Apostles Peter Andrew James And John
The first group of four apostles was Jesus inner group. They became His followers shortly after the beginning of His ministry. John 1:35-42 records the occasion on which they responded to Jesus by believing in Him that He was the promised Messiah. Jesus asked them to follow Him three times. The first time was after they believed. The second time occurred when they were fishing and the third time occurred after another time of fishing . On that occasion they finally left everything and followed Jesus. At least three of them were invited to join Jesus when He raised Jairus daughter from the dead . Jesus also invited only Peter, James, and John to join Him on the Mount of Transfiguration . All four privately asked Jesus questions on the Mount of Olives . Peter, James, and John were asked to wait for Jesus while He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane . Lastly, Peter and John were in discussion with Jesus prior to His departure to heaven . John was the disciple Jesus asked to care for His mother . It should be noted that James and John had the same father, Zebedee and Peter and Andrew were brothers . These men were part of Jesus inner group.
You Call The Apostle James A Particularly Elusive Character In 2002 An Ossuary Surfaced In Israel Which Appeared To Confirm His Identity Is There Any Truth To It
We know James, the brother of Jesus,;was a real person.;Hes mentioned by;Flavius;Josephus,;a;first-century Jewish historian. Some people say;that the ossuary is real but the inscription,;which says;”James, the Brother of Jesus”;in Aramaic, is not.;No one has;found his body,;but;he was;clearly;a;well-known figure in the;first;century, who;turns up an awful lot in early Christian writing. The fact;that;Josephus and others regarded;the Roman destruction of;Jerusalem as;divine revenge for the death of;James, who was killed;circa;A.D;66;right before the;Jewish revolt;against Rome, tells you everything you need to know about how significant he;was.;;
Ive not seen the ossuary and;Im not a trained archaeologist, but Im perfectly willing to believe that;James;could have had a secreted away tomb,;with an ossuary. His followers would;almost certainly;have given;him a significant burial site. But the problem with James;is that he;confounds everything orthodox Christians accept;about;the;virgin;birth. If he were;Jesuss;older brother, thats a big problem right there;because Mary was supposed to be a virgin.;I suspect James was real,;that there is a;good chance he was the older brother;of;Jesus,;and that he was the most important figure in;first-century Christianity after Jesus.;But;the virgin birth;does not make;a;heck of a;lot of sense. The;known laws of the;universe;dont typically stop working.;;;
Jesus Calls His Apostles
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon ; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James ; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him .
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What Does The Word Disciple Mean
The word Disciple
Greek concordance number 3101
mathetes math-ay-tes from 3129; a learner, i.e. pupil:disciple.
The very word disciple, indicates an ever learning disposition, we see this with the twelve disciples as all twelve were in training up until the time that the Messiah was sacrificed and resurrected.
Now lets look to the word Apostle and what that means
Jesus Chooses The Twelve
Jesus ministry plans included ordinary men with obvious faults and shortcomings just like us.
Peter was impulsive and denied Jesus, but Jesus called him the rock and built his church around him.
His brother Andrew and Philip brought Peter and Bartholomew to Jesus, giving us a great example of eagerness to tell others about Christ.
James and John had a special nickname given to them by Jesus- sons of thunder- which tells us a little about their personalities. They were ambitious but very committed to Jesus.
Matthew leaves his corrupt but profitable occupation to follow Christ.
Thomas- the doubter- also showed great courage by suggesting in John 11:16 that they accompany Jesus into Bethany- Let us go, that we may die with him.
James, Simon, and Thaddeus are barely mentioned and remain a bit of a mystery.
And who doesnt know Judas Iscariot? He was a thief and called a devil
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Andrew Brother Of Peter
We only know Andrews Greek name. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is mentioned in the Bible. The Bible tells us he was the brother of Simon Peter and thus also the son of John or Jonah. He was born in Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee and at a later time, lived with his family at Capernaum. Like his brother, he was a fisherman by trade. He was the first to be called by Jesus to become a disciple.
Prior to meeting Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist . He was present at some of the most important occasions including the feeding of the five thousand .
Tradition holds that Andrew was born to Joanna and was a member of the tribe of Reuben. He was crucified at the city of Patras in Achaea and his remains preserved there. A book titled Acts of Andrew was penned around 260 AD but is considered apocryphal and is not officially recognized by the church.
What Significance Do Numbers Have In The Bible
Often, when we read Scripture, we may think some numbers are arbitrarily placed in the text. We may think Jacob just happened to have 12 sons , for instance.
But numbers in Hebrew culture tended to have a deeper meaning than what we know about numbers today. In a previous article, I covered the number three and how, in Hebraic culture, it tended to mean wholeness and completeness.
Although in most instances in the Bible, the numbers have a literal and symbolic interpretation , sometimes numbers may have just a symbolic meaning. Six daysseven including the rest daymay have been literal in terms of creation, or merely symbolic . Or, as mentioned in this article, the number of saved souls in heaven will likely be more than 144,000 , but merely means a 12 times the cube of tena quotient of perfection.;
Numbers in the Bible can clue readers into a deeper meaning in the text; but we have to make sure the context of the passage aligns with the typical symbolism attributed to the number. We have to exercise caution when trying to dig up the meaning of numbers in every case in Scripture. Sometimes Seth just lived to be 912 years old and there may have been no significant reason behind that specific number of years on this earth.
But in regards to popular numbers in the Bible such as three, 12, 40, etc., we can often find the symbolism within that passage.
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Prayer To Saint Matthew The Apostle
O Glorious St. Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.
You Begin Your Search In Jerusalem For The Final Resting Place Of Judas Iscariot Whom You Call The Electromagnet Of Wickedness Tell Us About That Journeyand Whether You Believe Judas Was A Real Historical Character
That is a very thorny question.;According to tradition,;though;scripture is not clear on this,;Judas;hanged himself in a;place called;Hakeldama;in the;Hinnom;Valley, which is this rocky, desert-like;valley in the southern part of;Jerusalem.;When you go there,;it really does feel like its a cursed place.;Thats the power of these stories.;You feel;the centuries of hatred and disgust for this;person who betrayed Jesus.;;
As to whether Judas was real, I think its probably true that Jesus was betrayed by someone. Whether or not his name was Judas is a much more difficult question. I suspect the broad;outlines;of the Judas story, as;the;gospel writers outlined it, is probably fictional.;In a lot;of the other Jesus;stories, the gospel writers;seem;to be;singing from the same hymn sheet. But with Judas,;I think they had much;less raw material to work with,;so they all;treated it in their own way.;This;suggests to me that he was more a fictional character than actual person.;;
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Did Your Journey End Up Convincing You Of The Historical Veracity Of The Apostles Or Just Make You Even More Confused
It didnt make;me either, really. One of my pet peeves is this notion that;simply;to believe in something is good. I have a real hard time accepting that because what if you believe in something monstrous?;A lot of the beliefs that come out of;the;monotheistic Abrahamic religions;are quite;upsetting from a modern perspective. The way they treat women, the way children are viewed,;the way authority is viewedthese;dont have much of a place in todays secular society.;;
But;I became much less hostile to Christianity over the course of this book.;Anyone who enjoys opera or;film or fiction doesnt;have a;lot of call to question meaning drawn from religion.;The search for meaning in;words;or images, these longings;we;have to be convinced,;moved,;or inspired by;works of the imaginationall have way more in common with each other than not.;The stories of the;Twelve Apostles are a huge part of how the;Western world decided to teach itself what;is meant by community and story-telling;and by;truth, friendship,;and loyalty.;;
You have these;12;people who were the;first followers of Jesus, yet theres nothing about them in any secular source.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Simon Worrall curates;Book Talk. Follow him on;;or at;simonworrallauthor.com.
Apostles Names And Their Meanings
Now we have the Disciples names, here we will look at the Apostles and the meaning of their names in the Hebrew language, some also say the Apostles Aramaic names, because is a form of Hebrew most of them are found in
So, lets begin:
1 . Simon, In Hebrew this is Shimon and it means to listen or hearing
2. Andrew, this name cannot be found in the Hebrew, just the Greek.
3 . James is the Hebrew name Yacob, which is Jacob in the English. It means Supplanter.
5. John is Yochanan in Hebrew. In English it became Iohanne. It means God protects, more accurately Yah protects.
6. Philip, can only be found in the Greek as Philippos and it means Horse lover.
7. Bartholomew in Hebrew means Son of Talmey. It comes from Hebrew word Telem, which means Furrow.
Nathanael written in Hebrew is a combination of two words, give and al or el, so the name would mean Given to God.
8 . Matthew in Hebrew is MattitYahu, it means Gift of God. Mattan means Gift and Yah means God.
9. Thomas in Hebrew would be Taom, or Toma, it means Twin. It became Thomas because a s is added on the end of all Greek Male names.
10. Thaddeus is speculated to be the Hebrew name Levaviyah, meaning Heart of Yah, or Heart of God.
13. Judas is the Hebrew word Judah or Yahudah, it means Praise.
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Disciples In The Bible
They included 5 fishermen , a tax collector and 6 whose occupations are unknown The Twelve were definitely not experts in theology. They were slow to understand what Jesus was teaching. He reprimands them several times and lets them know his frustration. But these men were the building blocks of his soon-to-be church, so I know Jesus chose each of them for a purpose.
It looks like they are simple, ordinary men, yet Jesus transformed them into something great. Lets look at them a bit more in-depth.
What Are The Characteristics Of A Disciple
What are qualities of discipleship? Qualities of discipleship include going to share the Good News to non-believers, teaching, loving God, loving others, standing out, denying ourselves, being firm in Gods word, fellowship with other believers, imitators of Christ, dedicated, steadfast, and investing in missions.
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Who Was The Disciple Known As Andrew
Saint Andrew the Apostle by Tournier
Andrew the Apostle was born between AD 5 and AD 10 and was initially a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. Andrew was also one of the four disciples closest to Jesus.; He was the first of the disciples to be called to follow Jesus. Exactly for this reason the liturgy of the Byzantine Church honours him with the nickname: Protokletos, which;means,;precisely,;the;first called.
Why Did Jesus Rename His Disciples
The chosen Ones, God want to say to the chosen ones that he will change their names,God himself was the First Chosen One which is written in the book of Enoch, it says in revelation that Jesus Christ will have a new name which he will write upon a white stone (this name is the original name of God, for the three of
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Judas Replaced By Matthias
After betraying Jesus and turning Him over to the religious leaders, Judas eventually committed suicide. The apostles then had to decide whether to replace Judas restoring the number to twelve. The apostles prayed that God would reveal His choice based on the hearts of the men. To surely give the judgment up to God, they renounced authority over the decision: And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles . Matthias was ordained, and there were twelve apostles once again.
In 2006 A Team Of Translators And Scholars Working For National Geographic Published The So
The Gospel of Judas was an artifact of;Sethian;Christianity,;a very confrontational form of non-mainstream Christianity in the;second;century. They believed Judas walked a slightly different path than the conventional Judas. Their Judas is simultaneously an object of condemnation and also illumination. They believed in a completely different God from the proto-orthodox Christians of their time. The;Sethian Christians;hated the apostolic authority model that other Christians followed.;There were a lot of really diverse forms of Christianity floating around in the first two hundred;years of;the;faith.;And some of them were really odd.;;
Kyrgyzstan;is not a place most of us associate with Bible stories. But you went;there;looking for;the tomb of;Matthew.;Tell us about your tripand whether you found it.;
Today,;central Asia does not seem to be;the most Christian-accommodating;part of the world,;but;until the Middle Ages;there were;a large number of Christians.;They were not Roman or Greek Christians. They were;Middle Eastern Christians, who;kept migrating eastward.;;
The stories of the;Twelve Apostles are a huge part of how the;Western world decided to teach itself what;is meant by community and story-telling;and by;truth, friendship,;and loyalty.
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List Of The Twelve Apostles As Identified By The Bible
Each of the four listings of apostles in the New Testament indicate that all the apostles were men. The canonical gospels and the book of Acts give varying names of the Twelve Apostles. The list in the Gospel of Luke differs from Matthew and Mark on one point. It lists “Judas, the son of James” instead of “Thaddaeus”.
Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John does not offer a formal list of apostles. Although it refers to “the Twelve” , the gospel does not present any elaboration of who these twelve actually were, and the author of the Gospel of John does not mention them all by name. There is also no separation of the terms “apostles” and “disciples” in John.
| Included among “us apostles” along with Paul and Cephas . |
James The Son Of Zebedee
This apostle has the honor of being among Jesus inner circle of apostles, along with his brother John and the apostle Peter. He also has the dubious distinction of being the first apostle to suffer martyrdom and the only one whose death is recorded in Scripture. A son of Zebedee and Salome, he and his brother John were fisherman with their father on the Sea of Galilee. Since James is always mentioned first, he is likely the older of the two brothers.
Business partners with Simon , gives an account of the calling of James and John just after Jesus offer to make Simon and Andrew fishers of men.
And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
Jesus gave James and John the nicknames Sons of Thunder , possibly in recognition of their temperament. For example, after receiving a less than warm welcome in a Samaritan village, they asked Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? .
James was with John and Peter at the Transfiguration of Jesus and witnessed the healing of Jairus daughter . James and his brother had asked Jesus if He would Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. This exchange earned them a gentle rebuke from the Lord and some indignation from the other apostles .
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What Does The Number 12 Mean In The Bible
Number 12, as indicated in this article, typically means perfection or authorityoften used in a context of government. For instance, because Jacob has 12 sons, they form the 12 tribes of Israel. There are also 12 minor prophets that dot the text of the Old Testament.
Found 187 times in the Bible, the number 12 makes a special appearance in Revelation, showing the authority and perfection of Gods kingdom at last.
We see Jesus chose 12 disciples, and the disciples later replaced Judas Iscariot with Matthias to keep the number at 12 to show the perfection and authority of those who followed Jesus.
Similar to the number three, its likely not every instance of the number 12 is a good kind of perfection. Jesus heals a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, for instance . The 12 years could possibly symbolize just how bad her condition was, signifying the malady as a perfect storm, with seemingly no possible cure. Or, it could signify that this was completion of a difficult timeframe and God would be doing a new thing now.
However, 12, more often than not, tends to represent something good. The new Jerusalem, for instance, is stocked full of the number 12 .