Andrew, Simon Peter's Brother: An Apostle Named More Often Than Described

Who Andrew Is

Andrew is an apostle, a man of the New Testament era, placed by the chronology we use at around 4 BC to AD 33 (era placed on Ussher's chronology (1650)). His name runs through twelve verses in ten passages, spread across five books: four mentions in Mark, four in John, two in Matthew, one in Luke and one in Acts. The first is Matthew 4:18, the last is in Acts. In almost every one of them he is identified by someone else: "One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother" (John 1:40). The dossier's family record names his father as John and his brother as Peter; the quoted verses themselves name only the brother.

A Name That Keeps Appearing in Lists

It is worth saying honestly what kind of mentions these are. Andrew has no scene of his own. Every appearance is a list, a note of relation, or a sentence in which he passes something on to someone else. That is not a defect in the man; it is what the text gives us, and we should read what is there rather than what we wish were there.

He belongs to the apostolic lists. Luke writes: "Simon, whom he also named Peter; Andrew, his brother; James; John; Philip; Bartholomew" (Luke 6:14). Matthew 10:2 and Mark 3:18 carry his name in their own lists of the apostles. After the ascension his name is read out again among those gathered: "When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James" (Acts 1:13). The same man who is in the first lists is still in the last one. He did not drop out.

He is also placed geographically: "Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter" (John 1:44). Andrew and his brother come from the same town as Philip, and the fourth Gospel mentions it only to locate Philip. Even Andrew's hometown is given to us as background for somebody else.

Beside Jesus, Mostly in Passing

Mark names him twice in a single chapter, at Mark 1:16 and Mark 1:29, and once more at Mark 13:3. Matthew 4:18 is where his name first enters the Gospel record. These verses are not quoted in our dossier, so we leave them as they stand: his name is there, in those places, in Mark's and Matthew's accounts.

Twice in John, Andrew speaks or acts. "One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him," (John 6:8). The verse breaks off mid-sentence, as the dossier has it, and the dossier does not carry what follows, so neither will we. What we can see is the shape of the thing: Andrew is the one who speaks up to Jesus about something, and even here he is tagged as Simon Peter's brother.

The second is the clearest picture we have of him: "Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew came with Philip, and they told Jesus" (John 12:22). Something is brought to Philip, Philip brings it to Andrew, and Andrew does not keep it, nor does he handle it alone. He goes with Philip, and together they bring it to Jesus. If Andrew has a characteristic motion in Scripture, that is it: he moves toward Jesus, and he brings somebody with him.

No Failure Recorded Here

The passages gathered here record no sin, no denial, no quarrel and no correction of Andrew. That is not a claim that he was faultless; it is simply what these twelve verses do and do not say. Where Scripture does not accuse a man, we should not accuse him either, and where it does not praise him beyond the record, we should not inflate him.

What We Do Not Know

No children of Andrew are named. No tribe or people is given for him. And, as said already, no scene is told about him in which he is the centre: every mention is a list, a genealogy or a passing note. How he died, what he preached, where he went after Acts 1:13, these verses do not tell us, and tradition is not Scripture.

The Line to Christ

The line is short and direct. Andrew heard John and followed, and he is named as one of the two (John 1:40). He is listed among those Jesus named as his own, with his brother beside him (Luke 6:14; Matthew 10:2; Mark 3:18). He speaks to Jesus as one of his disciples (John 6:8). He takes what Philip brings him and walks it to Jesus (John 12:22). And when the apostles are gathered in the upper room, Andrew is in the room (Acts 1:13). A man known chiefly as somebody's brother, who kept bringing people and questions to Christ, and who was still there at the end of the Gospel record. That is a life worth having.