Among those who responded to the preaching of John the Baptist was Andrew, a fisherman from Galilee. He was with John the Baptist in the region around the Jordan Valley when John introduced him to Jesus. Andrew quickly went and told his brother Peter that the Messiah of whom John had spoken had arrived, with the result that Peter soon met Jesus and believed (John 1:35-42). (For further details of Andrew’s family see PETER.)

When Jesus later went to Galilee, the two brothers left their fishermen’s work to join him in his work (Matthew 4:18-20). Later again, Jesus included both brothers in his chosen group of twelve apostles (Matthew 10:2; Mark 13:3; Acts 1:13). Two further references to Andrew record how he brought other people to Jesus (John 6:8-9; John 12:21-22).