They were twelve men. Twelve whom Jesus Christ had called to follow Him. But the Lord Jesus knew their inner selves, their weaknesses, their doubts, their hopes. And He also knew that only eleven of them had a genuine relationship of the heart with Him. Only for these eleven was He truly their Lord and Master. The short “profiles” of the twelve are intended to help us get to know them better so that we can take away lessons for our own personal discipleship…
The Lord Jesus is calling – follow Him!
The question of who the twelve disciples were is not easy to answer. We are told a lot about some disciples in the Bible, but almost nothing at all about others. We can discover some details – even about the lesser-known disciples – by comparing a few passages in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.
The names of the twelve apostles are mentioned in the three synoptic gospels: Matthew (10:2-4), Mark (3:13-19), Luke (6:12-16), and in Acts (1:13). The Lord called these men to follow Him directly. They were uneducated people (Acts 4:13) with very different characters. But the decisive factor was that He called them, empowered them, and prepared them so that they could then carry out their ministry in His power. This is how the Lord still acts today in the composition of His followers and servants. He wants to use each one of us with our own personal qualities and abilities and, above all, to ensure that we learn from Him and follow Him faithfully despite our differences.
The target group of the disciples’ ministry was initially the earthly people of God, Israel (Matthew 10:5-6). After the Lord’s resurrection, the scope of their ministry became more universal: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).
In Acts 2, the disciples were then added to the assembly of God through the coming of the Holy Spirit to earth. In the future, they will receive a special reward for their service and perseverance with the Lord during His life on earth (Luke 22:28-30; Revelation 21:14).
So what kind of men were they who were prepared to follow the Lord so willingly at His call?
Simon Peter
Simon Peter is probably the best-known disciple. He was given a new name by the Lord, Peter (Greek) or Cephas (Aramaic), which means “stone” (John 1:42). His name comes first in all lists of the twelve, even if smaller groups of disciples are mentioned by name. Peter was a man with a burning love for his Lord; a man of action who was often the first to speak out; but also a man who overestimated himself and denied his Lord in the high priest’s courtyard. He had to learn that nothing good dwelled in him either (cf. Romans 7:18). But Peter experienced restoration through the Lord. The Master reached His objective with him and was able to give him a responsible commission to the flock of God (John 21). He carried out this mission and the apostolic ministry to the Jews (Galatians 2:7) with great faithfulness until his death. His two epistles towards the end of the New Testament testify to this.
James and John
These two disciples were brothers, sons of Zebedee the fisherman (Mark 1:19, 20). Comparing Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40, Salome seems to have been the name of their mother. James is the only disciple whose martyrdom is recorded in the New Testament (Acts 12:1-2).
John is the writer of the Gospel named after him. In it, he often refers to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved.” This does not mean that he was the Lord Jesus’ favorite disciple. There is no such thing with the Lord; He loves every disciple with equal love. But John was aware of his Lord’s love in a special way and enjoyed it. John was characterized by a deep devotion to his Lord. He was also close to his Lord at Golgotha. The Lord Jesus entrusted him with His mother there (John 19:26-27). In addition to the Gospel, John wrote three epistles and later, during his exile on the island of Patmos, the Book of Revelation (Revelation 1:9-11). His ministry lasted until the end of the first century. John is often found together with Peter in the Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles (e.g., John 20:1-10; Acts 3:1, 4; 4:19).
James and John were given an epithet by the Lord which means “sons of thunder.” The Lord may have been alluding to their natural temperament, which was shown, for example, in Luke 9:54-56, when they wanted to call fire down from heaven on a Samaritan village. However, this epithet also matched their zeal and undaunted courage in preaching the Gospel at the beginning of the book of Acts.
Andrew and Philip
Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter (Matthew 10:2; Luke 6:14). He was initially a disciple of John the Baptist. However, when he heard him speak about the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God, he left John to follow the Lord from then on (John 1:35-40). Are we also so impressed by our Savior, who gave Himself for us (Ephesians 5:2)?
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, came from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44; 12:21). He leads the second group of four names in all the lists of disciples. He was the first disciple whom the Lord Jesus called to follow Him (John 1:43).
We can see these two repeatedly leading others individually or together to the Lord Jesus (e.g., Simon Peter in John 1:41-42, Nathanael in John 1:45; the little boy in John 6:7-9 and the Greeks in John 12:20-22). A great task for each of us too!
Bartholomew (Nathanael)
It can be assumed that Bartholomew was a kind of family name for this disciple and that his first name was Nathanael. John does not mention Bartholomew in his Gospel, but includes Nathanael when he lists the names of some of the disciples in chapter 21:2. Nathanael came from the town of Cana in Galilee (John 21:2). When he first heard about Jesus through Philip, he was skeptical: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). But it did not stop there. Shortly afterwards, he confessed the Lord as “the Son of God and the King of Israel” before his public ministry (John 1:49). Do we also testify of the Lord? The Lord Jesus was able to say of him: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit” (John 1:47). Can He say the same of us?
Matthew
Matthew, also called Levi (cf. Matthew 9:9 with Luke 5:27), was the son of Alphaeus. However, it was probably not the same Alphaeus who is named as the father of James in Mark 3:18, as the two are never linked as brothers. He was a tax collector whom the Lord called to follow Him. Matthew obeyed this call with great willingness. He immediately gave up his lucrative job as a tax collector and made a great feast for the Lord in his house (Luke 5:27-32). His conversion was so thorough and so clearly visible that many of his companions also followed the Lord (Mark 2:15). Are we also such a witness in our environment?
Matthew, who was in the service of the Roman emperor, placed himself entirely at the service of the true King of Israel. He wrote the Gospel named after him, which presents the Lord in such a special way as the promised Messiah, the King of Israel.
Thomas
Apart from his call to follow the Lord, there is no mention of Thomas in the first three Gospels. Only John mentions him in various places (John 11:16; 14:5; 20:24-29) and writes that he was also called “Didymus” or “twin”. He is known to us above all for his unbelief at the appearance of the Lord after His resurrection in John 20:24-29. He had been absent when the Risen Lord came into the midst of the disciples for the first time and had missed a lot. How is it with us? Are we there when the Lord is “in the midst” in the meetings? His magnificent statement “My Lord and my God” on the same occasion then shows how much this encounter with his Lord had impressed him.
We can learn even more from Thomas. This is shown by the incident in John 11:7-16. When the Lord said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea” (verse 7), the disciples reacted very cautiously and fearfully (verse 8). And the rather pessimistic Thomas in particular foresaw the worst—to suffer death at the hands of the hostile Jews. But his love and devotion to the Lord was so great that he was prepared to go, even if the journey cost them all their lives. We can learn from this.
James, son of Alphaeus
The fact that four different people in the New Testament are called James does not make it easy to identify the individual persons precisely. We read of James the son of Zebedee, of James the brother of the Lord (Galatians 1:19), of James the Less (Mark 15:40), and of the disciple James the son of Alphaeus. The only passages that speak with certainty of this disciple are Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13. It is also clear from these mentions that James was the father or brother of the disciple Judas. He leads the third group of four names in all the lists of disciples. A faithful man without a “big reputation” – is that enough for us in our discipleship?
Thaddeus
Matthew 10:3 shows that Lebbaeus had the surname Thaddeus. Luke calls him the brother (or son) of James in his Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles. Apart from one question in John 14:22, we are told nothing more about this disciple with the three names. It shows Judas as a learner to whom the Lord Jesus gives valuable lessons about the Holy Spirit. Every disciple should gladly “go to school” with his Master…
Simon
Simon is identified by Matthew and Mark with the addition of “the Canaanite” and by Luke as “Zelotes.” “Cananaeans” is the Aramaic and ‘Zelotes’ the Greek name for a radical Jewish sect that was hostile to the Romans. The name means “zealot.” His calling by the Lord shows how different the composition of the disciples was. Are we willing to let the Lord use and, if necessary, change our character traits or convictions so that He can use us? In any case, Simon left this sect in order to be able to serve the Lord.
Judas Iscariot
This name is always mentioned at the end of the lists. And whenever Judas is mentioned, there is always a reference to the fact that he betrayed the Lord. He probably came from Kerioth, a town in the land of Judah (Joshua 15:25), which is indicated by the addition of “Iscariot,” and would therefore have been the only disciple who came from Judea rather than Galilee. Judas was a thief and managed the disciples’ treasury (John 12:6). We can only marvel at how perfectly and graciously the Lord dealt with Judas. None of the other disciples had recognized Judas’ true character until the Lord revealed him as a traitor when he was arrested (Luke 22:48).
Judas was in the immediate vicinity of the Lord and the other disciples for three and a half years. He went along with everything and was outwardly indistinguishable from a true disciple. But with him it was all just a façade. He had no life from God and was eternally lost! This is a serious warning to anyone who is not yet a true disciple, but only a follower. Remember: it is not enough to go to the meetings of the believers on Sundays, sing in the choir, or attend youth classes. If you don’t experience a personal conversion, you will be lost forever!
What about us?
The twelve disciples accompanied the Lord Jesus during His public ministry here on earth. They left everything behind to follow Him, the despised One. Now the Lord is in heaven as a glorified man.
But even today He is looking for people who are willing to follow Him consistently. “Follow Me” (John 21:22) – this is the call that He addresses to each of His own. Are we ready to follow Him, who is still the rejected and despised One here on earth, as sincere disciples?
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