Disciples

~Disciples~

In the Upper Room Jesus met with all his Disciples.
Jesus' Twelve Disciples Were:

1.Simon (also called Peter) --fishermen
2.Andrew (Peter's brother) -- fisherman
3.James (son of Zebedee) -- fisherman
4.John (son of Zebedee) -- fisherman
5.Philip
6.Bartholomew
7.Thomas
8.Matthew -- tax collector
9.James (son of Alphaeus)
10.Thaddaeus
11.Simon -- of the Zealot political party, wanting to overthrow the Romans
12.Judus Iscariot -- who betrayed Jesus

The Twelve Apostles

Simon Peter - Best known of the twelve because of his stepping out on the water, and his thrice denial of Christ. He was chief spokesman for the twelve on the Day of Pentecost. He was special minister to the Jews, Gal 2:8, and authored the books of 1st & 2nd Peter. Click here for more on Peter.

Andrew - He heard John the Baptist speaking, Jn1:40, and told his brother Simon Peter "we have found the Messiah", and he took him to Jesus. These two brothers, both fishermen, were first called to be "fishers of men". Mt4:18. So they were LOOKING for Him! (As we should be doing...)

James Boanerges - He was killed by King Herod, Acts12:2, which must have been a horrendous blow to his brother and those other early Christians. Jesus himself surnamed these brothers, Mk3:17, who wanted to sit next to Him when He became King.

John Boanerges - The disciple "whom Jesus loved", Jn13:23, and the author of five books of the Bible including the Revelation. Earlier, in Luke 9:54, these two brothers had wanted to call down fire on the Samaritans, the way Elijah had done.

Philip - In the four lists of the Apostles, Philip always heads the second group. He's sometimes confused with another Philip, an Evangelist with four daughters who was one of the seven chosen to serve tables, Acts6:5, and who ministered to the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts8:26

Thomas - He wasn't present when the resurrected Jesus showed the others the scars in his hands and feet, so he's best known for saying "Except I see for myself, I won't believe", and is often derided for his lack of faith.
I think he's getting a bad rap--personally, I wouldn't take anyone's word for anything as important as Eternal Life. Rather, I want to see for myself!

Bartholomew - Nothing is told about him in the Bible, though he's included in all four lists of the twelve apostles. "Bar" means Son in Aramaic, so his name translates as "Son of Tolmai".

Matthew - A tax collector initially; he's assumed to be the author of that Gospel, and known also as Levi (son of) Alpheus. Mk2:14

James of Alphaeus - He's possibly a brother of Matthew. Alphaeus translates as "leader or Chief".

Simon Zelotes - His surname means "zealous", and he's called a Canaanite in Mt10:4, which wouldn't necessarily keep him from being a Galilean.

Judas of James - Perhaps a brother of Jesus, Mk6:3, and/or author of the Book of Jude. It isn't clear which James might be his father.

Lebbaeus Thaddeus - He's named in Matthew 10 and Mark 3 lists, but replaced by Judas of James in the Luke 6 and Acts 1 lists.

Judas Iscariot - This was the thief which "had the bag", Jn12:6, and betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, Zech 11:12/Matt26:15. He was "surnamed" Iscariot (given that last name), and after he realized what he'd done, he went out and hanged himself. Acts 1:18, Matt27:5

What does "Apostle" mean?

It's the Greek word apostolos, meaning "a sent one", (by the LORD, of course). Today we may call them Missionaries: those who are sent into other countries to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Apostles are part of the five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11 (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers), and the word "missionary" is NOT found in the Bible.
Jesus had followers called disciples (disciplined believers), and it seems that twelve of these were specially promoted to the rank of apostle. Matt10:1

Once a year they were required to eat UNLEAVENED BREAD, but the rest of the time they were in the wilderness they ate the Manna from heaven (Manna in Hebrew means "What is it?") They 'wondered' what it all meant, so I call it the WONDER-BREAD period!
What did it all mean?", they wondered, when the Bread from Heaven, the Manna, came down every night so they could gather it every morning except on the Sabbath. They could bake it or boil it, and it was said to taste like wafers made with honey. They wondered and wondered.

Duties of an Apostle

1. To cast out unclean spirits. Matt 10:1
2. To heal all manner of sickness and disease.
3. To proclaim the gospel, the TRUTH, "in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth", Acts 1:8.
It's a world-wide ministry, sometime's called the Great Commission!

In the Old Testament it was SEVENTY souls, Ex1:5, who went down into Egypt, and it was SEVENTY elders, Numb 11:16, who assisted Moses in the task of ministering to the people.

Compare this to the SEVENTY men in the New Testament which Jesus "sent out", Luke10, to perform these apostle duties.

We don't see the Tribe of Joseph on the map here, because he received the double-portion (instead of Reuben), and so his two sons, Manasseh & Ephraim, were made 'tribes' in his stead. 1Chr5:1.

Jesus himself is called "the Apostle and High Priest of our profession" in Hebrews 3:1. The Apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus) never met Jesus face-to-face or in the flesh, but saw that Great Light on the Road to Damascus and became an Apostle and the special minister to the Gentiles (those who aren't Jews).

False Apostles, 2Cor11:13, are those deceitful workers who transform themselves...

There are those who think it was a mistake to replace Judas with Matthias, but I don't find fault with the Great Author, and have decided any "mistakes" are probably caused by my own thinking.

Disciples of Christ were faithful,

in so much that they left ALL

 to follow Christ.

  Let us do the same

Some of the information on this page came from Prince of Peace

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