Christian Martyr - Andrew the Apostle

We find ourselves at a time when Christ had just begun to call his first fruits when it came to his inner circle of disciples.

We know that John the Baptist had just begun announcing that Jesus was the Lamb of God and that He will take away the sins of the world.

The two men who had witness this statement from John the Baptist, was two of his own disciples who were named Andrew and unfortunately the other was not named at that time.

But we are assuming that it was "John the son of Zebedee?" For we are not sure and this is just an assumption, for it could have been Thomas instead?

Be as it may, what we do know is that Andrew was definitely one of the two and as far as this article is concerned, that's all that matters.

There's not much that we know when it comes to Andrew the Apostle, but we do know that he was one of the first disciples that followed John the Baptist; and that he was also the younger brother of Peter the Apostle.

He and Peter were both fishermen that came from the town that was called Bethsaida, which was located on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. Andrew was one of the twelve disciples that Jesus had commissioned to go out and drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. (This account can be found at -- Matthew 10:1-2)

Andrew was a witness when Jesus fed the five thousand at the Sea of Tiberias, that's located on the eastern border of Galilee. In fact, Andrew was the one who brought the boy who had the five small barley loaves and two small fish to Jesus' attention.

He was also that disciple that Phillip had went to go get when the Greeks had asked Phillip to grant them an audience with the Lord Jesus Christ. It was at this moment that Phillip and Andrew went ahead and introduced the Greek visitors to Jesus.

This is where we are treated with an awesome account that deals with the voice of God that had came down from heavens glorifying the name of Jesus. The event was so powerful that the people that were at the temple that day, thought it might have been thunder or an angel that spoke for they all had heard it.

We also find that Andrew was one of the four who had asked Jesus privately about a statement he had just made about the end of time, while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives? This happened right after Jesus had said these words:

"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (Mark 13:2)

After hearing these words, this is when the four which consist of Peter, James, John, and Andrew had asked Jesus: "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about be fulfilled?"

This was a question that Jesus or the angels did not have the answer to -- for Jesus had responded, by telling them that the only One that could answer this, was the Heavenly Father. But Jesus would follow this statement with a word of caution that concerned some key events? You can read what Jesus said about those events at: (Mark 13: 5-31)

After Jesus had spoke about those concerns, He followed it with this statement:

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. Its like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

"Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back - whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the roster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!" (Mark 13:32-37)

I will now bring this article to a close, with how Andrew the Apostle was martyred? First off, there's not much known? But it's rumored that he later went and did his ministry in places like, Cappadocia and Bithynia.

It's also rumored that he traveled to places like the Scythian deserts, Eprius and maybe Hellas? We have also learnt that his martyrdom took place once he arrived in Edessa, around A.D. 60 which was during the reign of Nero.

Rumors also state that Andrew did not want to be killed on the same type of cross that Jesus was crucified on. The reason behind this is because he felt like he wasn't worthy enough.

We also learnt that it was Andrew who had requested a different cross, which was called the 'Decussate Cross.' Now this type of cross is basically an 'X' shape Roman cross that represents the number ten.

After the Martyrdom of Andrew had happen, the 'Decussate Cross' from that point on, was known as the 'Saint Andrew's Cross' and was widely used for martyrs during the medieval times.

Being that Andrew was a patron Saint of Scotland, the 'Saint Andrew's Cross' was eventually adopted as the national cross of Scotland. Also, Latin churches and Greek churches recognize the 30th day of November as a 'Holy Day' in honor of Andrew the Apostle.

1) Stephen the Deacon

2) James the Apostle

3) Philip the Apostle

4) Matthew the Apostle

5) <-CURRENT PAGE->

6) Matthias the Apostle

7) John Rogers

8) Alban of Verlamium