Twelve Apostles of Jesus

Walter Rane: "In Remembrance of Me"

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		John 1:41
Phillip			Bethsaida			Brother of Nathaniel
Nathaniel		Bartholomew	Bethsaida	No Falsehood - Pure		Brother of Phillip	Beheaded or Hung Upside Down	John 1:47
James	Fisherman	Sons of Thunder (Boanerges)				Brother of John
John	Fisherman	Sons of Thunder (Boanerges)				Brother of James
Matthew	Tax Collector	Levi	Capernaum			Possible Brother of James the Lesser		Mark 2:14
Thomas					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

Simon (Peter, Cephas)

Andrew

James

John

Philip

Bartholomew

Matthew

Thomas

James the son of Alphaeus

Simon called the Zealot

Judas the son of James

Judas Iscariot