Twelve Apostles of Jesus
We have varying degrees of detail when it comes to the original 12 Apostles Jesus chose to launch the Church in the book of Acts.
We know specifically who these twelve men were because there are four lists of the 12 that all align with one another in the New Testament.
Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:14-19, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13-16.
These men were some of the most unlikely men alive for Jesus to pick as his successors. Most likely, these men had flunked out of Hebrew school at a very early age and were sent back to their family to serve in the family business. Or to work as a tax collector, which is the equivalent to a Roman traitor.
The context Jesus called these men into was as disciples or followers of Him who claimed to be a Rabbi or Great Teacher. This honor would have been reserved for the most successful Religious pupils of the day, but Jesus chose the least likely to represent Him.
The orignal twelve apostles called by Jesus into a disciple/rabbi relationship were:
| Name | Occupation | Other Name | Hometown | Strength | Weakness | Relations | How He Died | Key Verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simon Peter | Fisherman | Cephas | Bethsaida | Faithful/Committed | Reactionary/Emotional | Brother of Andrew | Hung Upside Down on Cross | Matthew 16:18 |
| Andrew | Fisherman | Bethsaida | Evangelistic | Abandoned Jesus During Trial | Brother of Peter | Unsure but likely Crucifixion near Patras in 60 AD | John 1:41 | |
| Philip | Probably Fisherman | Bethsaida | Reasonable and Calculated, Evangelized Nathaniel | Doubted Jesus' Feeding the Five Thousand | Companion of Nathaniel | Uncertain, but most likely Crucifixion in Hierapolis in 80 AD | John 1:45 | |
| Nathaniel | Bartholomew | Bethsaida | No Falsehood - Pure | Companion of Philip | Beheaded or Hung Upside Down most likely in Hieropolis | John 1:47 | ||
| James | Fisherman | Sons of Thunder (Boanerges) | Bethsaida | Brother of John | ||||
| John | Fisherman | Sons of Thunder (Boanerges) | Bethsaida | Brother of James | ||||
| Matthew | Tax Collector | Levi | Capernaum | Possible Brother of James the Lesser | Mark 2:14 | |||
| Thomas | Didymus | Doubter and Slow Adopter | ||||||
| James | Son of Alpheus | James the Lesser | ||||||
| Simon | The Zealot | |||||||
| Judas | Son of James | |||||||
| Judas Iscariot | Sold Jesus to Romans - Traitor | Committed Suicide |