And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 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 Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Matthew 10: 1-4 ESV
Matthew 10: 1-4
And He called to Him His twelve disciples - We learn throughout the gospels that Jesus had many disciples, a disciple meaning student, but these were His core 12. These are the Apostles for the apostolic era, the foundational pillars of the church. These were the men who would be the first elders, some of whom would write Holy Scripture, would commit themselves to teaching and defending the doctrines of the church, guarding the gospel. These are the men Christ called, and yet even Judas to betray Him, for this was the will of God. To show how different their calling was, there will be one more yet, the apostle unto the gentiles, who describes himself as one born of an untimely birth. That disciple will be Paul, whose name was originally Saul, the persecutor of Christians. You can see in Scripture that these were men who saw the risen Christ ("last of all He appeared to me also"), were trained by Christ, and whose ministries were marked by miraculous signs. So when people tell you today that they are apostles, just know that they are false prophets and teachers with bad theology.
…7Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. 9For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.… 1 Corinthians 15: 7-9
Gave them authority over unclean spirits - The King is delegating and showing that His kingdom is over all others, even over demons.
To heal every disease and every affliction - They are announcing the Kingdom, and these displays reveal the certainty of it's fulfillment. It also seals the speakers. Remember, we just left off in chapter 9 with Jesus telling them to pray for workers, for the harvest was great but the laborers are few, and now here He is sending them out as laborers. They have been in His 3 year program, taught by the Son of God, who has showed them the errors of the religious of that day, has taught them about the Kingdom and what those will be like who live there. They have witnessed Him preaching repentance, seen Him perform many miracles, all these things testifying to the words He speaks, that He is Messiah and His words are true. No one should ever go out before they learn, and in order to learn one must be able to hear, and this is no easy lot to teach. The story is incredible, these are not scribes, mostly unlearned men, they can't spell Harvard much less get into it.
25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. 26 Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.… 1 Corinthians 1: 25-27
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
Simon, who is called Peter - Peter is a leader, often too quick to speak, quick to pledge his loyalty, and then quick to find that it was just words, no matter how well intended, for when they took Christ Peter denied Him three times. He is part of an inner circle of 4 men, all fishermen. I love to fish, so I always thought this was a nod to Him picking the best of men, but it was probably more a show of His power in being able to work with anything. Fishermen aren't really heralded for their honesty, we extend our arms to put the fish further away from us, closer to the camera so it looks bigger. They talk a lot of smack, and we even get to see some of this in Scripture, even their mom talked smack for them. Andrew was Peter's brother, who was an evangelist right from the start, he told Peter they had found the Messiah. James the son of Zebedee and John his brother were also fishermen. These four were quite close and part of Jesus's inner circle.
…29Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I never will.” 30“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” 31But Peter kept insisting, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the others said the same thing.… Mark 14: 29-31
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. 21 And He said to her, “What do you desire?” She *said to Him, “Say that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine shall sit, one at Your right, and one at Your left.” 22 But Jesus replied, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They *said to Him, “We are able.” 23 He *said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit at My right and at My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.”
24 And after hearing this, the other ten disciples became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and those in high position exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wants to become prominent among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever desires to be first among you shall be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20: 20-28
Philip - He is always the evangelist bringing people to meet Jesus. God used him to carry the gospel far and wide.
…39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, but went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip appeared at Azotus and traveled through that region, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8: 39-40
Bartholomew -
iv. Bartholomew is often identified with Nathanael of John 1:43-51 and John 21:2. “Many are of opinion that this was Nathanael… whose name was probably Nathanael bar Talmai, Nathanael, the son of Talmai: here, his own name is repressed, and he is called Bar Talmai, or Bartholomew, from his father.” (Clarke) - E Word
Thomas - Famously known as "Doubting Thomas", but the Lord put away his doubt. He is always considered the skeptic of the bunch, but as some have pointed out, he may have been at times the only one willing to voice his doubt, to ask the questions that others held in for fear of looking stupid. Though it is difficult to believe that Peter could hold anything in.
Matthew the tax collector - It is interesting that in his own gospel account he refers to himself as such, a profession that carried with it the stigma of the worst sort of sinners. I think it a comfort to himself and me that we acknowledge as much, for Jesus did not come to save the righteous but to call sinners to repentance. He came to seek and to save the lost.
James the son of Alphaeus -
There are four men in the NT named James: 1) the apostle James, brother of John; 2) the disciple mentioned here, also called "James the younger" (Mark 15:40); 3) James, father of Judas (not Iscariot, Luke 6:16); and 4) James, the Lord's half brother (Mark 6:3; Gal 1:19), who wrote the epistle that bears the name. He also played a leading role in the early Jerusalem church (Acts 12:17, 15:13). - J Mac
Thaddaeus - He is also called Judas elsewhere, so I would prefer Thaddaeus too, given the history of Judas Iscariot.
Simon the Zealot - Zealots were part of a group that wanted to overthrow Rome, and some even resorted to terrorism.
Judas Iscariot - The most fearful thing, that one could walk so close and yet be so far away. He betrayed Jesus as prophesied.
…11It was revoked on that day, and so the afflicted of the flock who were watching me knew that it was the word of the LORD. 12Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. 13And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.… Zechariah 11: 11-13
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