Luke 6:12-16
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
The parallel passages are:
Matthew 10:1-4: Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Mark 3:13-19: Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
What Do We Know about the Twelve Apostles?
Simon son of John (Peter, Cephas) – fisherman, brother of Andrew, married, one of Jesus’ inner three disciples, called “the Rock” for his confession of Jesus as the Christ and Son of God, rebuked Jesus for saying He was going to be put to death, cut off the ear of one of the Temple guards who came to arrest Jesus, denied Jesus during His trial and was restored when the Lord appeared to him after His resurrection, ministered in Jerusalem then Rome, wrote two New Testament letters and dictated the Gospel of Mark to its writer, was executed by Emperor Nero in 66 after insisting he be crucified upside down saying he was not worthy to die in the same way Jesus had
Andrew son of John – fisherman, brother of Peter, disciple of John the Baptist, planted churches in what is now the Soviet Union, Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and Greece, where he was crucified
James son of Zebedee – fisherman, one of Jesus’ inner three disciples, called a “Son of Thunder” for wanting to call fire down from Heaven to destroy a village of Samaritans that did not welcome Jesus, requested to sit on Jesus’ right or left in His kingdom, executed by King Herod
John son of Zebedee – fisherman, one of Jesus’ inner three disciples, called a “Son of Thunder” for wanting to call fire down from Heaven to destroy a village of Samaritans that did not welcome Jesus, requested to sit on Jesus’ right or left in His kingdom, took care of Mary mother of Jesus, ministered in Ephesus, wrote the Gospel of John and three New Testament letters and the Book of Revelation, was boiled in oil by Emperor Domitian but was unharmed, after which he was exiled to the island of Patmos and died of old age
Matthew (Levi) – tax collector, wrote the Gospel of Matthew, planted churches in Persia and Ethiopia, where he was stabbed to death
Thomas (Didymus the Twin) – doubted Jesus’ resurrection then proclaimed Jesus as his Lord and God when he saw the resurrected Christ, planted churches in Syria and India, where he was pierced through with the spears of four soldiers
Philip –planted churches in Carthage in North Africa and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and put to death
Bartholomew (Nathanael) – proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God after Jesus told him He supernaturally saw him before Philip went to talk to him, planted churches in India with Thomas, then Armenia, Ethiopia, and Southern Arabia, where he was put to death
James the son of Alpheus – planted churches in Syria, where he was stoned and then clubbed to death
Simon the Zealot –a militant Jew before Jesus called, planted churches in Persia and was killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.
Judas son of James (Thaddaeus) – planted churches in Syria where he was clubbed to death
Judas Iscariot – keeper of Jesus and the disciples’ money bag, thief, told the Jewish leaders where to find Jesus without any crowds around, identified Jesus to the arresting soldiers with a kiss, repented of betraying Jesus, hanged himself
Plus, two more!
Matthias – chosen by lot to replace Judas, planted churches in Syria with Andrew and was put to death by burning
Saul (Paul) – Pharisee, persecutor of Christians, converted after seeing a vision of Jesus while on the road to Damascus, traveled extensively planting churches, wrote the majority of the New Testament, was beheaded by Emperor Nero in 66
Traits of an Apostle
After reading the list above, how many of you would like to be an apostle? Why or why not?
The Apostles had great authority, but they were also all put to death or had attempts made on their lives.
What did the Apostles do?
Most of them traveled and planted churches. The word Apostle means “sent.” An apostle is someone who goes to new areas and plants churches.
Do we still have apostles today?
Missionaries go to new areas and plant churches. Others plant new kinds of churches in their home countries.
How did the men named above become Apostles?
Jesus called them to be apostles.
Can someone just decide to be an apostle?
No, they needed to be called and appointed by God to be an apostle.
Some of the Apostles wrote Scripture. Why do you think others did not?
Though all were Apostles, their specific tasks within that calling were different. Some Apostles’ work included writing what would become the New Testament; others’ work was to continue planting churches.
Read 1 Corinthians 12:27-31: Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Read Ephesians 4:11-13: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
These passages name five offices or roles in the Church that require specific spiritual gifts – apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher. Other roles in the Church named in the New Testament – elder, deacon, and deaconess – do not require specific spiritual gifts but rather a specific character of Christian maturity (see 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1).
What is the difference between an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher?
An apostle is someone who plants churches.
A prophet is someone who gets direct and certain messages from the Lord about future events. A prophet’s message must include revelations about the future because the way to tell a true prophet from a false prophet is whether their predictions come true (Deuteronomy 18). Some have said that preachers are our modern prophets interpreting the prophet’s role as either foretelling or forthtelling God’s messages. A preacher, however, is not a prophet because although both proclaim God’s truth, a preacher does not typically prophesy future events.
An evangelist shares the Good News of salvation in Christ with unbelievers and brings them to a point of decision.
A pastor guides the flock under his care, nurturing Christians to maturity and bringing back those who stray.
A teacher is someone whom the Lord gives insights into Scripture can teach it to others. They do not simply repeat what other teachers have taught (that’s called a researcher or a presenter of information); teachers gain new insights through the gifting of the Holy Spirit.
Test them to make sure they are actually gifted and called to their positions, and then listen to them as God’s leaders given to you. This includes leaders in the Church. For example, if you are a teacher but not a prophet or apostle, you need to listen to those who are prophets and apostles. Likewise, prophets and apostles need to listen to and learn from teachers. Etc.
If you are an apostle or prophet or evangelist or pastor or teacher, what is your responsibility to those who also are?
You’re to support your fellow workers in the Body of Christ and keep them accountable to fulfill their roles faithfully. The For example, the Apostle Paul tells prophets to weigh carefully what other prophets say to verify their truthfulness 1 Corinthians 14).
Are leaders limited to fulfilling only one of these roles in the Church?
No, the Apostle Paul tells us to eagerly desire the greater gifts. If we are faithful to fulfill our calling in one of these positions, the Lord may trust us with another role/office in the Church.
Also, the strength and exercising of our gifts depends on the gifting of the Spirit. He may gift some of us in multiple areas but to varying degrees. For instance, I may be a strong teacher, with a secondary but not as strong gifting of pastor, and very little or no gifting to fulfill the other offices. Another person could have a completely different set and level of gifts. It’s up to the Lord to give the gifts. It’s up to us to be faithful with the gifts He gives us.
Jesus gave the Apostles the authority to cast out demons and heal diseases. Are these works only an apostle can do, or can other Christians perform these works as well?
Because Paul names healing as a spiritual gift separate from being
an apostle, we can surmise that a Christians doesn’t need to be an apostle to
heal physical problems and cast out demons.
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