Matthew 10:2-4. “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Phillip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.”
These twelve, who followed Jesus for three years, hold a special place in the history of Israel. Later, in Mathew 19:28, Jesus will tell them that in the Kingdom, they would sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In the new Jerusalem, there would be twelve gates in the city wall, and twleve angels would sit at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel would be engraved on the gates. The wall of the city would have twelve foundations, with the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Rev. 21:12-14). Judas Iscariot would be replaced by a man named Matthias. The Apostle Paul is not named in the twelve because his mission was totally different; he was the apostle to the Gentiles. He did not walk with Jesus during His earthly ministry, but he certainly met with God on the Damascus Road, thereby earning his right to apostleship.
All that is so interesting, but right now I want to spend some time learning as much as we can about the twelve who were His disciples for His three years of ministry on earth.
Peter (from petrus, meaing stone) is mentioned first in this list in every gospel. He was also known as Simon(he has heard), and Cephas (stone, or rock). He was a native fisherman from Bethsaida; he was married (remember that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever); he had no earthly headship over the church. His ministry was almost totally to the Jews, where he was just one elder among many others. His death is foreshadowed in John 21:18-19, which tradition tells us was to be crucified upside down at his own request, feeling that he did not merit dying as Jeus had died.
There is much more about Peter as we travel through the gospels and the book of Acts. He wrote two books himself, I and 2 Peter, probably from Babylon. He is one of the more well-known of the disciples, having had a hearty, impulsive, noisy nature that often put him front and center.
I wish I had known him. I think he must have been quite a man, rising from being just a humble fisherman to being used of God to author two epistles in the New Testament.
I’ll meet him in heaven.
I don’t know what he looked like, of course, but I like this artist’s conception:
Linda's Bible Study 