Jesus appointed twelve men to be with him, whom he called apostles, and he
sent them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:14–15).
An apostle is a person sent out with authority to represent Jesus. Jesus said: "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him
who sent me (which is God the Father)." (Mat 10:40).
The names of them are (Mat 10:2–4, Mark 3:16–19, Luk 6:13–16, Acts 1:13):
- Simon, son of John, see The Apostle Peter. Jesus gave him the name Peter.
- Andrew, Peter's brother.
- John, son of Zebedee and Salome.
- James, brother of John.
- Philip, who shouldn't be confused with Philip the Evangelist.
- Bartholomew, who has also been identified as Nathanael.
- Thomas (Aramaic for twin), also called Didymus (Greek for twin)
(John 11:16, 20:24). - Matthew, the tax collector. He is also called Levi, son of Alphaeus.
- James, son of Alphaeus, brother to Matthew.
- Thaddaeus, who has also been identified as Judas, son of James.
- Simon the Zealot.
- Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, see Why Judas betrayed Jesus.
Judas, who was the son of Simon Iscariot (John 13:26b), was replaced by Matthias (Acts 1:23–26). But many see Paul as the twelfth.
time 39:14–41:08 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │December 2023.
When two of the disciples of John the Baptist heard John speak of Jesus as the
Lamb of God and that he would baptize in the Holy Spirit (Mat 3:11), they followed Jesus. Jesus then asked them: "What are you seeking?" They answered Jesus: "Rabbi" (means "Teacher") "where are you staying?" Jesus said: "Come and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew was one of the two men who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him that they had found Messiah (Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean the same thing, that is, "the anointed one"). Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said: "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (Cephas (Aramaic) or Peter (Greek) is the same name for "stone" or "rock"). (John 1:35–42).
The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. When he found Philip, he said to him: "Follow me." Philip was, like Andrew and Peter, from the town of Bethsaida.
Philip found Nathanael and told him that he had found him of whom Moses wrote in the Mosaic Laws, and of whom the prophets also wrote, and that he was from
Nazareth. Nathanael asked if anything good could come from Nazareth. Philip
brought Nathanael to Jesus. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him: "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." Nathanael asked Jesus how he could know him. Jesus answered: "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel." Jesus said: "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." He then added: "Very truly I tell you, you will see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of Man." (John 1:43–51).
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee (also called the Lake of Gennesaret), he saw Peter and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. When Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people crowded around him and listened to the word of God. Jesus saw by the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one that belonged to Peter, and asked him to launch a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Peter: "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon replied that they had worked hard all night and received nothing.
But because Jesus said so, he let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break. They were helped by their partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, in the other boat, and they filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Peter saw this, he fell on Jesus’ knees and said: "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken. Now is the time when Jesus calls them to follow him. Jesus said to Peter: "Don’t be afraid;
Follow me, from now on you will fish for people." And to both Peter and Andrew:
"Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately pulled their boats up on the beach, left everything, and followed him. When Jesus had gone a little further, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother in their boat preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Jesus.
(Luk 5:1–11, Mat 4:18–22, Mark 1:16–20).
The message Jesus conveyed to Peter when he asked him to go out again and spread their nets, was to follow what Jesus says, even when it doesn't seem to make sense to him. This was a message that took some time for Peter to understand, but he eventually did, see The Apostle Peter. The reason that Peter got feared was that this miracle of Jesus was personal to him. The message is: If you obey the Lord and follow his instructions, you can expect fruitfulness in your daily life
(John 15:5, Proverbs 3:5–6). Our natural experiences can't always be trusted.
For example, it was when king David made his own decisions without asking God
for guidance that he got into trouble, see King David.
When Jesus called his disciples, it involved leaving. Whenever we are involved in leaving something behind, there is always a cost involved. Peter and Andrew left their fishing jobs. James and John left their father. As Christians, we are all called to leave the old way of life (Eph 4:22–24, 2 Cor 5:17), see Sanctification. Jesus knows what is most challenging for a person to leave behind when he calls that person.
In this case, it was a positive response to the call of Jesus.
But there were people who turned Jesus down, see Jesus and the Young Rich Man.
There were people who began to follow Jesus, but turned away because they didn't understand the teaching that Jesus gave (John 6:64–66). One of Jesus' disciples even betrayed Jesus (John 6:70–71), see Why Judas betrayed Jesus.
When Jesus saw Matthew sitting at the tax booth, he said to him, "Follow me."
Matthew then got up, left everything, and followed him. While Matthew was having a great banquet for Jesus in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that Jesus ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors, they asked Jesus' disciples why he did that. When Jesus heard that, he said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6)'. For I have not come to call
the righteous, but sinners." (Mat 9:9–13, Mark 2:13–17, Luk 5:27–32).
The tax collectors collected taxes for Rome. They overcharged people and took the extra money for themselves. They were hated among the Jews for doing so. They were considered traitors and thieves. Sinners were people who had no place for God in their lives. They had rejected the Mosaic Laws and didn't visit synagogues. They were basically atheists, unbelievers, and openly notorious immoral people. It was a scandal for a Jew to have association with tax collectors or sinners. Jesus doesn't excuse the behavior of these people. But what he said was that they needed him. Jesus' mission led him to meet these kinds of people. The scribes saw themselves as righteous because they believed that they were following the Mosaic Laws and all the other man-made rules and regulations they had invented, see Confronting Meaningless Religion. They didn't understand that they too were sinners who needed a Savior. They didn't understand mercy and grace (Gal 6:1). A religious person who doesn't understand that he is a sinner is a tougher person to reach with the gospel than people who understand and admit that they are sinners, see the church Laodicea in The Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation. Jesus came for all people, because we are all sinners (Rom 3:23, 1 John 1:8–10).
See also 5) The disciples suddenly and sincerely came to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead in Historical Facts that Jesus Rose from the Dead.
Archeological findings:
Bethsaida, also known as Julias, is a place mentioned in the New Testament.
It was the hometown of the apostles; Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John 1:44, 12:21).
Jesus restored a blind man's sight at a location just outside the ancient village of Bethsaida (Mark 8:22–26). Jesus miraculously fed 5000 men near Bethsaida
(Luk 9:10–17).
Bethsaida has been found through archaeological excavations, see:
See also Some stories in the gospels at the bottom of The Four Gospels.
