Mk. 3:13a And He went up on the mountain,
Lk. 6:12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountains to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Mk. 3:13b And called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.
Lk. 6:13a And when it was day, He called His disciples to Him.
Mk. 3:14 Then He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.
Lk. 6:13b And from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.
Luke says that not only did the Lord name the twelve as His personal disciples, but also apostles. Apostleship is something that is very much misunderstood in today’s church. The Hebrew word for apostles is shaliach, and it means “one who is sent.” It is not a position of high spiritual authority like some churches try to make it today, but it simply means someone who is sent to a specific place to accomplish a specific task. There were all kinds of apostles operating from the synagogues in Yeshua’s day and they should be in our churches today. But, not as some kind of spiritual overlord. The apostle was always responsible back to whomever sent them out to begin with. They were never part of the leadership of the synagogue or early church.
Mk. 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.
Notice that all of the disciples were given power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons. This included Judas Iscariot, the one who would betray Him. Certainly this means that Judas was at this time a believer and was saved. Later on, he would backslide and commit the most heinous crime in history. So much for the teaching on eternal security.
Mk. 3:16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter.
Lk. 6:14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John, Philip and Bartholomew;
Mk. 3:17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name “Boanergies, that is, sons of thunder.”
Lk. 6:16 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and simon called Zealot.
Simon the Zealot” means he was a member of the Zealot Party (also called the Fourth Philosophy), an extreme branch of the Pharisees. In this group of disciples we have Matthew the publican and S“imon the Zealot. Only Yeshua could bring these two extremes together in peace and harmony.
Mk. 3:18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite;
Certain passing allusions in Josephus’ writings and in the Christian Gospels provide suggestive indications of the trend of events. The fact that Yeshua of Nazareth chose a Zealot named Simon as an apostle reveals that the Zealot Party was well known in Galilee about 28 C.E.
Mk. 3:19 And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Lk. 6:16 Judas, the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.
THE FOUR LISTS OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES
Mark 3:16f Matt. 10:2f Luke 6:14f Acts 1:13f
Simon Peter Simon Peter Simon Peter Simon Peter
James Andrew Andrew James
John James James John
Andrew John John Andrew
Philip Philip Philip Philip
Bartholomew Bartholomew Bartholomew Thomas
Matthew Thomas Matthew Bartholomew
Thomas Matthew Thomas Matthew
James, the son James, the son James, the son James, the son
of Alphaeus of Alphaeus of Alphaeus of Alphaeus
Thaddeus Thaddeus Simon the Zealot Simon the Zealot
Simon the Canaanite Simon the Canaanite Judas, the brother Judas, the brother
Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot of James of James
Judas Iscariot
We are give i Scripture four different lists of the disciples. By the manner in which the lists were compiled in the ancient world we can deduce something. The names of Simon Peter, Philip, and James the son of Alphaeus all appear in the same position in each list, while the rest of the names of the disciples differ in positions from list to list. The point of this is according to the way the names were tabulated back then, we are told that there were were three groups of four disciples, each group having ahead. The significance of the first group is that all four of these were former disciples of Yochanan HaMatbil.
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