Calling Disciples

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Contrary to popular teaching among many churches today, it is God the Father, not Christ, who calls people to come into the Christian way of life (John 6:44). No one can take upon himself this calling—the decision is up to the Father.

At the start of Jesus’ ministry, God called men from different walks of life who would become Christ’s disciples (students), in training to become apostles. These 12 men received intense, and extensive, as well as often private, one-on-one training, which would prepare them to take the gospel to other cities, territories, regions, nations and kingdoms.

Peter: Born with the name Simon, Jesus later renamed him Peter, or “Cephas,” an Aramaic name equivalent to the Greek Petros (Peter), which means “a mass of rock detached from the living rock.”

Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were the sons of Jona (Matthew 16:17). He was a fisherman from Bethsaida, a native town on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, in Galilee (John 1:44, 12:21). Simon, Andrew, James, and John grew up together as childhood friends, and later became fishing partners.

Though they had some level of religious training and were acquainted with prophetic scriptures about the coming of the Messiah, they did not receive any special rabbinical training. This is why Peter and John, when they were brought before the Sanhedrin, seemed to be “unlearned and ignorant men” in the eyes of the leading religious leaders of the land (Acts 4:13).

Galileans had a reputation for being independent, blunt and impetuous. They spoke a peculiar dialect that seemed harsh and backward in Judea. Peter and the other apostles were called to become “fishers of men” (Matt. 4:18-19), and ordained “to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils [demons]” (Mark 3:14-15).

Andrew: Once a disciple of John the Baptist, Andrew was the first to follow Christ, and introduced Peter to Him (John 1:40). The brothers became Jesus’ disciples after John the Baptist was imprisoned (Matt. 4:18-19; Mark 1:16-17).

James: He and his brother John were called Boanerges—“sons of thunder”—due to their boldness and intensity. Their parents were Zebedee and Salome. James was called the “greater” (to distinguish him from the other apostle-in-training who had the same name). He also was a fisherman (Matt. 4:21).

John: He may have been younger than his brother James. Zebedee, his father, apparently was a man of some wealth, since he could afford hired servants (Mark 1:20) and possessed at least two fishing vessels (Luke 5:3). John, like his brother and childhood friends, was a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. He was also influenced by the teachings of John the Baptist, becoming one of his disciples. At John the Baptist’s announcement that Jesus was “the Lamb of God,” John accepted Christ’s offer to follow Him (John 1:36-37). However, John and James temporarily returned to their fishing business before becoming fulltime apostles-in-training (Matt. 4:21; Luke 5:1-11).

Peter, Andrew, James and John grew up together and became business partners in a family fishing venture. Upon being called, they became an “inner circle” around Jesus, to whom He privately shared His thoughts, plans and even a vision of His Second Coming.

Philip: Also native of Bethsaida (John 1:44; 12:21). He responded to his calling without hesitation, and brought with him Nathanael—or Bartholomew (John 1:45, 46). He may have held a prominent place among the apostles, after Peter, James, John and Andrew (Matt. 10:3;Mark 3:18; John 6:5-7; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9; Acts 1:13).

Bartholomew: The son of Talemai. Some believe that he and Nathanael (John 1:45-51) were the same person. Bartholomew was friends with Philip before being called.

Matthew: He was a tax collector (“publican”) at Capernaum, the son of Alphaeus. He became one of Christ’s disciples when Jesus passed the custom-house (“receipt of custom”) where Matthew worked for Rome in collecting taxes that the empire levied on the Jews. The people despised publicans, since they willingly worked for the Romans. Matthew was originally called Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27).

Thomas: Also called Didymus (John 11:16; 20:24). Since Thomas is always mentioned along with Matthew, the son of Alphaeus, when the apostles are listed, always followed by James, who was also the son of Alphaeus, there has been speculation that Matthew, Thomas and James were brothers.

James: The son of Alphaeus (or Cleopas), he is known as “James the Less” or “the Little.”

Thaddeus: Also called “Lebbaeus” in the book of Matthew.

Simon: Also called “the Canaanite” (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18), derived from the Syriac word Kanean or Kaneniah, the name of a Jewish sect. He was also called “Simon the Zealot” or “Zelotes” (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13); before his calling to become an apostle, Simon was a member of the Zealots, a fanatical sect.

Judas Iscariot: It is possible that the name Iscariot refers to the Judean town of Kerioth (Joshua 15:20-25) or to the sicarii (Jewish nationalist insurrectionists). The Bible also calls this man “Judas…the son of Simon” (John 6:71; 13:2, 26). The treasurer among Jesus and the disciples, he later betrayed Christ (Mark 3:19), and then committed suicide. Matthias replaced him as one of the original apostles shortly after Christ’s resurrection.

With the apostles and many other disciples learning from Him, Jesus was planting seed that would sprout into the first century Church on Pentecost A.D. 31.

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