THE ORIGINAL TWELVE WHO WALKED

WITH THE MAN OF NAZARETH

Upon commencing His three year Ministry, Jesus of Nazareth called many to follow Him. There is a group of men who are recorded by name as the Twelve Apostles- those hand-picked by Jesus to learn from Him so that they may, in turn, tell others about Him (to evangelize). New American Bible footnotes in Matthew 10 define the word apostle as "one who is sent."

These chosen twelve are Simon (Peter), James (son of Zebedee), John, Andrew, Philip (not to be confused with the Philip mentioned in Acts 8 and 21), Bartholomew (Nathanael), Levi (Matthew), Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Jude (Thaddeus), Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.

The infallible Holy Scriptures tell us that many others who were following Jesus in His Ministry ended up falling away from Him (John 6:64-66). Unfortunately, this continues to happen present day. However, the original 12 Apostles learned "The Way" directly from Jesus and, as they witnessed Him perform many signs and miracles, they proclaimed He was the Messiah, the living Son of God.

As much as they witnessed firsthand, even the faith of these men who walked in the very footsteps of Jesus was shaken when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and arrested (initiated by the betrayal of Judas). Only one Apostle- John- was known to have been at the Cross when Jesus was crucified and died. The rest scattered, as another Old Testament prophecy (Zechariah 13:7) was fulfilled (Matthew 26:31, Mark 14:27, John 16:32) by Jesus Christ. For a complete listing of all prophecies fulfilled by Christ, to include a printer friendly document, explore http://www.bluewatervicariate.org/jesus-prophecies.

The Good News for us is that Jesus defeated Sin and Death at His Cross! Amen! After rising from the dead, but before He ascended to the right hand of His Father in Heaven, Jesus gave one final command to His Apostles and to all who proclaim Him as their personal Lord and Savior:

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:36-53). This is known as "The Great Commission."

Just where did these obedient and Holy Spirit-filled Ambassadors of Christ go to preach and teach the Good News of repentance and salvation? As they accomplished their supernatural feats a few thousand years ago, many accounts of who went where and when are sketchy and unconfirmed. But, we have compiled some resources and have listed them in this document.  The accompanying chart also lists where, how and when the Apostles may have died. As it was illegal to be a practicing Christian in the first century (and still is today in many world regions), Church teachings share that all of the original Apostles (except for John & Judas) died horrific deaths for refusing to rebuke the teachings of Jesus. Accordingly, they are called "Martyrs."

After the death of the original Apostles, we do not find great missionary figures possessing the stature of Paul. Yet, the Faith continued to spread like wildfire for about 400 years after the Ascension of Christ...what do you think we need to do to get that same fire burning again today?

Check out the charts below for much info…