St Andrew’s Absence from Luke

St Andrew’s Absence from Luke

The “Miraculous Catch of Fish” only occurs in Luke 5:1–11, and not in the other synoptic or John – although there is a post-Resurrection story of a miraculous catch of fish in John which is quite remarkably similar – indeed some scholars have suggested there may be an underlying common source..

This has the calling of Peter, but not Andrew, his brother. Indeed Andrew does not appear until Luke 6, the calling of the Twelve.

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

So when does Andrew appear?

Andrew appears first in a different calling story in Mark 1:6, and in a similar form in Matthew.

And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

This story does not feature in Luke, although the “catchers of men” pun exists. Luke’s story could be seen as an imaginative expansion of the “casting a net in the sea”, which puts the focus strongly on Peter.

Before that, Luke has healing of Simon’s Mother in Law (4.38), which is before the calling story in Mark.

And he arose and left the synagogue, and entered Simon's house.

Contrast with Mark 1.29 (which comes after the calling story in Mark)

And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

So Andrew vanishes a second time in Luke’s redaction! And also is missing in Matthew’s redaction of the same story in Mark.

Andrew features very lightly in Mark, and only once in Luke – the calling of the Twelve. By way of contrast, John places Andrew at a number  of significant events – Baptism of Jesus, Feeding of the Five Thousand.

It is noteworthy that in the Acts of the Apostles, the Pentecost  list of disciples is the same as in Luke 6.14–16. However, as James Dunn observes: “the two brothers, James and John, are now grouped with Peter, leaving Andrew, Peter’s brother, separated from Peter”. Dunn suggests that “The implication is that Peter, James and John formed a central or leadership group.”

Andrew in Luke features simply as a name in the lists, whereas in John, he plays almost as significant a part as the “Beloved Disciple” and Jesus. Indeed, he is the one who singles out Jesus at his baptism to his brother Peter.

My conclusion – if we apply form critical methods, and assume the four gospels largely reflect four different early geographical centres of Christianity  – is that Andrew was part of the early Johannine community, and hence features heavily in John, where he is sometimes seen as nearly as close to Jesus sometimes as “the Beloved Disciple”, and is close to his brother Peter. But elsewhere, in other communities, he was not a significant figure.

Andrew resurfaces in the 2^nd century Greek “Acts of Andrew”. This text is dated between 150 and 200, “it relates the success of the preaching of Andrew before Maximilla, the wife of the proconsul Aegeates, who subsequently refuses her husband's attentions. Full of grief and anger, Aegeates throws the apostle into prison; Andrew will die as a martyr on a cross.” (Daniel Marguerat).

It is clear that this has little historical value, although it adds a hagiographic element which will be used to flesh out the story of Andrew, and the design of the St Andrew’s Cross comes from this tale.

And even later, he plays a part in the “Acts of Andrew and Matthias among the cannibals” – a title which sounds like a straight to DVD movie - where Matthias has been preaching in a strange country of  anthropophagi (literally man-eaters, i.e. cannibals) and has been imprisoned, presumably to be eaten. Everyone in this prison is given a ticket tied on his hand to show the date when his thirty days would be fulfilled, and he would be for the pot. He is rescued by Andrew and Jesus; during which seven guards fall dead at the command of Jesus.  It is no longer considered to be a portion of the text of Acta Andrew.

Andrew is one of the  'fringe' characters, of the New Testament, which is why he pops up elsewhere. J.K. Elliot in “The Apocryphal Jesus: Legends of the Early Church” notes that:

“Jesus, his parents, and the disciples are the usual dramatis personae of many apocryphal texts, but others like Nicodemus, the good and bad thieves, Pilate's wife, Thomas, Andrew, John, and other apostles gain prominence. The stories betray an insatiable interest in these characters' miracles, and pronouncements, their travels and, increasingly, their deaths. Believers' curiosity about these persons fuelled a creative literary urge.”

And these follow a set pattern:

“The eponymous hero of all these Acts is, to a large extent, a stock character. He is a fearless champion for Christ, displaying prodigious deeds of courage, performing spectacular miracles, delivering himself of effective speeches, defending in public his faith, withstanding hardship and suffering deprivation (including imprisonments and torture), and dying typically as a martyr.”

The scarcity of information concerning the “fringe” names such as Andrew and Matthias, combined with a curiosity to know what happened to them led to the formation of these texts. This is a very human instinct, and today we avidly devour biography and autobiography, although not looking for religious reasons, but seeking to understand other human beings, and ourselves better as a result, and to enjoy a story.

These stories also played a part in grounding saints in particular locations, as can be seen notably in later legends such as Joseph of Arimathea coming to Glastonbury.  

An associated trend is the linking of the “lost tribes of Israel” with locality, seen in the British Israel movement, and of course in the Book of Mormon.

As early as the third century, the cult of relics also began to take off, although it would not reach its high point until around the Middle Ages. Again there is a need for localism, to possess a link to something holy. It is very human – Thomas Aquinas pointed out that it was natural that people should treasure what is associated with the dead, much like the personal effects of a relative. And where there is not a tale to connect a saint to a locality, a relic can fulfil the same function.

It seems to be a very human instinct, like genealogy research, which provides a grounding of identity. With genealogy, it is answering the question: “Who am I? Where do I come from? What are my roots?” With the apocryphal acts, and the later martyrologies and relics, it is answering the question: “Where does my religious identity come from? How is it connected to the New Testament? Where are my roots?”

These are foundational stories which both legitimise (like “apostolic succession”) and authenticate religious identity, make connections to the past, like tracing back the branches of a vine to its source, and in the end, what they say is simply this - “we are one body”

Jesus and the Sphinx

One day Jesus and his disciples came into a temple of the Gentiles, and the chief priest turned to the twelve disciples and said:

"O wretches, why do you follow this man who says he is the son of God? is riot this man the son of Joseph the Carpenter and his mother Mary? And are not James and Simon his brothers?"

The hearts of the disciples weakened when they heard these words. But Jesus, having looked to the right and to the left of the temple, saw two sculptured sphinxes on each side. And he said to the sphinx on the right:

"Come down from your place and answer the chief priest, that he may know who I am."

The sphinx left the pedestal and said in a human voice: "Do not say that I am a carved stone and that you alone have a name and are called the high priest! For though we are made of stone, it is you who have given us the name of a god. Then you purify yourselves seven days when you have intercourse with women, because of your fear of us. But I say to you that only the holy things can purify your temples."

The disciples turned to the chief priest and said: "Now even the stones have convicted you."

But the priest said: "By magic one can make the stones to speak. I will believe you only if you bring me the testimony of the patriarchs."

Jesus then said to the sphinx: "Go to the land of the Canaanites and to the cave in the field of Mature, and cry out, saying: ' Abraham! Abraham! whose body is in this tomb and whose soul is in paradise, rise up! You and your son Isaac and his son Jacob, rise up, and come to this temple of the Jebusites, and convict the chief priest who does not believe that I am acquainted with you, and you with me!"

The sphinx walked out of the temple and went to the cave of Mamre and cried out to the patriarchs as Jesus had commanded. Straightaway the three patriarchs set out for the temple of the Jebusites, and there they testified to all that Jesus had said, and convicted the chief priests. Then they returned to their resting place to await the time of the resurrection.

And Jesus said to the sphinx: "Return to your place."

The sphinx returned to its pedestal and was stone again. Even so the chief priest did not believe in him.

This legend, which appears in the Acts of Andrew and Matthias, is told by the Apostle Andrew in the first person, long after the Crucifixion; and strangely enough, the story is told to Jesus who, as the pilot of a small boat, is not recognized by Andrew and his disciples.

The Lore of the New Testament. Contributors: Joseph Gaer - Author. Publisher: Little Brown. Place of publication: Boston. Publication year: 1952.