Luke 6:13-1613And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; 14Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, 15Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called Zelotes, 16And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. (Luke 6:13‑16)
Here are the names of twelve men whom the Lord Jesus chose from among the men who had believed His teachings, that He could teach them more, that they could better tell others of Him:
Simon Peter James
Philip Matthew
James Judas
Andrew John
Bartholomew Thomas
Simon Judas Iscariot
We notice there were two Simons, two James, and two named Judas. We have already read how Jesus called the two brothers, Simon and Andrew to follow Him, and also the brothers James and John, who all were fisheen, and they left their work to go with Him. Then He called Levi, the publican, also named Matthew, to come With Him, and He said the same words, “Follow Mc” to Philip (Matt. 4:18-:22; Matt. 9:99And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. (Matthew 9:9); John 1:4343The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. (John 1:43)).
These men were not to follow certain laws but a Holy Person, the Lord Jesus. All who believed His teachings were His disciples and they all told others of Him, but these twelve He called apostles, which means “sent ones.” While He was on earth, He sent them often ahead in that land to tell of Him as the Messiah, and after His return to Heaven they were sent to all the world to tell of Him as Saviour and Lord. But they are not often called apostles until after His return to Heaven. They are called “His Disciples,” or “the twelve.”
They were in Galilee when Jesus chose them, and seem to have lived in the towns there, unless Judas Iscariot was from Judea, as there was a town of that name there, and persons were sometimes known by the name of their town. They were all Jewish men, and must have been taught to read, as were all boys of their nation. But the leaders of Jerusalem looked upon the people of Galilee as unlearned, because they were not taught as they, and later spoke of them as “ignorant men” (Acts 4:1010Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. (Acts 4:10)).
But these men of Galilee had heard the books of Moses and the prophets read in the synagogues, and the words of John the Baptist, but best of all they learned of the highest Teacher, the Lord Jesus.
And all these men, excepting Judas Iscariot, the traitor, loved and truly “followed” the Lord Jesus, even though they suffered prison and death because of the learned men of Jerusalem, and are named again in Acts 1:1313And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. (Acts 1:13). And two wrote the life of Jesus,—Matthew and John,—so how much we learn from them!
You may wonder when you read Simon Peter called Cephas; that was the name for stone in the language spoken in Galilee; but in the writings of the gospels and epistles, the name. Peter was used most, as it was the Greek word for stone, so Peter and Cephas mean the same.
ML 02/04/1945