The Twelve, Part 1

 Jesus lived in Nazareth.  This is the simplest scenario for His missing years, most likely working at his father's trade, carpentry.  (Dare Crabtee's 1884 book, "The Journeys of Jesus".)  In that time, carpenters were also stone masons and builders.  He would have studied Hebrew scripture, spending time in the synagogue every day.  As oldest, He would have become head of the house after Joseph's death.  Mark 6 supports all this by recounting how when He began to teach at the local synagogue, people were surprised that a familiar person from their community had such wisdom (a prophet in his own home town).  Crabtree states, "It seems that Jesus grew to manhood's estate working with his hands while He acquired wisdom and knowledge from the great book of nature surrounding His mountain home, and also a perfect understanding of the written revelation handed down by the Hebrew fathers."

Jesus had many followers who believed His teachings.  Within this group, He had an inner circle of twelve young men that He selected for the mission of helping Him to spread His message.  Those men were "The Apostles", a term which comes from the Greek "apostolos", meaning "person sent".  Luke tells us they were handpicked, by Jesus, from the larger group of disciples, after a night of solitary prayer on a mountaintop.

This elite group was made up of Simon (later called Peter), Andrew, James the greater, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the less, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus (also called Lebbaeus, Jude or Judas), and Judas Iscariot.   Some scholars see this number as alluding to the 12 tribes of Israel.   The Bible is a book of numbers and the number twelve is significant.  Twelve, in Hebrew, represents government.  There were 12 precious stones on the breastplate of the priests.  In Revelation 21, the foundations of the walls of the New Jerusalem will be of the same 12 precious stones.


The apostles must have been between the ages of 15 and 20, except Peter.  All were bachelors but Peter.  Hebrew men received a wife at the age of 18.  Peter was the only man noted to have a wife.  Mt 8:14   Education for Jewish children ended at age 13, when they were considered to be men, expected to follow in their father's trade and old enough to leave home.  Matthew had a profession; the others were apprenticing at their trades.  (Matthew might well have been second oldest.)  Mt 11:25, Lk 10:21, Jn 13:33  In Ex 30:14 a temple tax is instated, that Jesus and Peter paid in Mt 17:24-27.  The others were under the age of 20 so did not need to pay the tax.  A Rabbi began teaching at age 30, as Jesus did.  Students were younger than teachers.  Youth further explains their temperament, fear, hiding, running away and their eagerness.  Jewish boys, ages birth to 2 years, were killed when Jesus was born so there were none the same age.

Higher education (over the age of 13) was under a local Rabbi, in a synagogue.  Jesus was radical in His time, teaching everywhere BUT a synagogue.  He was "anti religion".  His message was radical, teaching love, when the culture was about hate and aggression.  Jesus movement was originally called "The Way".  Acts 9:2, 24:14

The apostles' identity is more as a group than individuals.  We only know a limited amount about the most familiar ones.  Peter and Andrew, who were brothers and worked as fishermen, were Jesus' first two recruits.  He approached them while they were casting their nets into the sea and offered to make them "fishers of men".  James the Greater, and his brother John, "the sons of Zebedee", were also fishermen.  Matthew, whom Jesus saw in his collection booth and recruited with two words, "Follow me".

Thomas' recruitment isn't described in the gospels.  He is described as being so loyal to Jesus that he offered to die with Him.  He has become known as "doubting Thomas" for asking of proof at the news of Jesus' resurrection.  Thaddeaus' biggest moment comes at the Last Supper, when he asks Jesus how He will show Himself only to the apostles after His death.  Judas Iscariot is known mostly for stealing money from the apostles and for betraying Jesus, but then committing suicide in remorse.  (Because of his remorse, I wonder if his life would have been different had he had the opportunity to be forgiven as Peter did.)

Simon is described by Matthew and Mark as a Canaanite and in Luke as a Zealot, likely for his strict adherence to Jewish law.  We know little about Philip, except he was from the same town, Bethsaida, as Peter and Andrew, and that he was present when Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand.  He advised Him prior to the meal that it would be too expensive to buy food for so many.

Two of the apostles are mystery men.  The only New Testament mention of Bartholomew and James the less are in lists of the apostles.  I have heard speculation that several of the apostles could have been relatives of Jesus due to the small towns they came from in close proximity to each other.

Being an apostle wasn't an easy job.  Not only were they expected to leave  home, job and travel with Jesus, but they also underwent a sort of on-the-job training in which He hone their minds and spirits to prepare them for a task of continuing His work.  In Matthew 10, Jesus gave the apostles a description of their eventual duties as missionaries and teachers and how to perform these duties.

If that wasn't difficult enough, Jesus also informed them that they would have to live a life without physical comforts.  They were instructed to travel without money, only the clothes on their backs and the shoes on their feet. When they arrived at a new city, He expected them to rely on the generosity of others for food and shelter.  If they could not find a humble host, they were told to move on, with the knowledge that the inhospitable would be punished more severely than Sodom and Gomorrah.

Before they reached the time of working on their own, they had plenty to do and learn.  In Matthew 17, they witnessed an example of Jesus casting out a demon from a mentally disturbed boy.  When they asked Him why they couldn't perform the same feat, He explained they needed more faith.  "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder place', and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you."

The betrayal and violent death of Jesus was an experience that would certainly have helped the young apostles mature by taking them through trials of their human frailties.  The example is the emotional Peter.  When he refuses to believe Jesus' prophecy that the apostles will scatter after the arrest and execution, Jesus responds by informing Peter that he will deny knowing Jesus three times - a prediction that comes to pass, causing Peter's shame to break his pride.  Humbled, he now becomes more firm in his stand for Jesus.

In Matthew 16, Jesus had chosen Peter as leader - the "rock" upon whom he would build His church, and would provide him with the keys to heaven.  In Acts 1, Peter assumed the lead, by guiding the process of selecting Matthias to replace Judas.  He demonstrated that the apostles could perform miracles when he went to the temple in Jerusalem with John and healed a lame beggar in Jesus name.  This filled the crowd around them with "wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him."  Peter's preaching was so effective that in one day 3,000 people were converted to the new faith.  His healing became so famous that he achieved the reputation that even his shadow passing over a person could heal them.

Of all the apostles, it was Thomas who took the evangelical mission the furthest.  He is thought to have traveled east through modern-day Syria, Iran and eventually reached India.  He covered even more territory than Paul, who traveled the Mediterranean region preaching to the gentiles.

The apostles' mission was a dangerous one.  In the end, eleven of them were martyred.  Only John died of old age.  However, they accomplished their goal, as evidenced by the widespread acceptance of Christianity today.
Amen

To be continued . . . . . . .