Who were the Apostles

Let’s take a look at the follower’s of Jesus. How were his closest confidants?

1. Peter
   1. son of Jonas, was a fisherman who lived in Bethsaida and Capernaum. He did evangelistic and missionary work among the Jews, going as far as Babylon. He was a member of the Inner Circle and authored the two New Testament epistles which bear his name. Tradition says he was crucified, head downward, in Rome.
2. James
   1. son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of John the Apostle; a fisherman who lived in Bethsaida, Capernaum and Jerusalem. He preached in Jerusalem and Judea and was beheaded by Herod, AD 44 (Acts 12:1,2).
3. John
   1. son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of James, the Apostle. He was known as the Beloved Disciple. A fisherman who lived in Bethsaida, Capernaum and Jerusalem, he was a member of the Inner Circle. He wrote the Gospel of John, I John, II John, III John and Revelation. It is said that an attempt was made on his life by giving him a chalice of poison from which God spared him. He died of natural causes. A chalice with a snake in it is his symbol.
4. Andrew
   1. the brother of Peter, and a son of Jonas. He lived in Bethsaida and Capernaum and was a fisherman before Jesus called him. Originally he was a disciple of John the Baptist (Mark 1:16-18)
5. Bartholomew or Nathaniel
   1. son of Talmai, lived in Cana of Galilee. His apostolic symbol is three parallel knives. Tradition says he was a missionary in Armenia. A number of scholars believe that he was the only one of the 12 disciples who came from royal blood
6. James, the Lessor or Younger
   1. son of Alpheus, or Cleophas and Mary, lived in Galilee. He was the brother of the Apostle Jude. According to tradition he wrote the Epistle of James, preached in Palestine and Egypt and was crucified in Egypt. James was one of the little-known disciples. Some scholars believe he was the brother of Matthew, the tax collector. James was a man of strong character and one of the most fiery type. Still another tradition says that he died as a martyr and his body was sawed in pieces. The saw became his apostolic symbol.
7. Judas
   1. the traitor, was the son of Simon who lived in Kerioth of Judah. He betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and afterwards hanged himself (Matthew 26:14,16).
8. Jude or Thaddeus
   1. son of Alpheus or Cleophas and Mary. He was a brother of James the Younger. He was one of the very little-known Apostles and lived in Galilee. Tradition says he preached in Assyria and Persia and died a martyr in Persia. He was killed with arrows at Ararat.
9. Matthew or Levi
   1. son of Alpheus, lived in Capernaum. He was a publican or tax collector. He wrote the Gospel that bears his name. He died a martyr in Ethiopia. Matthew became the first man to write down the teachings of Jesus. He was a missionary of the Gospel, who laid down his life for the faith of his Master.
10. Philip
    1. preached in Phrygia and died a martyr at Hierapolis. Philip came from Bethsaida, the town from which Peter and Andrew came (John 1:44). The likelihood is that he, too, was a fisherman. Although the first three Gospels record his name (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13), it is in the Gospel of John that Philip becomes a living personality. It is said that he died by hanging. While he was dying, he requested that his body be wrapped not in linen but in papyrus for he was not worthy that even his dead body should be treated as the body of Jesus had been treated.
11. Simon the Zealot
    1. one of the little-known followers called the Canaanite or Zelotes, lived in Galilee. Tradition says he was crucified.
12. Thomas
    1. Tradition says he labored in Parthia, Persia, and India, suffering martyrdom near Madras, at Mt. St. Thomas, India. Thomas appeared in the raising of Lazarus (John 11:2-16), in the Upper Room (John 14:1-6) where he wanted to know how to know the way where Jesus was going. In John 20:25, we see him saying unless he sees the nail prints in Jesus’ hand and the gash of the spear in His side he will not believe. That’s why Thomas became known as Doubting Thomas. It is said that he was commissioned to build a palace for the king of India, and he was killed with a spear as a martyr for his Lord.
       

I completed this list and after looking over it, I came up with two questions? After Judas betrayed Jesus and hung himself was he replaced and two where is Paul? In Acts 1: 16-20 it tells us that the remaining disciples did discuss replacing Judas. The requirements were that the man had to have been with them the entire time of Jesus’ ministry, and to have been a witness of the resurrection and ascension. Joseph aka as Barsabbas and Mathias. Some proposed that Paul should be the replacement. What was the Lord’s choice? Paul wouldn’t have qualified based on the criteria. Little is really known who was actually chosen except that choice seems to have gone to Mathias. Not much is said about most of the Apostles and many ended up as you saw above being killed. Paul did seem to rise as a top figure of the church for sure.

I found all of this interesting….Hopefully you learned a little more like I did on who Jesus chose as his disciples. – Jodie