The Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ PDF

# The Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ ## The Apostles - The word Apostle means “one who is sent forth, dispatched--in other words, who is entrusted with a mission” - After Jesus’s death, the apostles stopped being students and became teachers. - The Apostles went to different places to preach… ##...

# The Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ ## The Apostles - The word Apostle means “one who is sent forth, dispatched--in other words, who is entrusted with a mission” - After Jesus’s death, the apostles stopped being students and became teachers. - The Apostles went to different places to preach… ## The 12 Apostles of Jesus Christ | Apostle | Name Origin/Meaning | Brief Bio | How he died | |:---|:---|:---|:---| | Simon the Zealot | From the Hebrew name Shimon, which means "he has heard." His moniker, “the Zealot" may have been given to him for his zeal toward Jesus and His teachings. | Tradition holds that he spread the gospel in Egypt as a missionary and then joined the apostle, St. Jude (Thaddaeus), in Persia. | He was allegedly martyred by being cut in half with a saw in Persia in 65 AD. Other accounts suggest he was crucified in Samaria or Britain in 61 AD. | | Peter | From the Greek word "petros" meaning "rock." Jesus gave him the name Cephas meaning "rock" or "stone" in Aramaic. | He was one of the three disciples who was closest to Jesus. He witnessed miracles and moments the other apostles weren’t aware of. | Peter was crucified by Emperor Nero in Rome around 64 AD. He was crucified upside down because he believed he was not worthy of dying the same death as Jesus. | | Philip | From the Greek name "Philippos" meaning "friend of horses". | He was from Bethsaida, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. He was personally reached by Jesus Himself. He brought Nathanael (also known as Bartholomew) to Jesus. | He was crucified upside down with Bartholomew in 80 AD in Hierapolis, Turkey. When the crowd wanted to release the two disciples, he told them to free Bartholomew and leave him hanging there. | | John | From the Hebrew name "Yohhanan.” The meaning of the name is "YAHWEH is gracious." | Jesus nicknamed James and John, sons of Zebedee, as “sons of thunder." John wrote five books of the Bible and he was “the disciple whom Jesus loved." | He is the only disciple who was not martyred. He died of old age in 98 AD either in Patmos, where he wrote the book of Revelation, or in Ephesus. | | James the Younger | From the Hebrew name "Ya'akov," the Greek form of Jacob, the patriarch. The meaning of the name is “he who supplants." | Also called "James the Less," he was the son of the sister (one who is called "Mary of Clopas") of Mary, the mother of Jesus. | He was supposedly stoned to death in Jerusalem and was buried there beside the temple. Other accounts suggest he was crucified in Egypt, where he was preaching in 62 AD. | | James the Elder | From the Hebrew name “Ya'akov,” the Greek name for Jacob, the patriarch. The meaning of the name is “he who supplants." | Often referred to as "James the Greater," he was one of the disciples who witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ (Matthew 17:1–8). | He is the only disciple whose martyrdom is recorded in the Bible (Acts 12:2). In 44 AD, Herod had him killed by sword. He was likely beheaded. | | Bartholomew | From the Aramaic name, Bar-Talmai, meaning "son of Talmai." | He was born at Cana of Galilee. He was commended by Jesus Himself. He traveled to distant lands such as India, Turkey, and Armenia to share the good news of the gospel. | He was supposedly skinned alive and then beheaded in Albanopolis in Caucasia in 68 AD. Other accounts suggest he was crucified and taken down before he died, then flayed and beheaded. | | Thomas | From the Aramaic word těʼomâ, which means "twin." Also called Didymus a Greek word which means... the twin. | Better known as “Doubting Thomas,” as he famously disbelieved the resurrection of Jesus. He travelled as far as the Malabar Coast (Kerala, India) in AD 52 to preach the Gospel | He was martyred during prayer. He was pierced through with spears of unknown assailant/assailants on St. Thomas Mount in Chennai, India, on July 3 in 72 AD. | | Andrew | His original Hebrew and Aramaic names have not been mentioned. He most likely used the Greek name "Andreas," which means “manly or masculine." | He was Simon Peter's brother. He was the first disciple whom Jesus called and he told Peter that Jesus was the Messiah. | He was crucified in the Greek city of Patras around 60 AD. He was crucified in an "X" shaped cross, where he hung for three days, preaching the entire time. | | Matthias | From the Aramaic word “Matityahu” meaning "Gift Of God." | He was not one of the original members of the Twelve. He was appointed by the apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, following the latter's betrayal of Jesus and his subsequent death. Matthias preached in Judea, then Aethiopia (modern-day Georgia). | Some traditions claim he was stoned at the end of his ministry in Aethiopia. Other accounts say that he was stoned in Jerusalem and then beheaded. | | Thaddaeus | Jude is the shortened version of the Hebrew name "Judah/Judas” (Yehudah) which means "praise." Thaddaeus is from "Thaddaios," the Greek form of the Aramaic name "Thaddai." It means "heart" or "brave heart." | He preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, and Mesopotamia. He is the author of the canonical Letter of Jude. | He died as a martyr around the year 80 AD near Mt. Ararat in Armenia, where he was crucified and pierced using arrows.| | Matthew | From "Matthaios" a Greek from of the Hebrew name "Matityahu" meaning "gift of YAHWEH." He was also known as "Levi." | He was a tax collector, one of the most hated professions in first-century Judea. He collected taxes for Rome from his fellow Jews in Capernaum. He is the only Evangelist who shares the eight Beatitudes. | He was staked or impaled to the earth using spears and beheaded in Ethiopia in 74 AD. | --- **Note:** The terms "disciple" and "apostle" are used interchangeably in the Gospels.