brought Simon, saying, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:35–42). The same Gospel says that the brothers came from Bethsaida (John 1:44). He is named among the first four in every list of the Twelve (Mark 3:18) (Acts 1:13); see Jesus Appoints the Twelve.
He appears again pointing out the boy with five loaves and two fish (John 6:8–9), bringing some Greeks who wished to see Jesus (John 12:20–22), and with Peter, James and John questioning Jesus privately on the Mount of Olives (Mark 13:3). The New Testament says nothing of his later life. Eusebius, in the early fourth century, passes on from Origen a tradition that Scythia fell to him as his field of work (Eusebius, Church History 3.1.1–3).
In the timeline
- c. AD 28–29, estimated dateJesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee
Mark and Matthew tell how, after John’s arrest, Jesus returns to Galilee, announces that the kingdom of God is at hand, calls four fishermen and makes Capernaum, on the lake, the centre of his teaching and healing.
- c. AD 28–29, estimated dateJesus Appoints the Twelve
From his wider following Jesus chooses twelve men to be with him and to be sent out to preach and heal. Mark, Matthew and Luke list their names from Simon Peter to Judas Iscariot; Acts lists the eleven who remained.
- c. AD 29 or 32, estimated dateThe Feeding of the Five Thousand
In a lonely place by the Sea of Galilee, all four Gospels relate, Jesus feeds a crowd of about five thousand with five loaves and two fish. John adds that the crowd wanted to make him king, and the discourse on the bread of life.