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Do you get it? Matthew 16: 31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” 34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Luke 6: 27 “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. 29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. 31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. John 15: 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me 12 Disciples Names and Occupations 1. Peter: (Greek: Petros meaning ‘Rock’) – Peter was one of the most prominent of the 12 disciples. He was a natural spokesperson and also the leader of the early Christian church. His original Hebrew name was Simon, a common popular Hebrew name. Jesus gave him a name ‘Kephas‘, an Aramaic name. John translated into it Greek ‘Petros‘ meaning Rock. Peter was the brother of Andrew. He was a fisherman by occupation on the Sea of Galilee. He was a married man. 2. John:(Meaning – God is gracious) John was originally the disciple of John the Baptist (John 1:35), and was introduced to Jesus in John 1:35-39. He was the brother of James and the son of Zebedee. He lived in Capernaum in Galilee, but most probably a native of Bethsaida. He was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee along with his brother. 3. James:(Greek Iakobos– the English word for Jacob meaning Israel or he who supplants his Brother). James was the son of Zebedee (Mark 4:21), the older brother of John (Mat 17:1), by occupation a fisherman along with his brother and father at the Sea of Galilee, in partnership with Peter and Andrew. (Luke 5:10). 4. Andrew:(Greek –Andreas, meaning ‘Manly’, man), was the brother of Simon Peter, the son of Jonas, lived in Capernaum like his brother, , and was a fisherman by occupation. He brought Peter, his brother, to Jesus. (John 1:25-42) 5. Philip:(Greek – Philippos, meaning ‘Lover of horses’). He was a close friend of Andrew and Peter, and a native of Bethsaida (John 1:44). Jesus called Philip near Bethany where John the Baptist was preaching (John 1:43). 6. Bartholomew:(Greek –bartholomaios meaning Son of Talmai). He is mentioned in all the four lists of the apostles in the New Testament. There is no other reference to him in the New Testament. Nothing much is known about him. 7. Thomas:(Greek –Thomas from Aramaic –te’oma meaning ‘twin’) He is also called ‘Didymus’ or ‘the Twin’ (John 11:16, 20:24, 21:2). When Jesus appeared to the apostles after His resurrection, Thomas was not present with them. Later on, when the disciples told him about Jesus’ appearance, he would not believe them, until Jesus showed Himself a week later. (John 20:24-29). His occupation is unknown. 8. Matthew: (Greek –maththaios– meaning ‘gift of Yahweh’) is also called ‘Levi’ (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27). He was a tax collector by occupation. He is ascribed to be the author of the Gospel according to Matthew. 9. James: He was one of the apostles of Christ. He was the son of Alphaeus.. Nothing much is known about him. 10. Thaddaeus: He is mentioned in two of the four lists of Jesus’ disciples. (Mat 10:3, Mark 3:18). In the other two lists he is variously called as Jude of James, Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus. 11. Simon the Zealot: He is another disciple of Jesus. He was a member of a party later called as the ‘Zealots’ (Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18) 12. Judas Iscariot: He is the disciple who betrayed Jesus. He was a treasurer of the group. committed suicide. 13. Matthias: After Judas committed suicide after his betrayal of Jesus, the eleven disciples selected Matthias as the twelfth disciple. How they died 1- Simon (who is called Peter) A second-century apocryphal text called Acts of Peter claimed that Peter was crucified upside down, at his request for he didn’t feel worthy to die as Jesus did. The apostle was murdered in Rome by Emperor Nero around 64 AD, after the Great Fire of Rome. 2-Andrew went to the "land of the man-eaters," in what is now the Soviet Union. According to the apocryphal book of Acts of Andrews, this apostle was martyred by crucifixion in the Greek city of Patras around 60 AD. Like his brother Peter, Andrew didn’t consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. And so he was tied to a cross which was hung in an X shape instead of a T shape. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it”. He continued to preach to his tormentors For two days until he expired. 3-James son of Zebedee We read about his death in the book of Acts: “It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword” (Acts 12:1–2). King Herod wanted to please the Jews by killing him (Acts 12:3). Scholars generally believe he was killed in Jerusalem in 44 AD. 4-John (brother of James son of Zebedee) Tertullian, a Christian writer in the second and third centuries, recorded that before the Romans exiled John, they brought him into a coliseum and immersed him in a barrel of boiling oil. When he emerged unharmed, the entire coliseum converted to Christianity. Later, during Domitian’s persecution in the middle ’90s, he was exiled to the island of Patmos. There, he died. Wrote 5 books of the Bible. 5-Philip The Acts of Philip document gives an account of his martyrdom. It records that he led a proconsul’s wife to the Lord. So, the proconsul, in revenge, killed him. 6. Bartholomew Foxe’s Book of Martyrs claims that in India, “He was at length cruelly beaten and then whipped to death and crucified by the impatient idolaters.” 7. Thomas The apocryphal Acts of Thomas says this apostle was martyred in Mylapore, India, where he was stabbed with spears. Syrian Christian tradition postulates he was martyred in Mylapore on July 3, 72 AD. How they died 8. Matthew the tax collector In Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, it is recorded about Matthew: “The scene of his labors was Parthia, and Ethiopia, in which latter country he suffered martyrdom, being slain with a battle ax in the city of Nadabah, A.D. 60.” 9. James son of Alphaeus Hippolytus, a theologian who lived in the second and third centuries, recorded about James’ death: “And James the son of Alphaeus, when preaching in Jerusalem was stoned to death by the Jews, and beat with clubs and buried there beside the temple.” 10. Thaddaeus Luke replaces the name Thaddeus with “Judas son of James” (Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13). And John mentions Thaddeus, calling him “Judas (not Iscariot)” (John 14:22). According to “The Golden Legend,” when Simon and Jude commanded demons to come out of idols, the religious leaders killed them: He was shot with arrows. 11. Simon the Zealot There are different records of Simon the Zealot’s death. In the fifth century, Moses of Chorene recorded that Simon the Zealot was martyred in the Kingdom of Iberia. “The Golden Legend” says he was martyred in Persia in 65 AD. Also, the Ethiopian Christians claim he was crucified in Samaria. And in the sixteenth century, Justus Lipsius recorded that he was sawed in half. 12. Mathias This is the disciple that replaced Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:12-26) that betrayed Jesus and then hanged himself (Matthew 27:5). One tradition records that he was stoned by cannibals in Aethiopia (Georgia). Another tradition says, he was stoned by Jews in Jerusalem and then beheaded. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.