In the beginning over 6,000 years ago, God created human beings from the dust and dirt of the earth and the breath of his nostrils. He called them Adam and Eve. They were the two humans ever created in history to not know what sin was. God formed them in his own image and gave them all they needed. They were made without any knowledge of sin if only for a short time. 

 

When sin came into the world from the devil, everything changed and people were born with evil in them because of their parents before them. Human beings were meant to be pure and nice, but as generations went on and the more people that did not stay close to God, it became very sinful and nasty in the world that God created for us. 

 

Generations later and the descendant of Adam, Noah was born in the family of Lamech. Noah lived a total of 950 years and went on to be one of the most well-known names in scriptures and one of Gods chosen people. Time in the beginning was very different to time today. Noah and his descended family members lived for so long because Gods Holy Spirit was guiding and living through them. 

 

As the years went on more and more sin was coming into the world. Many were preaching the scriptures but did not believe in God. Others claimed to be Christian Priests of the church but valued power and riches over all else.  

For thousands of years people have been preaching the word of God and the scriptures in the Bible but only a small few have been preaching the TRUE word of God and the prophecies that will come to pass. 

 

Thousands of years later it was written that in the house of David a virgin shall conceive and bear a son named Immanuel which means ‘God with us’. This son will be the son of God the father, here to save us from our sins and will be named by Mary the mother, Jesus Christ. 

 

When Jesus grew up he started a ministry to preach and teach the word of God. He is the chosen one from God and the messiah of the Christians. When he began his ministry he chose 12 disciples to come work for him and help preach to the people. 

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Peter (Simon) 

Andrew

 James

 John

 Philip

 Bartholomew (Nathanael) 

 Thomas

 Matthew

James  

Thaddaeus 

Simon 

Judas

 

The 12 disciples followed Jesus to each town or city he went to, so they could learn from him about the Bible scriptures and the healing power of God. He taught them about the faith and the one true God so that one day they would be able to go out and preach the knowledge to others about Jesus Christ and God the father. Later after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, he sent them all out to preach and teach the scriptures, and they became known as the 12 apostles. By this time Judas Iscariot had already betrayed Jesus and had hung himself on a tree just outside the city of where Jesus was crucified. He was replaced by Matthias but many teachers say that Paul was Gods choice to replace Judas as the twelfth apostle. 

 

Simon Barjona or better known as Peter was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ and a leader of the Christian church. His name which means ‘a rock’ referred to from Jesus when he ask Peter, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” And Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” He was the first to say that Jesus was the Son of man. Jesus blessed him and said to his disciples that he will build the church upon this rock and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:13-19

 

Peter was a fisherman in Bethsaida with his brother Andrew the second disciple chosen by Jesus. Peter was among the first to be chosen to join Jesus in his ministry church and soon after Jesus' resurrection he became the first listed apostle. On the night of Jesus being arrested, some of his disciples were with him and tried to fight the Roman soldiers. The right ear was cut off the servant of the high priest trying to arrest Jesus. John 18:10 Then Jesus told Peter to put thy sword away and let the soldiers arrest Jesus. John 18:10 Jesus saw that the man was in great pain, bleeding from his ear and before the officers bound him in shackles, he touched the right ear and healed him. Luke 22:50-52 This was just one of many miracles Jesus performed over his life. 

 

Peter was loyal to Jesus but would soon learn that fear can take over ones actions. On the night of the last supper, before Jesus got arrested, he was telling all his disciples the things that must happen and come to pass. He spoke to Peter and told him, “That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” This means that Peter will deny the knowing of the Lord Jesus Christ three times in the night of his arrest. Peter went on to say that he would die with Jesus, and he would not deny him but it was not the case. Peter did deny knowing Jesus three times and became riddled with guilt. Matthew 26:20-75

 

After the crucifixion of Jesus, Peter was the first disciple to go to the tomb with Mary Magdalene and the Mother Mary where Jesus’ body was put. The tomb was empty, and they had all thought the body was moved to another location, but they soon saw that Jesus rose again after three days and was alive. 

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After the disciples left and went home, the mother Mary stayed. She was weeping and crying for her son because she was not aware of his resurrection. Mary heard a voice from behind her say, “Mary.” She turned around to find her son Jesus standing there alive and well. Jesus also said to her, “I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I will ascend to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” John 20:16-17 

 

Peter was told by Mary Magdalene that Jesus lives and that he will soon be with the Father in heaven. A short time after that, Peter, Thomas, Nathanael (Bartholomew) and a few other disciples were out fishing when they saw a man walking on the shore of the beach. They were not sure it was the Lord Jesus until he provided over a 150 fish from the sea for the disciples to catch. After this Jesus spoke to his people here and to Peter. Jesus forgave him and wanted Peter to keep preaching the word of God and the scriptures. 

 

Peter eventually died of crucifixion around the year 44 A.D or either 64 A.D. He requested to be crucified upside down because he did not think himself worthy to be crucified the way Jesus was. 

 

Andrew was the second disciple chosen by Jesus and was also the brother of Peter. The name Andrew in Greek means Brave or Manly and that’s the way Jesus saw him. When Jesus asked him to join his church and preach the gospel, Andrew did not look back and became a loyal servant of Jesus throughout his ministry. Like his brother Peter, Andrew was a fisherman in Bethsaida as well. He was born in around 6 A.D. and was told by Jesus to become a fisher of men so that more would be able to teach the word of God. 

 

Andrew and his brother Peter were both disciples of John the Baptist but after his arrest Jesus set out to continue his work. Andrew recognised him as the messiah and then became a disciple of Jesus and saw the miracles he performed every day. Andrew and his brother Peter both left their lives to follow Jesus and to preach the gospel. 

 

Andrew was present at many miracles Jesus performed, one in which is in John 6:8  

 

A boy brings some loaves of bread and two fish for five thousand people. Andrew says to Jesus that this is not enough for all these people and asked Jesus what should we do. Jesus says to him to tell the people to sit down and prepare to eat. So Andrew tells the people to be seated and waits. Jesus takes the bread and the fish and thanks God for them and starts to hand them out to all the people and tells Andrew to do the same. Amazed at what was happening and seeing Jesus divide the food into multiple loaves of bread and multiple fish, Andrew heard the people saying this is a miracle, and he must be the prophet in the scriptures. 

 

Andrew or later known as Saint Andrew went on to travel around the continent to new towns and cities to preach the gospel. Many of these people in the cities did not know of Jesus Christ before Andrew was there. But after, the people prayed to God and became Christian, thanks to Andrew. 

 

It would also be the cause of Andrew’s death in Achaea Greece. He would be crucified by the Greeks on an X-shaped cross which is now known as Saint Andrew Cross. 

 

James was the third disciple chosen by Jesus to join him. James “the Greater” was named this to distinguish him from one of the other disciples James “the less” which referred to James being older than James “the less”. James “the Greater” was the son of Zebedee and Salome and was born in Bethsaida. Like some of the other disciples, James was a fisherman with his brother John who was also called upon by Jesus to join him. 

 

He was a loyal servant of Jesus, but he was also the first to die because of his faith. It is said in scripture that he died of execution. King Herod ordered his guards to kill him by way of the sword. Acts 11:1-3 

 

 

John was the fourth disciple to join Jesus. He joined around the same time his brother James did. He was the youngest disciple chosen but one of the most loyal as well. John was the son of Zebedee and Salome and grew up in Bethsaida. John was first a disciple of John the Baptist much like his brother James. 

 

John was very close to Jesus and had a special loyalty to him. John was the man who wrote the book of Revelation. He was shown by God the future of things that must happen and spoke with the angels in heaven when shown of the tribulation and the awful things that are starting to happen in our time now. The book of Revelation was first written of the future but John did not know when these events would occur. 

 

When they followed Jesus, John saw a number of miracles performed by him. He was witness to the miracle of a sick woman who touched Jesus and was immediately healed. They were on their way to the house of Jairus when a woman was calling out to Jesus. She touched him on the shoulder and was healed. Jesus turned around to ask who had touched him and saw that the woman was extremely grateful to be healed. Jesus said, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” Luke 8:48 

 

John was also one of the disciples Jesus sent out to collect food for the Last Supper, the night before Jesus’ crucifixion. One of the last requests of Jesus was for John to take care of his mother Mary and that’s what he did. Peter and John were the founding members of the church of Christ after his ascension. 

 

John was the only disciple to die of natural causes and he lived to be 93 years old. 

 

 

Philip was another disciple of Jesus. Philip was born in the same town as some other disciples. When he was chosen by Jesus, he ran to tell his friend Nathanael (Bartholomew) because he was so happy. A bit later Philip introduces Nathanael to Jesus who became another one of Jesus’ disciples. Philip witnessed many miracles by Jesus and was also present when Jesus feed five thousand people with just some loaves of bread and two fish. 

 

(Do not confuse Philip the Apostle with Philip the Evangelist.) 

 

It is believed that during the time of Jesus’ death or after his resurrection, Philip went out on his own to preach the gospel to the people. A letter that was discovered back in the later 2nd century indicates that St Peter is asking Philip to come back to the other apostles. But this question to Philip was not answered nor documented. 

 

Philip, his sister, and his friend Nathanael, started preaching and performing miracles in Greece and Syria. Some years later Philip and Nathanael were arrested and put on the cross upside down. Philip was praying on the cross and preaching the word of God when they released Nathanael and cut him down but Philip refused to let go and died on the cross. 

 

He died around 80 A.D

 

 

Bartholomew was a loyal disciple of Jesus. He was born in Judea in the early 1st century. Also known as Nathanael, Bartholomew was friends with Philip and they are almost always mentioned in the Bible together. 

Upon the news from Philip about Jesus, Bartholomew did not believe him at first, that he was the prophet everybody talked about. It was only after meeting Jesus and speaking with him that Bartholomew grew in faith and in Jesus. 

 

Bartholomew was there on the day that many people walked to the mountain that Jesus had been praying at the night before. People from all over Judea and Jerusalem came to see Jesus and to be healed by the one they called the prophet. Many of the people were very sick and needed healing, but a number of them also had evil spirits inside them and wanted Jesus to send them away. Bartholomew was also a witness to a man’s sick servant, healed by Jesus. At the place of the mountain where Jesus was preaching, a man lived close by and came to see if Jesus could heal his servant. After some prayer and the word of God, Jesus told the man your servant will be healed when you return. The man returned home to find the servant well and whole again.

 

Bartholomew was a witness to the many amazing things Jesus did. The next day in the city of Nain, the disciples were walking with Jesus and many people following as well, when they saw a woman weeping. A body was being carried out of the city with many people following. It was the woman’s son dead and set to be buried outside the city. Jesus saw this and went to speak with her. He told her to “weep not.” Jesus went over to the body and touch the boy and said, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.” The boy was dead but then was alive with the touch of Jesus Christ. 

 

All the people and Jesus’ disciples were amazed but also fearful. They said, “A great prophet has risen, and the power of God has visited us.” Bartholomew was with Jesus when all these things happened and was proud to be with him. Luke 6:17-49 Luke 7:1-17

 

Bartholomew died in a very brutal and barbaric way.

 

 

Thomas was a brave and loyal disciple of Jesus. He would have the name through the towns folk as Thomas the Doubter. He was first told of the resurrection of Jesus and did not believe the other disciples. But later because of his strong faith he saw Jesus and believed in his resurrection. He was born in Galilee in the early 1st century. 

 

Thomas went on to preach the gospel around the cities of Roma and even travelled to India. It is written that Thomas helped many people turn to Christ and believe in God. Today the foundation of what Thomas started is called ‘Saint Thomas Christians.’ He is often regarded as the ‘Patron Saint’ in India. 

 

Thomas died around 72 A.D and was reported that soldiers speared him through his body and later died. The relics of Thomas the Apostle were enshrined in the 3rd century and later moved around the world. 

 

 

Matthew was another of the twelve disciples Jesus asked to follow him. Later known as Saint Matthew, he was working as a tax collector in the small fishing village of Capernaum located in the Northern part of Galilee. Jesus preached the gospel regally in this town. 

 

After joining Jesus on his journey, Matthew wrote the book in the Bible called Matthew and was witness too many miracles and great things Jesus performed. When Jesus asked Matthew to follow him, he was heavily criticised for inviting a tax collector and what they thought was a sinner into his church. But Jesus answered them with great words. Luke 5:30-33    

 

Matthew was also one of the disciples who was witness to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. After those events occurred he went around different communities to preach Gods word to the people in Judea and also visited other countries to preach the gospel. 

 

Matthew’s death was unclear to many scholars of the Roman Catholic Church, but it was reported that he may have been martyred in the late 1st century. 

 

 

James the apostle was the son of Alphaeus and was also known as “James the Less” because he was the younger James of the disciples. He was born in Galilee in the early 1st century. In the New Testament it becomes very confusing when depicting the mother of “James the Less”. Many words in the Bible have been twisted and manipulated over the years to fit the wrong narrative. It is however very complicated because different scholars and writers say that Jesus had brothers and sisters that Mary had at the start of his ministry, but that would make them very young and could not be a disciple of him.  

 

Some other scriptures where it mentions brothers is not meant to be taken as literal brothers. Mark 3:31

But there are other scriptures that do contradict that. Too many false Christians in today’s world twist the words said by Jesus to say that his mother was not a virgin when in fact she was and did not have any sexual relations with a man, at least before Jesus was born. Jesus was born pure and stayed pure because he did not sin. He is the son of God and his people like James the less was one of those people who were loyal to him and stayed loyal for many years.

 

James went on to preach the word of God to many cities and people. He died around 62 A.D but scholars are not completely sure if it was from crucifixion or by other means. 

 

 

 Thaddaeus was the tenth disciple that joined, and was also known as Judas, the brother of James the lesser. Jude 1:1 

Thaddaeus (Judas) should not be confused with Judas the Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Thaddaeus was very loyal to Jesus and would be near him regally in prayer. He was born in Galilee in the first century but it is not clear of what year it was.

 

Most if not all the modern day books and literature say that Thaddaeus, James the less, Matthew and Simon were all brothers or step brothers of Jesus Christ. This however is not true. Jesus never had a father and was born from the virgin Mary. His father is God the father. Mary had a sister also called Mary and the wife of Clopas, short for Cleoplas whose name is also known as Alpheus, the father of Matthew and step son to James the less, Thaddeus and Simon. 

 

This would make these men the cousins of Jesus and not his brothers but rather brothers of God. 

 

Thaddaeus went on to live a very holy life preaching Gods word. He died around 65 A.D and was said to be martyrdom in Syria.

 

 

Simon the eleventh disciple chosen by Jesus was a member of the Jewish group called the Canaanites. Some old Saints of the church between 390 A.D to 395 A.D did not include Simon in some of their books because he was said to be a very obscure man. His faith however did not change over his life following Jesus. 

 

He served the church his whole life and preached in many places like the Middle East and Africa. It is written in ancient text that a young boy named Simon was bitten on the hand by a snake and Jesus came and healed him from the bite. Many believe it’s the first time Simon met Jesus and later became his disciple. 

 

Simon died around the year 65 A.D and was said to have been martyrdom with his brother Thaddaeus. 

 

Judas Iscariot was the twelfth disciple of Jesus and was also the one to betray him. He betrayed Jesus because of his greed and jealousy. At the last supper, the night before Jesus was arrested, he told of the story that one of them would betray him knowing very well it would be Judas Iscariot. Matthew 26:21   

 

Judas Iscariot went to the high priests and bargained with them for 30 pieces of silver, and he would show them where Jesus was, to arrest him. At the time the high priests did not have any reason to kill Jesus other than they valued power for themselves and no one else. 

 

It has also been said in other texts and many interpretations that Judas was possessed by the devil to betray Jesus and that he did not know of the things he was doing. Luke 22:3

 

Judas was overcome with guilt after hearing that Jesus was sentenced to be crucified and that he tried to return the 30 pieces of silver to the high priests, but they did not accept. 

 

Judas Iscariot committed suicide by hanging himself in a field just outside the city in the year 31 A.D

 

Matthias went on to be the 12 disciple after Judas Iscariot committed suicide.