Christian Martyr - Andrew the Apostle***By Clicking Here*** When it comes to this Christian martyr - 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 also 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. Now it's possible that the unnamed disciple that was following John the Baptist at the time, could have been one of three men? Two of the men I'm mentioning are brothers who would eventually come into Jesus' inner circle. These men were known as "The sons of Zebedee" who went by the names James and John. And there could have been a third possible person, if it weren't one of the two brothers... and that person would have been, possibly Thomas instead? However, 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 at this moment. Be that as it may, there's not much that we know when it comes to Andrew the apostle. But what we do know, just like I'd mentioned earlier, is that he was one of the first disciples that had followed John the Baptist and that he was also the younger brother of Peter the apostle. Know that Andrew 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: "And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him , He gavethem power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and toheal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease." - Matthew 10:1 Also know that Andrew was an eye witness when Jesus fed the five thousand at the Sea of Tiberias - which was 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 Philip had went to go get when the Greeks had asked Philip to grant them an audience to meet with the Lord Jesus Christ. It was at this moment that Philip and Andrew went ahead and introduced the Greek visitors to Jesus. This is where we're treated with an awesome account that deals with the people who were gathered around Jesus at the time, who had heard the voice of God - as it had sounded from the heavens, in which God had glorified His name. The event was so powerful that the people that were there at the temple that day, thought it might have been thunder, or an angel that had spoken, for they all had heard it. We also find that Andrew was one of the four who'd 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 consisted 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 had to admit that He, or the angels, did not have the answer to Andrew's question. For the Sacred Record had confirmed that Jesus didn't have the answer. Jesus had told them that the only One that could answer their question, was the Heavenly Father. But in spite of this Jesus would follow His statement with a word of caution, which concerned some key events. Now you can read what Jesus said about those events at: (Mark 13:5-31) However, after Jesus had spoken about those concerns, He followed it up 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) Now I will bring this article to a close, by mentioning how Andrew was martyred...? First off, there's not much known about his death actually. But it's rumored that he'd 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 to die the same way Christ did. We also learnt that it was Andrew who had requested a different cross, which at the time was called the "Decussate Cross." Now this type of cross was found to be in the shape of an 'X'. Also know that the "Roman cross" also represents the number ten. However, after the martyrdom of Andrew had happen, the "Decussate Cross" from that point forward, was known as the "Saint Andrew's Cross" - which was widely used for persecuting Christians during the medieval times. Also know that since Andrew was a patron Saint of Scotland, the "Saint Andrew's Cross" was eventually adopted as the national cross of Scotland. Also note that Latin and Greek churches recognizes the 30th day of November as a "Holy Day" which is in honor of Andrew the Apostle.
5) <-CURRENT CHRISTIAN MARTYR PAGE-> 7) John Rogers  |
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