Jesus Christ chose twelve men to become his closest companions during His life on earth. These men became known as the twelve apostles. In order to understand who these people were and to understand why Jesus chose them, we must understand what an apostle is.
What is an apostle? The word apostle means “one who is sent out”. The most similar word that we have in the English lauguage is the word missionary. There are two different occasions that the word apostle is used in the New Testament. It is for the vast majority used to describe the twelve apostles of Jesus, however, there were also apostles that were not of “the Twelve”. The Acts and other New Testament writings mentioned several of these men. The most well-known is Paul. Paul was not a disciple of Christ during his earthly ministry, therefore he was technically not one of “the Twelve”, although he was accepted as having equal authority as an apostle. The other apostles were traveling missionaries for the Lord and for “the Twelve”. These apostles were under the authority of “the Twelve”, who were the direct recipients of the Lord 's teaching.
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Although many people interchangeably use the words apostle and disciple, these words have very different meanings. “Disciple” is a very broad term, because it refers to all those who have followed Jesus. So the disciples were Christians; however, the disciples were not called “Christians” until the church at Antioch (of Syria) was founded. An apostle is different because these people were specifically chosen by God to do a specific work for Him and they followed His will. They served as the representatives of Jesus. The twelve apostles and all the other apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles, and not all apostles were members of “the
In, “Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War,” Charles B. Dew analyzes the public letters and speeches of white, southern commissioners in order to successfully prove that the Civil War was fought over slavery. By analyzing the public letters and speeches, Dew offers a compelling argument proving that slavery along with the ideology of white supremacy were primary causes of the Civil War. Dew is not only the Ephraim Williams Professor of American History at Williams College, but he is also a successful author who has received various awards including the Elloit Rudwick Prize and the Fletcher Pratt Award. In fact, two of Dew’s books, Tredegar Iron Works and Apostles of Disunion and Ironmaker to
Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch (Acts 6:5). To be a part of the deaconate order
To be a true disciple of Jesus one must not disown or deny Jesus but
Disciples take someone as their leader and try to do what they say. It is possible to be a disciple of anybody, but all Christians are disciples of Jesus. An Apostle is a selected disciple. There were only 12, and were chosen by Jesus to be leaders of the other disciples. At the time of Jesus, He had a following of about 300-400 ordinary disciples.
whole life to God and the Church. This is one major Cost of being a
Historical Context The Book of Acts, or sometimes known as The Acts of the Apostles, was written between 62 and 70 A.D. To better understand the meaning behind Acts, one should look at the history and what led to the writing of this book. It was written as a second half of a two part series, with Luke being the first half. Without mentioning himself in either of his writings, it is believed that Luke, a traveling companion of Paul, as mentioned in Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11, and Philemon verse 24 was the author of both Luke and Acts. We are told that Luke wrote or dedicated both works to Theophilus (meaning a friend of God). Back in the Gospel of Luke chapter 1, Theophilus is also referred to as “most excellent”, which in Greek is Kratistos, to show an expression of honor.
for people in my parish. A great example of a disciple is John Paul 2nd.
Jesus had 12 disciples, disciple means follower or pupil, even long after the death of Jesus these disciples would continue teaching about Jesus. The first four books of the bible were written by the Disciple these books are called apostles they are as follows Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus became famous, because he appealed to the rich and poor alike, he had few or no possessions and he traveled all over what was then considered to be the world. Jesus attracted attention from both Jewish and Roman leaders.
Jesus and Paul are two crucial characters in the New Testament. They both depict the Gospel on which Christianity is based upon, but there is debate about rather these two versions of the Gospel are complementary. Scholars like George Shaw claim that Paul is “anti-Christian,” and he “produced a fantastic theology” (Shaw 415-416). On the other hand, I believe that even though Jesus and Paul may present the Gospel different at times, they are still advocating the same religion. Through the understanding of the Gospels and Paul’s letters it is clear that Jesus and Paul have the same underlining goals and values.
The Book of Acts begins with Jesus Holy Spirit appearing to the chosen apostles over a period of forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. Jesus commanded the apostles not to leave Jerusalem and wait on the gift promised by His father. The gift to the apostles was to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. Jesus then told his apostles you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Peter serves as the leader of the apostles. The first thing ordered was to elect Matthias as the twelfth apostle, replacing the traitor Judas.
...Peter with the rest of the disciples, and not that of the “over exalted” view some people of the time had created.
When Jesus called His disciples, His invitation was simple. He invited them to follow Him. The same is true today. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave His last charge to His disciples, and the charge was simple. He called his followers to go and make disciples. Much effort has been placed by Christians to fulfill this charge, commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus chose to fulfill the implementation of the New Covenant through 12 men who He called, appointed, and commissioned, and he only had a few short years to prepare them for the task (Willson, 1990). His methods were unconventional and were revolutionary for that time. His disciples were to be trained extensively by Jesus, living with Him for three years prior to His ascension. He taught about servant leadership and its meaning for both the leader and follower Matt. 20:25-28). From the beginning, Jesus put in place a careful plan, and an examination of His actions in the Gospels showed that Jesus left behind the pattern to be replicated. His methods, which included the incorporation of three different levels of discipleship, included His interaction with Peter, His closest three (Peter, James, and John), and finally the group of 12. This paper identified and analyzed the three levels of discipleship Jesus modeled, these discipleship methods were then measured against modern leadership theories, and Jesus’s level of involvement and interaction with his disciples were critiqued in light of these modern theories in an effort to determine the effectiveness of this approach.
The Gospel According to St. John was written during the first century AD in Asian Minor. The author of the book cannot be definitively proven according to the Zinderfan Pictorial Bible Dictionary but there is strong evidence that the author was John the apostle. The author had an intimate knowledge of Jewish traditions and the geography of Palestine. The gospel goes into many explanations of these things because its intended audience was gentiles. It is unlikely a gentile would have had the knowledge to give the background information that the author presents. The writer of the gospel identifies himself as the "disciple who Jesus loved." In the gospel most of the disciples were mentioned by name and so can be eliminated as the author of the gospel. Those not mentioned included Mathew, James the less, Simon the Zealot, James, and John.
The beginnings of my life are an interesting jumble, and they highlight the cosmopolitan world that was the Roman Empire. I was born in an Asian city now located on the southern coast of Turkey called Tarsus in about the year 10. My parents were Jewish, presumably strict Pharisees. They were also Roman citizens.
In the letter from Luke to the Apostles, he addresses the apostles on how they are to live and govern themselves as individuals and in community. These specifications are echoes of the passage in John 20:21 where Jesus says to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” The meaning of the phrase can be understood as, the apostles are to act as Jesus acted, for his actions were those set out by God the Father. In the Acts of the Apostles there are several examples where the apostles are directly in accordance with the prior actions/experiences of Jesus Christ; baptism by the Holy Spirit, curing the crippled man, and facing persecution.