Disciples of Jesus
According to Matthew Chapter 4, Jesus after leaving Nazareth went to Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah about the land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. There, and from that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
John, Chapter 1 tells us that the next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?" They said, "Rabbi" (which means "Teacher"), "where are you staying?" "Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon. Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
Jesus, after trekking up a mountainside, summoned a select group of men to become His Disciples. There, He appointed the Twelve to be with him and send them out to preach (Mark 3:13-14) In this era of the Roman world, there were various religious, and political leaders with committed groups of followers. From those who followed Him, Jesus of Nazareth formed a special rabbi-student relationship. Although the Jews were used to having rabbis teaching only the brightest pupils. they hadn’t encountered the approach that Jesus used in gathering and instructing His group of disciples. The norm was for a person to approach a rabbi and ask to be taught, but Jesus did the reverse by choosing the men He wanted and calling them to follow Him. The group He chose was a diverse bunch—they weren’t from the hierarchical Jewish religion. Rather, the twelve men He chose came from various walks of life.
Our Messiah could not have picked a more diverse group of men to accomplish His divine purpose. Jesus wanted men who could understand the struggles of the brokenhearted, the poor, and the afflicted. With the exception that seven of them were fishermen, the Twelve had very little in common with one another. One was a tentmaker, others were a political zealot, a detested tax collector, a pessimistic skeptic, a thief, and two “Sons of Thunder.”
The "Twelve Apostles" refers to the men (and Matthias in place of Judas Iscariot) following Jesus during and after His life on earth. Not of the original Twelve, Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, was initially a zealous persecutor of those who believed Christ was the Messiah (Acts 9). While traveling to Damascus in 33 AD, three years after Jesus was resurrected, he was miraculously confronted by the Lord. During his years of exile, he was personally taught by Jesus (Galatians 1:11-12). After Paul was baptized he began to preach powerfully Christ was the Son of God (Acts 9:20 - 22). Death threats from Jews living in Damascus, who rejected his message, drove him to flee to Arabia. At this point in his life, he fulfilled the same basic criteria the original disciples did in regard to being considered an apostle. Many of his epistles begin as Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.
The original twelve disciples were sent out to the Jews, whereas Paul alone had the unique task of being the apostle to the gentiles after Christ's resurrection and ascent.
Jesus gathered His first disciples at the shores of the Sea of Galilee, which had provided fishermen livelihoods for generations. Several of the disciples were hard-working fishermen, who often worked long into the night, using two types of nets. The larger dragging nets, sometimes over the size of a football field and 8 feet wide, were slung out in deep water. The circular cast net, about 15 feet round with a tight mesh, was thrown off the boat where the water was shallow to drop over a school of fish, bringing in everything trapped. The disciples would be “casting their nets” in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria The results of their work would encircle the earth.
It was fisherman Andrew, caring for his nets when Jesus called him as a disciple (Luke 5:2). His brother Peter watched Jesus climb into his boat and preach with authority. He realized Jesus was not only a prophet but someone to whom he would later surrender his life. James and his brother, John, were mending nets with their father when Jesus called them. These four “sons of Zebedee” were not just fishermen, but as business owners, they hired other men to work for them.
Most likely Philip, James (the son of Alphaeus), and Judas (Thaddaeus) were tradesmen of some sort. Regardless of their lines of work, eleven of the disciples immediately left behind everything to follow Jesus. Judas Iscariot, chosen by Jesus as treasurer, appears to be the only disciple who struggled continually with greed and monetary temptations.
Not all the occupations of the disciples were viewed favorably. When Jesus first called Matthew, the disciple was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Matthew belonged to the class of Jewish tax collectors (Mokhsa) who extorted money from travelers. Tax collectors were detested and often regarded as traitors to their own people. Their money was considered unclean, people taxed would avoid asking for change. A tax collector’s money could not be tithed to the temple. They were forbidden to testify in court. A good Jew would not even associate with the Mokhsa in private life.
Jesus upset the Pharisees when He enjoyed a meal at Matthew’s house (Matthew 9:10-13). The once prosperous Matthew, along with the other disciples, was told God would meet their needs, “Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.”
Jesus sent these ordinary men out, endowed with His own power and authority. As long as they relied on His strength, they were unstoppable. “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20). In time the risen Christ would reveal much of Himself not to all of the Twelve, but to only seven of them.
While not strictly a profession, Simon the Canaanite earned the title of a zealot. His fierce loyalty to his faith and Israel was evident. Zealots were a religious sect and would attempt to arouse rebellion among the Jews. Like others, Simon stubbornly insisted that the Jews must rebel against the Roman invasion of Palestine. This invasion had destroyed the Jews’ hopes of restoring their own government once again. Zealots, like Simon, engaged in politics and anarchy hoping to instigate a revolution that would overthrow the Roman government. When Simon joined Jesus as a disciple, he remained zealous, but shifted to allegiance and loyalty to Jesus, rather than a political revolution.
The New Testament is the only authoritative source of the lives of the disciples. Throughout the Bible, there have been men, as well as women, whom God chose to work within His divine plans. Yet these disciples were specifically selected by Jesus to follow Him and continue to spread the Gospel and continue representing Jesus long after He ascended into Heaven. One can imagine the heavy responsibilities of carrying the Master’s Word to the masses. Their dedication and preaching of the Gospel would impact scores of Christians long after their deaths.
You might ask why twelve disciples? Why not a hundred to start with—as many as possible? In the Bible, twelve, like the numbers of seven and forty, frequently suggested completeness and perfection. In the Old Testament, twelve represented “all Israel.”
Genesis 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Genesis 37:9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. (Note: The sun is a star for a total of twelve.)
Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing, he blessed them.
The Book of Revelation provides many references to twelve.
Twelve tribes of Israel, which are sealed and protected (Revelation 7:5-8).
Twelve stars in the woman’s (Israel) crown, symbolizing the twelve sons of Jacob (Revelation 12:1).
Twelve apostles of the Lamb, part of the church and body of Christ (Revelation 12:14).
And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names are written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. (Revelation 21:12).
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Revelation. 21:14).
The mention of ‘twelve’ appears in other areas of the New Testament as well. Jesus first spoke in the Temple at twelve years of age (Luke 2:42, 49-52). The miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes, providing twelve baskets of leftovers (Matthew 14:19-20).
As Jesus’ immediate followers, the Twelve’s obedience was often challenged. A promise of heaven itself was extended to these chosen men. These twelve men were called to be disciples so they could travel, see, hear and learn from Jesus who said to His disciples, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). This promise shows the glory and status reserved for these disciples who had suffered earthly persecution for the cause of Christ.
After Jesus had endured the temptation in the wilderness, He returned to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. He tried to speak in His hometown of Nazareth but was rejected. So spiritually blinded were the people of the synagogue that they tried to kill Jesus by attempting to throw Him off a cliff. Jesus traveled to Capernaum, a beautiful town at the edge of the Sea of Galilee. An Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, had prophesied that Jesus would live in Capernaum. “In the future he [Jesus] will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan” (Isaiah 9:1).
Prior to Jesus choosing these men, He fervently sought to fulfill the will of God, the Father. Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God” (Luke 6:12). These men would not only be His first followers but individuals close to Him in every way. The Son of God showed His humbleness and vulnerabilities to them. They would witness His fury against the money changers, His miracles, and His sadness as they abandoned Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. These men were the twelve that God desired and was generally willing to be submissive students but sometimes headstrong and at other times blatant cowards. They even argued among themselves about which disciple would be the greatest (Luke 9:46; 22:24). Christ showed displeasure when they contradicted Him (Matthew 16:23). Repeatedly, Jesus spoke of His betrayal, death, and resurrection (Matthew 16:21-22; Mark 9:30; Luke 18:31-34), yet the disciples faltered.
Here are some examples.
All the disciples deserted [Jesus] and fled. (Matthew 26:56).
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. (Mark 16:20).
Jesus himself stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and frightened. He asked, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? (Luke 24).
Despite their faults, the disciples eventually were teachable and would witness miracles, dominion over nature, and of raising the dead. Yet it wasn’t until after Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension that they were transformed into Christian leaders. Prior to His Ascension, Jesus had opened the disciples’ minds so they could better understand the Scriptures. Upon returning to His Father, Jesus would fulfill God’s promise, clothing them with the Holy Spirit’s power (Luke 24:45-49). The Holy Spirit supplied the driving force, enabling the disciples to accomplish the mandate Jesus had entrusted to them. The Twelve testified of who they knew Jesus Christ to be: Lord of all creation, Redeemer of all who trust in His death for their deliverance from sin, and the source of eternal life for all who accept Him as their Savior.
The Bible only mentions the actual deaths of two apostles, James, who was put to death by Herod Agrippa the First in 44 AD, and Judas Iscariot, who committed suicide shortly after the death of Christ. Details of the deaths of three of the apostles (John, the Beloved, Bartholomew, and Simon the Canaanite) are little known, neither by tradition nor early historians. The deaths of seven apostles are known by tradition or the writings of early Christian historians. According to these traditions and the Bible, eight of the Apostles died as Martyrs. At least two of the Apostles, Peter, and Andrew, were crucified. As mentioned before, the New Testament is the only authoritative source about the lives of the twelve disciples, but the following descriptions are derived by merging biblical and secular sources with Catholic traditions. Much of what is surmised about the disciples comes from two scholars; Hippolytus of Rome who died around 236 AD and Eusebius who was the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and known as the ‘Father of Catholic History’ because in 341 AD he wrote about the early times of Jesus’ disciples until dying.
Apostle Simon Peter was crucified upside down some 33-34 years after the death of Christ. According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, there is “satisfactory evidence that he and Paul were the founders of the church at Rome and died in that city. The time and manner of the apostle’s martyrdom are less certain. According to the early writers, he died around 65 AD or about the same time as Paul’s death. Peter was crucified in Rome under the orders of Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that Simon Paul was crucified upside down at his own request since he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His remains are said to be contained in an underground crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
James, the son of Zebedee. James’ zeal for Jesus resulted in his being the first of the twelve apostles to be beheaded. He was killed with the sword on the order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judea, about 44 AD, in general persecution of the early church. This was shortly before the day of the Passover, about 11 years after the death of Christ. The three apostles, Peter, James, and John, comprised the inner circle of Jesus. Of those three, we know the least about James, the eldest brother of the apostle John. Their father’s Zebedee, James, brother John, Peter, and Andrew were all partners in a fishing business prior to the disciples being called by Jesus. There is some evidence that James was the first cousin of Jesus and had been acquainted with Him from infancy. It is believed that James’ aunt was Mary, Mother of Jesus. Little else is known of his ministry. James visited the Jewish colonist and slaves in Spain to preach the Gospel. Some said that when the apostle James was led out to die, a man who had brought trumped-up accusations walked with him to the place of execution. Expecting to see James frightened and remorseful, he saw a firm, unfaltering belief and joyous expectations. The false witness was troublesomely worried over this and became convinced that the Savior must be the true God. Who but God could not impart such cheerfulness and courage to a man about to die? The lying man himself, thus, became a convert to Christianity and was condemned to die with James. Both were beheaded on the same day and with the same sword. James preached for 14 years before his beheading.
Peter. The New Testament indicates Peter was the son of John (or Jonah or Jona) and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee. His brother Andrew was also an apostle. According to New Testament accounts, Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus from his first disciples. Originally a fisherman, he played a leadership role and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration. According to the gospels, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah, was part of Jesus’ inner circle, three times denied Jesus, and preached on the day of Pentecost. Matthew wrote, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
As a side note, in 1870, when the Catholic hierarchy gathered, and the pope declared his infallibility, the cardinals were not in agreement, having diverse interpretations of this ‘Rock of the Church’ verse. Seventeen insisted, Peter is the rock. Sixteen held Christ is the rock. Eight were emphatic that the whole apostolic college is the rock. Forty-four said Peter’s faith is the rock. The rest looked upon the whole body of believers as the rock. Yet the Vatican still teaches that ‘Peter is the rock’.
Andrew. A variety of traditions say Andrew preached in Scythia, in Greece, and Asia Minor. The New Testament states Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter, by which it is inferred that he was likewise a son of John or Jonah. He was born in the village of Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee. Both he and his brother Peter were fishermen by trade, hence Jesus called them to be his disciples by saying that he will make them “fishers of men.”
At the beginning of Jesus’ public life, both occupied the same house at Capernaum. Andrew is said to have been martyred, mid to late 1st century, by crucifixion at the city of Patras in Greece on the northern coast. Early texts describe Andrew as bound, not nailed, to the type of cross Jesus died on. Yet a tradition developed that Andrew had been crucified on an X-shaped cross, now commonly known as a “Saint Andrew’s Cross”. This was supposedly at his own request, for he deemed himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. Familiar iconography of his martyrdom shows the apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, which does not seem to have been standardized before the later Middle Ages.
John. Was the brother of James and half brother to Jesus, had the distinction of being a beloved friend of Jesus Christ and writer of five books of the New Testament. His writings reveal contrasting traits. For instance, on the first Easter morning, with his typical zeal and enthusiasm, John raced Peter to the tomb after Mary Magdalene reported it empty. Although John won the race and bragged about this achievement in his Gospel (John 20:1-9), he humbly allowed Peter to enter the tomb first. John was a pillar in the early Christian churches by serving in Jerusalem for many years, then preaching in Ephesus. An unsubstantiated legend holds that John was taken to Rome during persecution and thrown into boiling oil but emerged unhurt. He was then exiled to the island of Patmos. John, reportedly, outlived all the other original disciples, dying of old age at Ephesus near the turn of the first century, 100AD.
Matthew. He lived many years as an apostle. He was the author of the Gospel of Matthew, which was written at least twenty years after the death of Christ. Matthew wrote the Gospel in the Hebrew tongue and published it in Jerusalem. There is a reason to believe that he stayed there for fifteen years, after which he went as a missionary to the Persians. Legend has him dying in 90 AD as a martyr in Ethiopia by being speared to death.
Bartholomew. He was said to have had black curly hair, white skin, large eyes, a straight nose, hair that covered his ears, and a long grizzled middle height beard. He wore a white robe with a purple stripe and a white cloak with four purple gems at the corners. For twenty-six years his clothes and shoes never wore out. It is written that he prayed a hundred times a day and a hundred times a night. His voice was like a trumpet. Angels waited upon him. He knew all languages and was cheerful. The place of his death, called in New Testament times Albanopolis, is on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. He was beaten, then crucified in the year 68 AD.
Philip. He traveled extensively after the ascension of Christ Jesus. He preached in southern Russia for twenty years. Then, in the company of the apostle Bartholomew and Philip, went to Asia Minor and labored in what is modern-day Turkey. While there, it is said that the wife of the Roman proconsul was healed by the apostles Philip and Bartholomew, that she became a Christian. Her husband ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be put to death by crucifixion. Philip was crucified. However, Bartholomew escaped martyrdom, when the magistrates caused him to be taken down from the cross and dismissed the charges. There is a secular belief that the apostle Philip ministered in France. He is the only Apostle whom the Catholic Church tradition associates with France. In 2011, Apostle Phillip’s tomb was rediscovered again in the Turkish city of Hierapolis. His tomb is there, but not his body. His last change of location, hundreds of years after his death, was to Rome when his body was moved by Pope John the Third (560-572 AD) and interred in Rome at the Church of the Holy Apostles. Philip was around 87 years of age when martyred in 80 AD.
Thomas. After the resurrection of the Lord Christ Jesus, Thomas went to Babylon; it is believed that he established the first Christian church there. He is known to have traveled to Persia and China. He reached India around 49 AD, preaching the Gospel leading to many converts. The apostle Thomas is said to have been a fearless evangelist and a great builder of churches. He preached to all classes of people and had about 17,000 converts. According to ancient church traditions, Thomas evangelized this area and then crossed to the coast of southeast India, where, after carrying out a second mission, he suffered martyrdom (he was killed with a lance. It is believed that he died on 21 December, 72 AD.
Simon. The apostle Simon (the Zealot) is somewhat of a biblical enigma. We have only minor snippets of biblical information about him, which has led to the ongoing debate among Bible scholars. Simon left Jerusalem and traveled first to Egypt and then through North Africa to Carthage. From there he went to Spain and then north to Britain. There is a Church tradition that says that he, along with the apostle Jude, were thought to have preached together in Syria and Mesopotamia traveling as far as Persia. Both were believed to have been martyred. Simon being sawed in half and Jude being martyred with a lance ax (halberd.) A different tradition infers Simon was crucified by the Romans in Caistor, Britain, and subsequently buried there on May 10, circa 61 AD.
James, son of Alphaeus. James is often referred to as the lessor James, mentioned only three times in the Bible, each time in connection with his mother Mary. We know he lived at least five years after the death of Christ because of mentions in the Bible. James was stoned to death in Jerusalem for preaching Christ and buried by the Sanctuary. Not much is known about the latter ministry of this apostle. It is said that the seeds of Syrian Christianity had been sown in Jerusalem during the Apostolic age. A contention has been made that the first bishop of the Syrian church was none other than St. James of the Twelve Apostles, identified as ‘St. James the Less’. James died in 62 AD when was arrested along with some other Christians for preaching the Gospel. He was executed by King Herod Agrippa, in the persecution of the church, in Lower Egypt. According to tradition, James, son of Alphaeus, was thrown down from the temple by the scribes and Pharisees; he was then stoned, and his brains dashed out with a fuller’s club which has flesh-tearing insets on the heavy end.
Jude, also known as Thaddaeus, is mentioned rarely in the New Testament. The Gospel of John mentions a disciple named “Judas, not Iscariot” (John 14:22). This is often accepted to be the same person as the apostle Jude, though some scholars see the identification as uncertain. In some Latin manuscripts of Matthew, he is called Judas the Zealot. After the ascension of Jesus, Jude was one of the first apostles to leave Jerusalem for a foreign country. In fact, it is believed that Jude was one of the first apostles to witness directly to a Gentile king. Jude is believed to have evangelized the area of Armenia associated with the city of Edessa, in the company perhaps of the apostle Bartholomew, and for a brief time, with the apostle Thomas. One may also believe that Jude spent years evangelizing in Syria and northern Persia. It is likely that he was martyred there and buried in Kara Kalisa near the Caspian Sea, about 40 miles from Tabriz, in modern-day Iran. According to the Armenian tradition, Saint Jude suffered martyrdom in AD 65.
Judas Iscariot. He was the only one of the Twelve Apostles who was not a Galilean, but a Judean. His father’s name was Simon. After betraying Jesus, perhaps the most significant thing that can be said of Judas was he felt sorrow for his crime of betrayal. However, he did not seek to atone for his sin to the Lord whom he had wronged, but went to the priests, his accomplices in crime, and sought to set himself right. The priests wanted nothing to do with him, paid him the 30 pieces of silver, and Judas the Iscariot he went out and hanged himself on a tree overhanging a cliff. When the rope gave way, his bloated body fell to be dashed into pieces.
Matthias. Matthias was chosen as the apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. It is believed that Matthias was one of the “Seventy” disciples sent out by Jesus (Luke 10:1), however, this cannot be proven. He, Jude, Bartholomew, Simon the Zealot, and Andrew are credited by Armenian tradition as the apostles who evangelized Armenia. After the ascension of the Savior, He was chosen by lot to replace Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:15-26). After the Descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Matthias preached the Gospel at Jerusalem and in Judea together with the other Apostles (Acts 6:2, 8:14). From Jerusalem, he went with the Apostles Peter and Andrew to Syrian Antioch. Matthias was locked in prison, from which he was miraculously freed. Within Church Tradition, he preached in Ethiopia and Macedonia. He was frequently subjected to deadly perils, but the Lord preserved him to preach the Gospel. Once, pagans forced the saint to drink a poison potion. He drank it, and not only did he himself remain unharmed, but he also healed other prisoners who had been blinded by the potion.
When Matthias left the prison, the pagans searched for him in vain, for he had become invisible to them. Another time, when the pagans had become enraged, intending to kill the Apostle, the earth opened up and engulfed them. The Apostle Matthias returned to Judea and did not cease to enlighten his countrymen with the light of Christ’s teachings. He worked great miracles in the Name of the Lord Jesus and he converted many to faith in Christ. The Jewish High Priest Ananias hated Christ and earlier had commanded the Apostle James, Brother of the Lord Jesus, be flung down from the heights of the Temple, and now he ordered that the Apostle Matthias be arrested and brought for judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.
Ananias uttered a speech blasphemously slandering the Lord. Using the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Apostle Matthias preached Jesus Christ is the True God, the promised Messiah, the Son of God, and co-eternal with God the Father. After these words, the Apostle Matthias was sentenced to death by the Sanhedrin and stoned in 80 AD. After Matthias was already dead, the Jews cut off his head as an enemy of the king. According to other historians, the Apostle Matthias was crucified near the Black Sea.
Paul. Though not one of the original twelve apostles, Paul (Saul) started out as a great enemy to Christianity. He attended the stoning of Stephen (the executioners laid their cloaks at his feet.) After the death of Stephen, while Paul was on his way to Damascus, the glory of the Lord shone suddenly upon him and he was struck to the earth and made blind for three days. After his recovery, he was converted and became an apostle and, lastly, suffered as a martyr for the religion which he had formerly persecuted. Paul’s great abilities, and earnest enthusiasm in spreading the gospel of Christ, have made his name revered wherever the Christian religion is known. It is his writings, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which make up much of the New Testament of the Bible. After his wonderful conversion, Paul went to Jerusalem, where he saw Peter, James, and John. Later, he walked with Barnabus to preach.
At one point, the apostle Paul was a prisoner in Rome, and after being released as part of his further missionary journeys, it is believed that he visited Gaul and Spain. It is also believed that, when he returned to Rome, he was taken prisoner again for nine months with the apostle Peter. It was in Rome that the apostle Paul suffered martyrdom. Apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero in Rome in AD 67. By order of Emperor Nero, Paul got the easiest death sentence allowed. He was beheaded with a sword because, as a Roman citizen, he could not be crucified.
Afterthoughts; All but one of Jesus’ disciples died a cruel death for preaching the gospel. All they needed to do to escape such cruel deaths was to denounce their faith. Yet, they decided not to. People do not die for a lie - these disciples must have seen something that made them choose their cruel death over renouncing their faith. Remember these disciples are Jews, and the ultimate promise of God to the Jews was the coming of a Messiah. Maybe, just maybe, their faith was so strong because they saw and even touched the Messiah? The resurrection after the death of Jesus must have given them every necessary reason to overcome their doubts?
Congratulations! You have reached the end of this lesson! The choice is now yours to make!
