The First Called
AM: Psalm 34; Isaiah 49:1-6; 1 Corinthians 4:1-16
PM: Psalm 96, 100; Isaiah 55:1-5; John 1:35-42
John the Baptist replied to those questioning him:
I baptize you with water but the one who comes after me — one whose sandal I am not worthy to untie — he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
The next day, John spotted Jesus in the crowd:
Look, that’s him — the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world!
Two of John the Baptist’s own disciples heard his exclamation and began following Jesus to see where he went. After spending the rest of the day with Jesus, one of the men was so moved, he hurried to find his brother:
We have found the Messiah, the Anointed one! Come with me!
Andrew brought his brother, Simon, to meet Jesus who looked at him and said:
You are Simon but from now on, you are to be called Peter.
Such is the account of Andrew and Peter according to the Gospel of John. In contrast to the other three Gospels, John’s account shows Andrew and Peter taking the initiative to follow Jesus rather than Jesus searching for them.
Today is the feast of Saint Andrew, the apostle named by the Byzantine Church as Protocletos, the “first-called.” It is believed that Andrew was born between 5 AD and 10 AD in Bethsaida, in Galilee. The fact that his father — Jonah — gave his elder son (Andrew) a Greek name and his younger son (Simon) an Aramaic name reflects the mixed Jewish-Gentile environment of Galilee and the cultural openness in their family.
Andrew possessed a natural curiosity, good social skills and quite a different personality from his brother. Less impulsive, he was a deep thinker who was respected by the other apostles. Though most times in the Bible we only hear “…and his brother Andrew,” when he is mentioned individually it is because he is bringing someone to Jesus. He brought his brother, we know; we also know Andrew was the apostle who brought forth the boy with five loaves and two fishes, confident in his faith in Jesus. He is also the disciple who introduced some Greeks to Jesus and his ideas, shortly before the Last Supper and Jesus’ arrest.
Andrew’s preaching took him to the Eastern lands to share the Word of God. He went through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, reached the River Danube, went around the shores of the Black Sea, throughout what is now Greece and Turkey, through Crimea and along the River Dniepr, and climbed to the place where the city of Kiev now stands. Into Georgia, Russia, Romania, even as far as what is now Poland he traveled, coming back around to the small city of Byzantium where he founded what would become the Church of Constantinople. While Andrew became Apostle of the Greek World, Peter travelled from Jerusalem through Antioch and, in reaching the center of the empire, established the Church of Rome.
Brothers in life, their inexorable bond continued in death. Andrew was crucified in Patras, Greece, by order of the Roman Governor, Aegeas, during the reign of Nero, 30 November, 60 AD; bound, not nailed, to the cross in order to prolong his sufferings. At that supreme moment, feeling unworthy to be crucified on the same cross as Jesus, he asked for an X-shaped cross — a saltire — on which he hung for three days until he expired. Four years later, his brother Peter would make the same request at his own crucifixion.
Written by Bernadette Reda
Thank you, Saint Andrew, for being curious that day; thank you for wanting and searching for a closer relationship with God. Thank you for following Jesus and choosing openness. Thank you for believing the promise. Thank you for all the work you did, for the wide expanses you walked, for sharing the Word so that, across all time and space, we, too, can follow. Amen.