In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) the 12 disciples are listed but only Peter, James and John play active roles (with Andrew occasionally grouped with them). The exception is of course Judas Iscariot who would betray Jesus. When we look at the book of Acts, the 12 are listed but again only Peter, James and John feature in the narrative. So what do we know about the other apostles?
The answer is very little. In the New Testament we find four lists of the 12 Apostles and by comparing these lists we can glean some insights into the Lesser Known Disciples. As we have mentioned Peter, James and John play prominent roles, however it is in the book of John that Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Nathaniel and Judas (not Iscariot) all appear.
In this series of articles we will look at the Lesser Known Disciples. Using the limited material we have such as the apostolic lists and the gospel of John, we will attempt to piece together what the bible tells us of these Lesser Known disciples.
There are 4 lists of the Disciples found in the New Testament:
Across all 4 lists we can see three consistent groups of 4. The first 4 includes Simon and his brother Andrew, James and his brother John. Andrew’s position changes between 2 and 4 depending if he is grouped in terms of family or importance. The second set of 4 includes Philip, Bartholemew, Thomas and Matthew. Philip is always listed in position 5 with the other positions varying. Bartholemew is always above Matthew although Thomas’ position seems to change pre cross and post resurrection. The last group of 4 includes James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus/Judas son of James, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. James is always listed in position 9 and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus is always listed last.
Across the gospels we have accounts of the calling of 7 of the 12 disciples. In chronological order these are John & Andrew, Peter, Philip, Nethaniel, James and last of all Matthew. The other 5 we have no record of their calling, however based upon Acts 1:21-22 we can assume they were around from the time of the baptism of John. Most likely this was when Jesus was baptising disciples at the same time as John the Baptist but before John was imprisoned (John 3:22-4:3). Though the disciples were present from the earliest days of Jesus’ ministry it appears that they came and went. It is only after the imprisonment of John the Baptist that Jesus’ ministry begins in earnest as he goes around preaching the gospel of the kingdom. It is from this point the disciples spend more time with Jesus. Following the call of Levi who is called Matthew Jesus then appoints the twelve. Jesus had many disciples but these were the twelve that he chose to be his representatives. He would send these twelve ahead of him and empower them to preach the gospel and work miracles in his name. (He would later send out 72 disciples and by the time of Pentecost their number would be 120.)
The Inner Circle
Out of the twelve there is an inner circle of 3 disciples: Peter, James and John. At certain events Jesus selects these three to come with him. These are raising Jairus’ daughter (Mark & Luke), the transfiguration (Matthew, Mark & Luke) and the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew & Mark). The order is usually Peter, James and John however in Luke it is Peter, John and James. The reason for this may be because of John’s prominence in the book of Acts. Interestingly in Matthew (also once in John’s gospel) James and John are often referred to as the sons of Zebedee.
Whereas the inner circle are relatively well known this series of articles will begin with the Lesser Known Disciples to see what we can find out about them. In the next article on the subject we will be looking at Simon the Zealot.