Twelve Men: Introduction
By Bro. Steadman Livingston
For the past several months, I have been wanting to do an in-depth study of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus Christ. For anyone who claims to know and follow Christ, we are also known as His disciples. We read Jesus’ words, look at His life and try our best to live as He has called us to live in this world. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, there were many disciples who followed Him. As a matter of fact, John MacArthur writes “At one point He (Jesus) sent 70 out in pairs to proclaim the gospel.” Luke 10:1 tells us, “Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.”
The twelve that we are most familiar with through reading scripture and maybe even watching the television series “The Chosen” eventually became known as apostles. We see this in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19 and Luke 6:13-16. In each referenced scripture passage, Jesus selects the twelve to be apostles. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states, “The biblical use of ‘apostle’ is almost entirely confined to the New Testament, where it occurs seventy-nine times: ten in the Gospels, twenty-eight in Acts, thirty-eight in the epistles, and three in the Apocalypse…apostles are sent on a definite mission in which they act with full authority on behalf of the sender and are accountable to the sender.”
These twelve men were given authority and commissioned to heal, teach and preach. I’ve always known them as the twelve disciples and not to be apostles until the book of Acts. However, scripture does state apostles in the Matthew and Luke accounts. This is better explained by the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “The apostles are most often called disciples in the Gospels, for their primary function during Christ’s ministry was to be with him and learn of him. But they are also called apostles, because Jesus imparted to them his authority to preach and cast out demons. Just because this activity was limited while Jesus was with them, the term apostle is rarely used. After Pentecost this situation changed.”
So, what are the names of these selected twelve? Using a shortened version of Luke’s account in 6:13-16 we read of Peter and Andrew; James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James (Thaddaeus), and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
In all three recorded accounts in the book of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Peter is always mentioned first, and Judas Iscariot is always mentioned last, with the other men falling in different orders along the way. To keep things fun and interesting, I believe I will conduct this series backwards starting with Judas Iscariot and ending with Peter. So, I invite you to join me on this journey as we investigate the lives of each of these twelve disciples and see how our lives today are relatable to their lives, which I suspect we share more in common than most would think.*Unless noted, all scripture references come from the NASB.
The twelve that we are most familiar with through reading scripture and maybe even watching the television series “The Chosen” eventually became known as apostles. We see this in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19 and Luke 6:13-16. In each referenced scripture passage, Jesus selects the twelve to be apostles. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states, “The biblical use of ‘apostle’ is almost entirely confined to the New Testament, where it occurs seventy-nine times: ten in the Gospels, twenty-eight in Acts, thirty-eight in the epistles, and three in the Apocalypse…apostles are sent on a definite mission in which they act with full authority on behalf of the sender and are accountable to the sender.”
These twelve men were given authority and commissioned to heal, teach and preach. I’ve always known them as the twelve disciples and not to be apostles until the book of Acts. However, scripture does state apostles in the Matthew and Luke accounts. This is better explained by the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “The apostles are most often called disciples in the Gospels, for their primary function during Christ’s ministry was to be with him and learn of him. But they are also called apostles, because Jesus imparted to them his authority to preach and cast out demons. Just because this activity was limited while Jesus was with them, the term apostle is rarely used. After Pentecost this situation changed.”
So, what are the names of these selected twelve? Using a shortened version of Luke’s account in 6:13-16 we read of Peter and Andrew; James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James (Thaddaeus), and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
In all three recorded accounts in the book of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Peter is always mentioned first, and Judas Iscariot is always mentioned last, with the other men falling in different orders along the way. To keep things fun and interesting, I believe I will conduct this series backwards starting with Judas Iscariot and ending with Peter. So, I invite you to join me on this journey as we investigate the lives of each of these twelve disciples and see how our lives today are relatable to their lives, which I suspect we share more in common than most would think.*Unless noted, all scripture references come from the NASB.