12 closest friends of Jesus or the 12 Disciples

Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist before he joined with Jesus (John 1:35-40). His
brother is Simon Peter, whom he brought to Jesus. They were both fishermen. Jesus met
them on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16-18).

Bartholomew Nathanael was praised by Jesus as being a Jew without guile (John 1:47).
Though he was cautious in accepting Jesus as the Christ, it took little time to convince him
that Jesus was the Son of God (John 1:49). Tradition says that he was a missionary in
Armenia and India.

James the Elder (or James the Great)

James is one of the two sons of Zebedee. Also known as the sons of thunder. Peter, James
and John made up the three closest friends of Jesus. While James seems to be a prominent
figure in the personal life of Jesus, we know little about him. When he is mentioned in the
Bible, he is always mentioned along with his brother John. He was beheaded by Herod (Acts
12:1, 2).

James the Younger (or James the Less)

This James was the son of Alphaeus (Mark 3:18). He lived in Galilee and was the brother to
the Apostle Jude. Matthew the tax collector may have been their brother. This is the James
who probably wrote the Epistle of James (though that is disputed).

John the Beloved

John is the brother of James the Elder and son of Zebedee. He was known as the
beloved disciple. He wrote the books of John, First John, Second John, Third John and
Revelation. He was the last of the apostles to die. Though there were attempts to
martyr him, he lived into old age.

Judas Iscariot
Judas was the treasurer among Jesus and His disciples. He was also the traitor who
betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16; John 12:5, 6). Judas was
from Judea whereas the other disciples were from Galilee.

Jude or Thaddeus
He was the brother of James the Younger and the author of the book of Jude. He was
known by several names. One is “Judas, not Iscariot.” (John 14:22) Very little is
known about him.

Matthew
Matthew, unlike the other disciples who were fishermen, he was a tax collector, also
known as a publican. He is sometimes called Levi in the Bible (Mark 2:14). He wrote
the first book of the New Testament which bears his name.
Peter
Simon Peter was the brother to Andrew. He was the most outspoken of the disciples.
Along with the brothers James and John, he made up the third of the inner circle of
Jesus’ closest disciples. He probably wrote 1 and 2 Peter. His Greek name, Simon,
and Aramaic name, Cephas, both mean rock.
After Jesus’ ascension to heaven, Peter became the dominant leader of the disciples.
Throughout the first part of the book of Acts he is the fiery preacher among the Jews.
The last part of the book is dominated by Paul and his outreach to the Gentiles.

Philip
Like the other disciples (except Matthew), Philip was a fisherman. He was from the
city of Bethsaida (John 1:44). He seemed to have a missionary heart. He preached
boldly to large crowds in Samaria but was willing to be led into the desert to preach
to one Ethiopian man and lead him to Christ (Acts 8).

Simon the Zealot

This is the other Simon (besides Peter) who was a disciple of Jesus. He was a
Caananite (Mark 3:18). Though we don’t know much about him we know that the
Zealots were a fanatical Jewish nationalist group. They hated Roman rule and were
devoted to Jewish law.

Thomas
Today sometimes called Doubting Thomas was also known by his Greek name
Didymus. He is known as Doubting Thomas because of his proclamation that he would
not believe that Christ had risen unless he could place his fingers in the nail prints of
Jesus’ hands and side. Jesus did not criticize Thomas for this. However, Jesus pointed
out that though Thomas had the chance to see and touch Jesus, there would be many
who would come after Thomas who would believe though they could not see Jesus in
the flesh (John 20:24-29).

Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/who-were-the-12-disciples-or-apostles-of-jesus-

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Other Disciples?
There were many other men and women who followed Christ in the Bible. There were
also disciples of some of the disciples. Of the four writers of the beginning books of
the New Testament, called the Gospels, Matthew and John are in the list above. Mark
was a follower of Peter and Luke was a disciple of Paul.
Here is a brief look at the 4 authors of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Gospel Matthew

Matthew, being one of the 12 apostles of Jesus, was originally a tax collector or publican and
was viewed as a betrayer by his own people. As usual, Jesus selects those who the world
despises to become His disciples showing that God is no respecter of persons. Since Matthew
was well paid, as were all of the tax collectors who would take more than even the Romans
requited in tax revenues. Matthew, who was also called Levi, was the son of Alpheus (Mk
2:14; Luke 5:27), and his gospel is seen as a hinge on which the Old Testament closes and
the New Testament opens and like a door, the reader can look back and see the many
references to the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus Christ. As such, he intentionally
focuses on the Jews and he uses many Old Testament references to point his readers to the
fact that Jesus is the Messiah who was prophesied to come. Family lineage is very important
to the Jews and that’s why Matthew traces Jesus’ family lineage all the way back to Abraham,
the father of the Jews and of the nation Israel. Matthew does so in a highly accurate historical
genealogy. Matthew also references at least 7 prophesies that were fulfilled in Christ and
these Old Testament references to Christ’s fulfillment of them include the books of Psalms,
Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Zechariah, and Malachi.

Matthew wanted the Jews to know with certainty that the long-expected and long-anticipated
Messiah had come and Jesus had perfectly fulfilled it. Most scholars agree that this gospel had
to have been written in the late A.D. 50s or in the 60s during the early period of the church
and less than one generation removed from Jesus’ earthly ministry.

The Gospel of Mark

Mark or sometimes called and known as John Mark, wrote the Gospel of Mark but Papias who
was the Bishop (or pastor) of Hierapolis, located near Laodicea and Colossae and an early
Apostolic leader of the church, indicates that the Gospel of Mark is actually the testimony of
the Apostle Peter and so it’s believed that Peter is the original source for this gospel. This
seems highly possible since Mark spent considerable time with Peter, particularly in Rome,
and could have easily written down Peter’s eyewitness accounts of his experiences with Jesus
while Peter was imprisoned in Rome. The early church fathers all seemed convinced about
this and through a careful reading we can see that the intimate details of this gospel was
written from perspective of the Apostle Peter. It is believed that Mark must have had to write
this for Peter since he was being held in a prison in the city of Rome.
Mark’s Greek Style contains Semitisms that a Jerusalem Christian would better understand
and so the Gospel of Mark is apparently written to Greek or Gentile Christians and the
historicity of this gospel is empirical in nature by the mention of several eyewitnesses and the
vivid description and detail with which it is written and makes it clear that it is a gospel that
is seen through the eyes of the Apostle Peter. Most scholars agree that this gospel had to
have been written in the late 50s or in the 60s while others believe that Mark was written
between A.D. 65 and 70 just prior to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

The Gospel of Luke

Luke the Physician who wrote the gospel bearing his name and is also clearly the author of
the Book of Acts has been hailed as one of the greatest historians of all time due to the
empirical evidence of his dates, times, places, and names recorded in his gospel. Luke was a
companion of the Apostle Paul and the many references of “we” and “us” in the Book of Acts,
plus the introduction in Acts leaves no room for doubt about his authorship of both the Gospel
of Luke and the Book of Acts (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2). At one time, both the Gospel of Luke
and the Book of Acts may have been one book separated as chapters might have been. There
is no biblical evidence that Luke was ever a disciple of Christ or an apostle but instead, he
was a Greek by birth and was a highly educated man who came to saving faith by Paul’s
witness (Col 4:11). Luke’s audience may have been the Greeks since he himself was a Greek
and that his purpose in writing this gospel was to reveal that Jesus was the Son of God. The
Gospel of Luke contains the greatest number of medical references of all the gospels including
that of the Birth of Christ, the Passion, and the crucifixion.
Both the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts have been dated somewhere between AD 61-
65 since there is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and it would have
been amazing that there would have been no mention of such an historical event of titanic
proportions. Also, the dating seems true since the ending of the Book of Acts shows that Paul
was still living at the end (Acts 28:30-31).

The Gospel of John

If I had only one gospel that I could have access to, it would be the Gospel of John because
this gospel above all others shows the divinity of Christ and the great passionate love which
He had for the disciples and lost sinners. This is the apostle of whom it was often said “the
disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). John was concerned that his readers, like the
church, Jewish Christians and even the Gentile or Greek Christians, knew that belief in Christ
meant eternal life (John 3:16, 36) and that by this belief, they could have the sure knowledge
of their security in Christ (John 6:37, 39; 10:28-29). Much of the content is John is unique to
this gospel like the necessity of being born again and this gospel is the only place where we
find the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus (John 14-17). The Passion of Christ is seen more clearly
and intensely in this gospel than in all of the other gospels.
John’s purpose seems to be that Jesus is both Man and God and that He is God incarnate,
coming in the flesh (John 1) thus showing both the humanity and the divinity of Christ and as
such, He is the one and only means by which our sins can be taken away permanently. The
early church fathers were absolutely certain of John’s authorship just as they were convinced
of his having written the Book of Revelation. While many scholars believe that this gospel was
written before A.D. 70 and the fall of Jerusalem, most believe it was written after Jerusalem’s
destruction in A.D. 70 and was written closer to A.D. 85-90.