The Twelve Apostles

Luke 6:12–16 CSB

During those days he went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. When daylight came, he summoned his disciples, and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

These 12 Disciples became Apostles.

Disciple - a student, pupil, or learner - (a follower of Christ)

Apostle - A leader of the early church who was sent by Jesus to bring the Gospel to others. An envoy and Jesus Christ, commissioned directly by Him, and invested with the authority to speak on His behalf. (One Sent By Christ)

Different walks of life, socio-economic status, backgrounds

What do we know about the different Apostles?

Simon Peter -

Fisherman by trade, would grow into one of the most prominent leaders of the early church.

Impetuous - always speaking his mind and acting on impulse.

Matt 14, Peter walks on water to get to Jesus

In luke 22, Peter would deny Jesus to avoid persecution

IN acts 2, Peter would stand before a massive crowd at Pentecost and preach a sermon that leads thousands to follow Jesus.

Galatians 2:9 CSB

When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.

Tells us that Peter, along with James and John, are pillars of the church.

James

James son of Zebedee, James the Greater, Brother to John.

Fisherman by trade.

Luke 9:54 CSB

When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”

asks if he and John should call down fire from heaven to destroy a village that didn’t show hospitality.

Perhaps this is a reflection on why Jesus would nickname James and John “Sons of thunder”.

Matt 20 - recounts James’ mother requesting that James and John be seated at Jesus’ side when Jesus is King; not knowing what it was that she was truly asking.

Acts 12:2 CSB

and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword.

was martyred by Herod - the only Disciple whose Martyrdom is recorded in Scripture.

Gal 2 Pillar of the church

John

Not John the Baptizer, but John son of Zebedee.

Fisherman by trade.

Obviously part of asking about calling down fire on a village, and his mother making the request of Jesus.

John 19:26–27 CSB

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

John was given the charge to care of Mary, Mother of Jesus.

John 20 recounts John getting to the empty tomb before Peter.

Gal 2 calls John a Pillar of the church as well

Wrote the Gospel of John, as well as 1, 2, and 3 John and Revelation.

Preached in Ephesus

Exiled to the island of Patmos.

The ONLY disciple to die of old age.

Peter, James and John were the only 3 Disciples, Apostles, to witness certain miracles. They were part of Jesus’ inner circle.

Mark 5 - they were present when Jesus raised a girl from the dead

Matt 17 - they were present for the Transfiguration

Matt 26 - they were called to be closer to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, to witness Jesus at His most intimate moment in prayer to the Father.

Andrew

Simon Peter’s brother.

Originally a Disciples of John the Baptizer. John 1:35-40.

The Gospel of John tells us that the first disciple called is Andrew, who would later tell his brother Peter about Jesus, and that Jesus is the Messiah!

John 1:41–42 CSB

He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated “the Christ”), and he brought Simon to Jesus. When Jesus saw him, he said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated “Peter”).

Funny how Peter gets all the credit, when Andrew seemed to know from the get go!

In the Feeding of the 5000, John 6 - Andrew finds the boy with fives loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Andrew seemed to be a leader in the group of Disciples, because the other Disciples seemed to look to him for guidance.

Philip

Only mentioned 8 times in the NT.

Most notable for bringing Nathanael to Jesus. John 1.

Is asked by Jesus where they should buy bread to feed the 5K. (John 6)

Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, to which Jesus responds

John 14 - Anyone who has seen me HAS seen the Father.

John 14:6–10 CSB

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works.

Bartholomew (or Nathanael)

His name only really appears in four lists of Jesus Disciples.

Never given any title or description

Always listed alongside Philip.

John 1:46 CSB

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.

John 1:49 CSB

“Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

Though he is obsuce by and large, his transition is amazing.

Matthew (Levi)

Tax collector - one of the most hated professions then. . . and not much has changed.

Thomas

Thomas means Twin in Aramaic.

He is also called Didymus, which means Twin in Greek .

So if this was his name, his name means he was a twin.

Commonly called doubting Thomas, but wouldn’t you.

John 20:25 CSB

So the other disciples were telling him, “We’ve seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “If I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

John 20:29 CSB

Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.”

James son of Alphaeus

only mentioned in the 4 four lists.

Jude

Also known as Thaddeus

Simon the Zealot

Zealot - political affiliation bent on revolution to remove Roman oppression.

Would have been a Big fan of Matthew the Tax Collector.

Judas Iscariot

Money keeper

betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

Lots of Differences!

It seems strange to me that in today’s time we always look for the place where we fit in, the place where we ‘belong’. But usually what we mean is the place where we have all kinds of stuff in common. But if you look at the Disciples, that is not the case. Some were fishermen turned Disciples. Some where Disciples of one religious teacher, then became Disciples of Jesus. One was a Tax Collector, ‘working for the enemy’, and opposite, yet along side him, was a Zealot who opposed all things Roman. Some, who knows their background.

There was different ages, differnet view points, different voices.

One thing in common: Jesus

Galatians 3:26–28 CSB

for through faith you are all sons of God in Christ Jesus. For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Jesus Unites, He brings us together DESPITE our differences.

DESPITE - Without being affected by

so without being affected by our differences, HIS POWER UNITES. And in this uniting there is power and beauty. Beauty and power to overcome the HYPENS in our lives.

Check this out: I like Shrimp. I like EGGS. But I do not go around eating Shrimp and Eggs. That seems strange to me.

I like Crabb.

I like crawl fish.

I like Sausage.

You see where I am going with this!

I really like Frogmore Stew! Some people call it a Low Country Boil.

And I have been eating them for years.

Shrimp, Corn, Red potatoes, Sausage, crab, corn on the cobb. WOW!

And then one day we went to aplace and there was a hard boiled EGG in the boil.

I was perplexed. That is different. That is strange. THAT DOESN’T BELONG!

And then I tried it. . . . AND IT BELONGS!

Won’t do one without my Egg thrown in there.

Why? because the FLAVOR WORKS! It brings together that which I thought was strange, and makes it so much a part of the meal that it seems strange when it is missing!

Jesus is the FLAVOR of our life that UNITES US! Without being affected by our differences. Even when you look and go: man this seems strange. How do you get those that are so different to sit side by side and love each other and work together? JESUS.

There is a reason why PAUL talks about us as though were were soldiers in an army. Because Soldiers in an army are united by their service, unaffected by their differences, they must put their differences aside because they are required to by orders of their superior.

See brothers and sisters, we are also in the same boat. Jesus brings us together, and we may not understand the WHY, but we can understand that we are to have a UNITY in our spirit, brought by the POWER OF THE SPIRIT! AMEN!

We can’t have this faction over here, that faction over there.

We can’t have a MY WAY OR THE HIGH WAY mentality.

We can’t have fighting within the body.

Mark 3:25 CSB

If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

There are only 2 factions: With Jesus or AGAINST Jesus.

There are only 2 mentalities: With Jesus or AGAINST Jesus.

There is only 1 body: The body of Christ.

And brothers and sisters: We have EVERYTHING in Common! Because Jesus is everything.

Colossians 3:11 CSB

In Christ there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all.