The Inner Circle Series

Mark 3: 13 – 19

The Inner Circle

13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

Now, as you know there were two other documents in circulation and they were the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. As you know, Matthew was an apostle who was with our Lord Jesus Christ for over three years and was an eye witness to all that our Lord said and did. Luke, on the other hand was a friend and fellow traveler with the apostle Paul. He later came back to Israel and interviewed the eye witnesses to this event.

So, to get a full picture let us take a quick look at both Gospels and see if there is any other information that would bless us.

Luke 6: 12 – 16, “12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

Matthew 10: 1 - 4, “1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.”

You will notice that the names do not match. In truth they are all the same 12 guys yet they are also known by other names. We are going to take a look and clear up whom the real twelve members are.

Peter (also known as Simon) was one of the original 12 apostles. Peter was originally from Bethsaida on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Peter was married. He was a fisherman with his brother Andrew. His home was in Capernaum. When Jesus called him to be an apostle, he was given the added name Cephas (Aramaic: "stone," Greek: "Petros," which in English is rendered as Peter).

Peter was one of the three main apostles, along with James and John, who were chosen by Jesus to be present during certain important moments of His ministry.

One trait of Peter’s character that stands out in the New Testament account, is his impetuosity.

Peter was famous for many things: For being at Jesus' transfiguration, for walking on water at Jesus' bidding, for rebuking Jesus for what seemed to him negative thinking (prompting Jesus' sharp reply "Get behind Me Satan"), for his statement to Jesus during the washing of feet during the Last Supper, for his denials of knowing Jesus when Peter was in the courtyard of the high priest, for drawing a sword when Jesus was being arrested, and for being granted the singular privilege of an individual post-resurrection appearance by Jesus.

When Jesus asked him "Who do you say I am?" Peter made that famous statement, "You are the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the Living God.”

Under the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter healed the sick and raised the dead. He made a trip to Antioch, and possibly Corinth. It is believed that Peter later traveled to Rome, and was martyred there by crucifixion in 64 AD. He is said to have requested that he be crucified upside down, because he said he wasn't worthy of dying in the same way as Jesus.

Peter wrote two Epistles, called Peter 1 and Peter 2, in the New Testament. Papias, a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote that Mark's Gospel was influenced by Peter's writings.

Andrew and Peter were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. In fact, the apostles Andrew, Peter, James and John were all partners in a fishing business prior to being called by Jesus to follow Him.