St Andrew

St Andrews Day: but where did he come from?

Andrew himself first appears with other Galilean folks at the Jordan where John the Baptist is baptising.  Large crowds were dwelling in the area, and Andrew, along with his brother Simon and many others later to appear in the gospels, were among them.  Clearly the sight of a prophet was enticing and clearly also they wished to hear and probably repent of many things.  Andrew himself had become a disciple of John and we are left wondering why a Hebrew fisherman would be so keen to repent and live a new life.  A fisherman's life is indeed hard, Andrew was a Hebrew with a Greek name.  This was not uncommon in Galilee as far as I know, far from Jerusalem, with traders and a wide variety of travellers passing through, the Galileans were more open to outsiders than their Jerusalem leaders, and still the Hebrews kept to the faith, in spite of many difficulties of the day.  So, why was Andrew here?  Clearly he felt some need to change his ways, a desire to be closer to his God, and possibly problems in his life of which we know nothing.  

Now the 'Lamb of God' had been baptised the disciples knew something was afoot.  When John indicated Jesus and cried ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’ Andrew and another of John's disciples decided to follow him.  They spent the day with Jesus and makes me wonder what was said.  Certainly Andrew was impressed by what he heard and immediately went to find his brother Simon.  "We have found the Messiah!" and he brought him to Jesus.  When Jesus saw Simon he said "You will be called 'Kephas,' Aramaic for 'rock.' (The Latin 'Petras' meaning 'rock' gives us the name 'Peter.')  This may have surprised Simon and Andrew.

Returning to Galilee the men returned to work.  I wonder what went through their minds?  Then Jesus turns up again, preaching by the shore.  Getting in to Simon's boat what he said inclines Simon to realise his sin, but Jesus raises him up.  Later, while they men were in their boats fixing the nets, a never ending job for fisherfolk world wide, Jesus called them to follow him.   Clearly their meeting with Jesus, his preaching, and the man himself enabled them to leave a decent employment to risk everything, including their lives, by wandering the land and leaving everything.  Some pull was very strong and Andrew felt this first.

Andrew was with the disciples from then on, though not one of the three who appear closest to Jesus. Yet Andrew is named as one of the twelve apostles, he is the one who offered the boy with a few fish and loaves when Jesus was asking how to feed the people.  And when the Greeks (diaspora Jews living outside of Israel) asked to see Jesus they asked Philip, who took them to Andrew, who then told Jesus.

Andrew appears only once more in the new testament, after Jesus had ascended he is with the brothers and sisters gathered in the room, hiding from the Jews, while praising God.

Very little information but we do see a man seeking a better religious life, finding the answer to his life in Jesus, and then offering himself by leaving everything and following him.  Clearly he had found a life such as he had not known before.

But what then?

In truth no official record has been found.  This is no surprise, Jesus is the centre of action in scripture, the works of the others are hidden from us.  There is some possibility that Andrew did visit the Black Sea area, even venturing into Ukraine and Russia.  The earliest manuscript appears to date to the 2nd century and there are rumours of him in Cyprus and elsewhere.  It is said he dies in Greece, and his relics have travelled about a bit as so many relics have done.  Whether these are indeed Andrews bones we cannot tell.  One story involves a monk landing on the Fife coast, luckily for him at St Andrews, and presenting the bones to the local king.  Another tale indicates the relics in Hexam, where Acca, the then Bishop, removed them when under pressure from his enemies.  He settled in Fife, though some claim Galloway on the west coast.

Does it matter?

It does to Oengus II who took to the field against Athelstan in AD 832 and called on God for protection as he was heavily outnumbered.  He promised, it is said, to make Andrew patron saint if he won, and the next day, with a saltire shape in the sky above, he won his battle and Andrew was appointed Scotland's patron saint.  It is also said by some that Andrew was already popular in Scotland, but does this matter?

Of course not.  Patron saints are dead people who some believe can hear prayer and give answers, or at the very least get Jesus to do something.  Scripture makes clear praying to dead people does not work.  You come to God the Father through Jesus the Son only.  Pray to him and answers may, or may not, appear.  Having a patron saint makes no difference to our lives, not one whit.  Why should it when we can talk direct to God himself through Jesus?  

Scots do not takes these tales very serious.  Bible readers can trace Andrew clearly, a man who believed and knew his God, but a day off for St Andrews Day would only be to worship Scotland, and to pull the nation together, few would expect a prayer answer from the great man.  I say great, yet we know so little about him?  Just reading the verses reveals the heart of the man, seeking God and finding him there at the Jordan standing in front of him, then spending his life following and proclaiming Jesus as Lord.