The Disciples of Christ

And then there were twelve: The story of Christ unfolds first from those who were with him from the start.  It was common practice in the time of Christ that when a great philosopher or theologian or prophet became known, those who wished to learn more became disciples.  The hope was often to become an apprentice much like Elisha did with Elijah in older times.  John the Baptist was born close to the time of Christ, in fact he was His cousin.  But John began his ministry earlier than when Christ became publicly known.  John was called to prepare the way of the Messiah.  He spoke with power and conviction, and the Holy Spirit blessed his work.  John had a weird diet.  He lived away from the cities and out in the wild.  He dressed funny.  He spent most of his time calling for the people to repent of their sins and be baptized in anticipation of the soon coming of the Messiah.  And due to the blessing of the Holy Spirit, this wild man speaking from the rivers became widely known throughout the region.  As usual the established religious leadership felt threatened by John and did not approve of a ministry they could not control.  When John rebuked them as hypocrites, their animosity for him only increased.  But despite the prevailing wisdom and long history of formal education of scriptures, it was John who was called to prepare the way of the Lord, not the current priests or religious leaders.  The establishment had failed.  And as it happens two young men became the disciples of John to learn more of the coming Messiah.  When Christ entered the scene, John directed them to follow Him, the One they had waited for.  It was from this humble beginning that two who were seeking God found Him.

The story of the first two disciples has a commonality with many past Biblical patriarchs.  Abraham searched for the true God, rejecting the customs of his family and the practice of worshipping idols in favor of something real.  And Abraham found God.  Paul too had a religious fervor, and truly believed He was serving his God, until on a road to Damascus, he found Him.  Paul knew this was God, and from that moment on, He served only the God He found on that road.  The point of many stories throughout scripture is that when man goes looking for God, He generally finds Him.  Christ did not pick His first two disciples at random, they picked Him.  At the time, all those two men had was the word of their current teacher, that this stranger was the Son of God.  No proof, no evidence yet, no miracles to rely on, just the word of John.  Once they saw the Baptism of Christ, they saw their first evidence that indeed this was someone new.  But they did not begin to follow Christ until He had returned from His torturous 40 days in the desert.  By then Christ was emaciated.  His appearance would have been near death from the ordeal His humanity endured to know what temptation for us is like.  But despite the physical changes, John knew Him right away, and again sent his disciples to be with Christ. 

The two would grow to a number of twelve over time.  Some of them would pick Christ, some He would pick.  The number could have been more than 12 if the rich young ruler had accepted the call of Christ to sell his belongings, give it to the poor, and follow Christ.  An esteemed offer from the God of creation, rejected because of the lure of wealth.  One could count Lazarus, Mary, and Martha as disciples as well, but it appears Christ counted them as more than that, He counted them as friends.  John was given the honor of being called the beloved.  Perhaps that is because John loved Christ more than he loved himself.  It was only John, who stood next to Mary the mother of Christ at the terrible crucifixion.  He had slept in the Garden of Gethsemane, and fled at the betrayal of Christ, like all the others.  But at some point he must have decided nothing else mattered, he had to be with his Lord, and in so doing found himself comforting Mary at the cross.  Again it looks as though John did not earn the title of beloved because Christ loved John more than He loved the others, but perhaps because John loved Christ more than the others.  How we become disciples of Christ may well be just like those 12 came to know Him; because we look for Him.  We choose to follow Him.  We choose to love Him.   And in so doing we become “the beloved” as well.

We start with an examination of the works of the disciples simply because they had the closest proximity to Christ for the longest period of time.  I make a distinction between disciples and apostles in that I consider apostles as those who had great ministries and lived at the time of Christ, but may not have been part of the original 12.  Matthias the replacement for Judas for example had only a limited time with Christ before He ascended; whereas John knew Him from that day at the river some 3 and half years earlier.  I would bet that some of the apostles named later in scripture were a part of the 70 others who Christ had called in His ministry.  Perhaps Stephan, Apollos, and maybe a few others named in the New Testament were a part of that crowd. 

When most Christians think of who the twelve disciples were, the names of the first four gospels spring to mind – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  In point of fact, only Matthew and John were actual disciples of Christ.  It is believed that the gospel of Mark, may well have been dictated to him by the disciple Peter.  And the Gospel of Luke as well as the book of Acts were written by a well-educated, well-traveled, Jewish literate physician who was a companion of Paul.  The twelve disciples of Christ who were with Him the longest in His ministry included:

·         Simon Peter (also called Simon Bar Jonah/Jochanon, and Cephas) he was the brother of Andrew

·         Andrew who was the brother of Peter and the former disciple of John the Baptist

·         James the son of Zebedee and brother of John (sons of thunder)

·         John the son of Zebedee and brother of James (sons of thunder) and the beloved

·         Phillip from the Bethsaida of Galilee region

·         Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel) son of Talemai

·         Matthew (also called Levi) the tax collector

·         Thomas (also called Didymus) famous for doubting

·         James (also called James the lessor, or James the Just) the son of Alphaeus

·         Thaddeaus (also called Jude or Lebbaeus)

·         Simon (the Zealot)

·         Judas Iscariot the one who betrayed Him

Whether they were called by Christ to follow Him, or took the initiative on their own to do so, they were welcomed and given the opportunity to spend every waking moment in close proximity to our God.  Though the conditions were far from ideal; they were poor, they were outcast, and they were perpetually in motion – either chased by or requested by the people; they were also spending all their time at the feet of our God.  They knew His love personally.  They knew it as a direct expression of a personal relationship each one had with our God.  This is why their testimonies remain so powerful even today.  The personal testimony of a life directly touched by God, saved by Christ, has something to say to the world.  The words carry weight when they come from a place that is real, that is personal, that has a meaning only you can know.  We too can be a part of this close-knit group, this one to one fellowship with the Savior of the world, and of ourselves.  It is what He calls us yet to be.  Our only part is to accept His call, and receive the gifts He offers, including a close-knit fellowship that can begin today that will one day reach fulfillment face to face in His eternal kingdom.

For now, we begin our re-examination of His Word, beginning with what just may be family.  While Mary the mother of Christ was a virgin at His conception and remained so until His birth, there is nothing to indicate that Mary and Joseph did not have a normal married life following the birth of Christ.  There are several references to Mary as being the mother of more than just Jesus.  The other children who are mentioned in the New Testament include: James, Joses, Juda/Judas, Simon, and Salome (likely His sister).  These siblings would have only been half-brothers and sisters by blood as God was the Father of Christ, not Joseph.  But this familial distinction was hardly relevant from Christ’s perspective.  He welcomed anyone who chose to believe in Him as family.  It is however believed that the book of James may well have been written by the half-brother of Christ.  There are other competing theories about the origin and authorship of the book of James, but as it may have been written by a family member it is worth examining sooner rather than later.  Another book in our New Testament that may well have been written by another half-brother of Christ was the general epistle of Jude.  As with many of the books included in our Bible, the authorship traces back to several different theories, but it appears the most likely, that this was the brother of James, and half-brother of Christ.  As such we will begin our examination with the books of Jude and James.