Who Were the Disciples?

Reference verses

Matthew 9: 35 - 10: 8;    Mark 3: 13 – 19; Luke 6: 12 – 18    &

John 1: 35 - 42

Disciple means pupil or student, and the disciples were people who chose to follow Jesus and to listen to his teaching. They called him rabbi, or teacher. The twelve disciples were followers of Jesus whom he had chosen to become his core group, the people he talked things over with and depended on.

Simon and his brother Andrew were the first disciples Jesus chose. Next Jesus called James and John, then Philip, Nathaniel (also called Bartholomew), Matthew, Thomas, and James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, son of James, and Judas Iscariot.

According to the Gospel of John, Andrew and one other of the disciples had first been disciples of John the Baptist.

The disciples were more interested in telling Jesus' story than in telling their own, but we do know a few things about some of them. 

Jesus nicknamed Simon Peter, and the nickname stuck.

Peter, Andrew, James and John were commercial fishermen. They (or their families) owned their own boats. James and John were the sons of Zebedee, and this John may be the person who wrote the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John.

Andrew and Philip have Greek names and spoke Greek to the travelers who came from Greece to hear Jesus preach. They may have had Greek relatives or Greek or Roman educations.

Matthew had been a tax collector, a disrespected way of earning a living in those days. Tax collectors were not allowed to testify in court, because everyone believed they were totally dishonest.

Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot may have been political activists, belonging to some of the many groups that wanted to overthrow the Roman government. The Jews at that time wanted very much to have a Jewish king and Jewish courts that understood their beliefs and the way they observed the religious laws.

We only know Thomas's nickname: both Thomas in Aramaic and Didymus in Greek mean twin. He may have had an actual twin brother - or he may have looked so much like Jesus that everyone joked that he was Jesus' twin brother.

What we know for sure about all the disciples is that they all left their livelihoods and commitments to follow Jesus as he traveled around the country, preaching, teaching, and healing.

Simon Peter - Fisherman, son of John

Andrew - Fisherman, son of John, Peter's brother

James - Fisherman, son of Zebedee, son of Boanerges (thunder)

John - Fisherman, son of Zebedee, Boanerges (thunder), brother of James

Philip - From Bethsaida

Matthew - tax collector, son of Alphaeus

Nathaniel (Bartholomew) - from Cana, a "true Israelite"

Thomas

James, son of Alphaeus

Simon, the Zealot - Guerrilla fighter

Judas, son of James

Judas Iscariot - Guerrilla fighter, son of Simon

The proper list and description can tell you the importance of you to be one of the dispels how can you be so just believe that JESUS CRIST IS THE SOM OF GOD from there you have become one of the member of gods kingdom.

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 By EVERY one who believe that SALIVATION IS ONLY OBTANED IN BELIVING ON JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD

PREPARED BY ENOCK JURIELY Bsc CHEMISTRY/BIOLOGY (UDSM)

Isaiah 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:3, Prepare the way of the Lord.

John the Baptist was the greatest of Prophets (Matt. 11:9-11) and the privileged messenger who was sent to prepare the way of the Messiah according to the Word of God. There are four main texts used to verify this:

"For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet, saying, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!'' (Matt. 3:3).

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way; The straight,'" (Mark 1:1-3).

'This is the one voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths about whom it is written, 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You,' (Matt. 11:10).

"He [John the Baptist] said, 'I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way of the Lord,' as Isaiah the prophet said,'" (John 1:23).

John the Baptist There is an important principal that we can learn from the story of John the Baptist. Even though our Bible seems to have little to say about John, he conveys to us a simple but important message that still applies today about the repentance of sins.

We are clearly told that John was sent to 'prepare the way' for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 1:2-3), but what exactly did he do in preparing the way? In Luke 3:3-4, we are told, "And he came into all the country about Jordan ,preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Also in Matthew 3:1-3, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

So how did the people cooperate with John in preparing the way for Jesus? They confessed their sins and were baptized as a sign that they have turned from their sins, as Matthew 3:6 tells us, "And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."

What does it mean to 'prepare the way'? It means to create a favourable environment or to make it easy for one to come to you and operate in your life. Let's take a look at Luke 3:4-5, "As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth." Apparently, John the Baptist was creating a favourable environment and making it easy for Jesus to enter into and operate in the lives of the people.

The same is true on the other side of the coin. Notice how John the baptist prepared the way for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ through preaching repentance and baptism for the remission of sins. He created a favourable environment for Jesus to enter and operate in. The same principal is true on the other side of the coin, where people get involved in deep sins in order to gain spirit guides, etc. When people get involved in heavy Satanism, they can commit gross sins such as bestiality (sex with animals) in order to gain spirit guides or other demonic powers. Such sins defiles a person and creates a 'favourable environment' for the spirits to dwell and operate. Sin 'prepares the way' for the devil and his demons, while repentance and remission of sins prepares the way for the Lord!

I believe the Lord gave me a beautiful revelation about how we can 'prepare the way' for the Lord in our own lives. John the baptist was said to be sent fourth to prepare the way for Jesus, but what exactly did he do? He preached the repentance of sins and baptized people for the remissions of their sins. He was getting people ready for Jesus' arrival by getting them to turn from their sins and repent! For as Hebrews 12:14 tells us, "...holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

I believe a valuable principal we can to learn from this story is that if there are unconfessed sins in our lives, they can hinder us from 'seeing the Lord'. We need to repent of our sins and turn from them and receive forgiveness (1 John 1:9). By repentance of our sins, we 'prepare the way' for Jesus to operate in our lives!

1 John tells us that if we confess our sins, we not only receive forgiveness for them (1 John 1:9), but they are washed and cleansed from us by the blood of the Lamb (1 John 1:7). They are removed as far from the east to the west (Psalms 103:12)! If we fail to acknowledge our sins, however, Proverbs 28:13 tells us that we will not prosper, "He that covered his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confessed and forsakes them shall have mercy."

Simply acknowledging our sins is not enough, as John clearly rebuked the Pharisees for not living up to their confessions in Matthew 3:7-8, "But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he denounced them. 'You brood of snakes!' he exclaimed. 'Who warned you to flee God's coming judgment? Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God.'" (NLT) Proverbs 28:13 also makes it clear that we are to turn from our sins, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsakes them shall have mercy."

The teaching and practicing of water baptism and repentance never seized when Jesus was glorified. After Jesus rose again, He appeared to His disciples and gave them the great commission to go fourth and preach the gospel to every creature (race, nation, etc.) And baptize them (Matthew 28:19). Water baptism and repentance was also preached and practiced in the early church as well, as we can see in Acts 2:38, "Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

Copy right 2010-07-01

By EVERY one who believe that SALIVATION IS ONLY OBTANED IN BELIVING ON JESUS CHRIST THE SON OF GOD