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94-657: The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is described in the Synoptic Gospels . After his resurrection , Jesus sent eleven of them (as Judas Iscariot by then had died ) by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. In the Pauline epistles , Paul , although not one of the original twelve, described himself as an apostle, saying he was called by

188-663: A tax collector in his booth. The tax collector, called Matthew in Matthew 9:9 , and Levi in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 , is asked by Jesus to become one of his disciples. Matthew/Levi is stated to have accepted and then invited Jesus for a meal with his friends. Tax collectors were seen as villains in Jewish society, and the Pharisees are described as asking Jesus why he is having a meal with such disreputable people. The reply Jesus gave

282-575: A lot of time passes between 6:4, "the Passover . . . was at hand," and 12:1, "Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany..," especially at the beginning of Chapter 7 which even includes another feast (Booths/Tabernacles), and then again at 10:22 another season passes as well as the Feast of Dedication. This third reference to a passover in the Gospel of John is why many suggest that Jesus's ministry

376-448: A share in His powers. As Himself had cured every sickness and disease, He imparted the same power to His Apostles. But there is a wide difference between having and imparting, between giving and receiving. Whatever He does He does with the power of a master, whatever they do it is with confession of their own weakness, as they speak, In the name of Jesus rise and walk. (Acts 3:6.) A catalogue of

470-588: A stronger sense than the word messenger , and is closer to a 'delegate'. Mark 6:7–13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs ( cf. Mt 10:5–42 , Lk 9:1–6 ) to towns in Galilee . The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and drive out demons . They are also instructed to "take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics ," and that if any town rejects them they ought to shake

564-421: A team with Simon and Andrew. Matthew states that at the time of the encounter, James and John were repairing their nets, but readily joined Jesus without hesitation. This parallels the accounts of Mark and Luke, but Matthew implies that the men have also abandoned their father (since he is present in the boat they abandon behind them), and Carter feels this should be interpreted to mean that Matthew's view of Jesus

658-531: Is "built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone." All four canonical Gospels record the circumstances in which some of the disciples were recruited. According to the Gospel of John , Andrew , who was the disciple of John the Baptist , and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist, traditionally believed to be John , upon hearing the Baptist point out Jesus as

752-636: Is generally considered the beginning and the Last Supper with his disciples in Jerusalem as the end of his ministry. However, some authors also consider the period between the Resurrection and the Ascension part of the ministry of Jesus. Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry. There have been different approaches to estimating the date of

846-399: Is not healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Commissioning the twelve Apostles relates the initial selection of the twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus. Jesus goes out to a mountainside to pray, and after spending the night praying to God, in the morning he calls his disciples and chooses twelve of them. In

940-549: Is not stated in the text. Another explanation is that some of the disciples may have heard of Jesus beforehand, as implied by the Gospel of John, which states that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist , and that he and his brother started following Jesus as soon as Jesus had been baptized . Matthew describes Jesus meeting James and John, also fishermen and brothers, very shortly after recruiting Simon and Andrew. Matthew and Mark identify James and John as sons of Zebedee . Luke adds to Matthew and Mark that James and John worked as

1034-425: Is now well known: "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles is an episode in the ministry of Jesus that appears in the three Synoptic Gospels. It relates the initial selection of the Twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus . In the Gospel of Matthew , this event takes place shortly before

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1128-456: Is one of a figure rejecting the traditional patriarchal structure of society, where the father had command over his children; most scholars, however, just interpret it to mean that Matthew intended these two to be seen as even more devoted than the other pair, or that Jesus expected the imminent coming of the kingdom. The Synoptic Gospels go on to describe that later in Jesus' ministry he noticed

1222-492: Is simply making mention of the outstanding character of these two people which was acknowledged by the apostles. Historically it has been virtually impossible to tell which of the two views were correct. The second view, in recent years, has been defended from a scholarly perspective by Daniel Wallace and Michael Burer. The "seventy disciples" or "seventy-two disciples" (known in the Eastern Christian traditions as

1316-764: The Beatitudes and the widely recited Lord's Prayer . The Beatitudes are expressed as eight blessings in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, and four similar blessings appear in the Sermon on the Plain in Luke, where they are followed by four woes that mirror the blessings. The Beatitudes present the highest ideals of the teachings of Jesus on mercy , spirituality and compassion. The Major Galilean ministry , also called

1410-653: The Garden of Gethsemane , and who ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus . After Judas betrayed Jesus (and then in guilt committed suicide before Christ's resurrection , one Gospel recounts), the apostles numbered eleven. The group is referred to as "the eleven" in Mark 16:14 (part of the "longer ending" of Mark) and in Luke 24:9,33 . In Acts 1:26 they are "the eleven apostles", in Matthew 28:16 they are "the eleven disciples". When Jesus had been taken up from them, in preparation for

1504-579: The Great Galilean ministry , begins in Matthew 8 , after the Sermon on the Mount and refers to activities up to the death of John the Baptist . The beginnings of this period include The Centurion's Servant ( Matthew 8:5–13 ) and Calming the storm ( Matthew 8:23–27 ), both dealing with the theme of faith and fear. When the Centurion shows faith in Jesus by requesting a "healing at a distance", Jesus commends him for his exceptional faith. On

1598-648: The Judean desert , after rebuffing the temptation of Satan . In this early period, Jesus preaches around Galilee and, in Matthew 4:18–20 , his first disciples encounter him, begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church. The Gospel of John includes the Wedding at Cana as the first miracle of Jesus taking place in this early period of ministry, with his return to Galilee. A few villages in Galilee (e.g. Kafr Kanna ) have been suggested as

1692-614: The Kingdom of Heaven , beginning in Matthew 13:1 . These include the parables of The Sower , The Tares , The Mustard Seed and The Leaven , addressed to the public at large, as well as The Hidden Treasure , The Pearl and Drawing in the Net . At the end of the Major Galilean ministry, Jesus returns to his hometown, Nazareth. His wisdom is recognised there, questioned, and rejected. The Final Galilean ministry begins after

1786-626: The Mission Discourse , Jesus instructs the twelve apostles who are named in Matthew 10:2–3 to carry no belongings as they travel from city to city and preach. Separately, Luke 10:1–24 relates the Seventy Disciples , where Jesus appoints a larger number of disciples and sends them out in pairs with the Missionary's Mandate to go into villages before Jesus' arrival there. In Matthew 11:2–6 two messengers from John

1880-543: The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus . These episodes mark the beginnings of the gradual disclosure of the identity of Jesus as the Messiah to his disciples; and his prediction of his own suffering and death. Peter's Confession begins as a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in Matthew 16:13 , Mark 8:27 and Luke 9:18 . Jesus asks his disciples: But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answers him: You are

1974-830: The Raising of Jairus' daughter , the Transfiguration , and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane . At the time of the Early Christian Church as a leading trio among the apostles were recognized Peter, John and James, brother of Jesus , known collectively as the three Pillars of the Church . According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of Jerome this James is identified with

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2068-536: The Sermon on the Mount , one of the major discourses of Jesus in Matthew, and the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke. The Sermon on the Mount , which covers chapters 5 , 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew and is the longest piece of teaching from Jesus in the New Testament . It encapsulates many of the moral teachings of Jesus and includes

2162-741: The Widow's mite and the Second Coming Prophecy during the week that follows. In that week, the synoptics also narrate conflicts between Jesus and the elders of the Jews, in episodes such as the Authority of Jesus Questioned and the Woes of the Pharisees , in which Jesus criticizes their hypocrisy. Judas Iscariot , one of the twelve apostles , approaches the Jewish elders and performs

2256-455: The death of John the Baptist , and includes the Feeding the 5000 and Walking on water episodes, both in Matthew 14 . After hearing of the Baptist's death, Jesus withdraws by boat privately to a solitary place near Bethsaida , where he addresses the crowds who had followed him on foot from the towns, and feeds them all with " five loaves and two fish " supplied by a boy. Following this,

2350-468: The miracle of the man with a withered hand . In the gospels of Mark and of Luke, it appears shortly after that miracle. Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew

2444-685: The resurrected Jesus himself during his road to Damascus event. He later describes himself as "an apostle to the Gentiles ". The period and associated events in timeline of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the twelve apostles is called the Apostolic Age . The term apostle comes from the Greek apóstolos ( ἀπόστολος ) – formed from the prefix apó- ( ἀπό- , 'from') and root stéllō ( στέλλω , 'I send, I depart') – originally meaning 'messenger, envoy'. It has, however,

2538-550: The "Lamb of God", followed Jesus and spent the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. For this reason the Eastern Orthodox Church honours Andrew with the name Protokletos , which means "the first called". Despite Jesus only briefly requesting that they join him, they are all described as immediately consenting and abandoning their nets to do so. The immediacy of their consent has been viewed as an example of divine power, although this

2632-473: The "Seventy Apostles") were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke . According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in the text. In Western Christianity , they are usually referred to as disciples , whereas in Eastern Christianity they are usually referred to as apostles. Using

2726-538: The "grace" given to Paul and agreed that Paul and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles (specifically those not circumcised ) and the three apostles who "seemed to be pillars" to the circumcised. Despite the Little Commission of Matthew 10 , the Twelve Apostles did not limit their mission to solely Jews as Cornelius the Centurion is widely considered the first Gentile convert and he was converted by Peter, and

2820-599: The "parts of Tyre and Sidon " near the Mediterranean Sea , where the Canaanite woman's daughter episode takes place in Matthew 15:21–28 and Mark 7:24–30 . This episode is an example of how Jesus emphasizes the value of faith, telling the woman: "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." The importance of faith is also emphasized in the Cleansing ten lepers episode in Luke 17:11–19 . In

2914-665: The Apostle, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians , appears to give the first historical reference to the Twelve Apostles: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas , then to the twelve" (1 Cor 15:3–5). If

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3008-460: The Baptist arrive to ask Jesus if he is the expected Messiah, or "shall we wait for another?" Jesus replies, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk". Following this, Jesus begins to speak to the crowds about the Baptist. This period is rich in parables and teachings and includes the Parabolic discourse , which provides many of the parables for

3102-541: The Baptist's ministry as the precursor to that of Jesus and the Baptism of Jesus as marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry. In his sermon in Acts 10:37–38 , delivered in the house of Cornelius the centurion, Apostle Peter gives an overview of the ministry of Jesus, and refers to what had happened "throughout all Judaea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached" and that Jesus whom "God anointed with

3196-703: The Christ, the Son of the living God . In Matthew 16:17 , Jesus blesses Peter for his answer, and states: "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." In blessing Peter, Jesus not only accepts the titles Christ and Son of God , which Peter attributes to him, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation by stating that his Father in Heaven had revealed it to Peter. In this assertion, by endorsing both titles as divine revelation, Jesus unequivocally declares himself to be both Christ and

3290-686: The Gospel of Mark, after passing through Sidon , Jesus enters the region of the Decapolis , a group of ten cities south-east of Galilee, where the Healing the deaf mute miracle is reported in Mark 7:31–37 . After the healing, the disciples say, "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak." The episode is the last in a series of narrated miracles which builds up to Peter's proclamation of Jesus as Christ in Mark 8:29 . In this period, Jesus starts his final journey to Jerusalem by going around Samaria , through Perea and on through Judea to Jerusalem. At

3384-587: The Great Commission of the resurrected Jesus is specifically to "all nations". As the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "It is at once evident that in a Christian sense, everyone who had received a mission from God, or Christ, to man could be called 'Apostle ' "; thus extending the original sense beyond the twelve. Of the Twelve Apostles to hold the title after Matthias' selection, Christian tradition has generally passed down that all of

3478-561: The Holy Family for Passover when Jesus is twelve years old). There are three references to Passovers in John's Gospel: 2:13, 6:4, and 12:1. Some contend that the Gospel of John refers to only two actual Passovers, one at the beginning of Jesus's ministry and the second at the end of Jesus's ministry, and that the third reference to Passover is only a forecasting of the second Passover in the Gospel of John. But much scholarship recognizes that

3572-694: The Holy Spirit and with power" had gone about "doing good". John 1:28 specifies the location where John was baptizing as "Bethany beyond the Jordan". This is not the village Bethany just east of Jerusalem, but the town of Bethabara in Perea . Perea is the province east of the Jordan, across the southern part of Samaria , and although the New Testament does not mention Perea by name, John 3:23 implicitly refers to it again when it states that John

3666-582: The Son of God. In the Gospel of Matthew, following this episode, Jesus also selects Peter as the leader of the Apostles, and states that "upon this rock, I will build my church". In Matthew 16:18 Jesus then continues: "That thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church". The word "church" ( ekklesia in Greek) as used here, appears in the Gospels only once more, in Matthew 18:17 , and refers to

3760-429: The Twelve Apostles except John were martyred . It is traditionally believed that John survived all of them, living to old age and dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan . However, only the death of his brother James who became the first Apostle to die in c.  AD 44 is described in the New Testament . ( Acts 12:1–2 ) Matthew 27:5 says that Judas Iscariot threw

3854-574: The Twelve Apostles. Early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles – such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter – are referred to as the Apostolic Fathers . Commissioning of the Twelve Apostles The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles is an episode in the ministry of Jesus that appears in all three Synoptic Gospels : Matthew 10 :1–4, Mark 3 :13–19 and Luke 6 :12–16. It relates

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3948-654: The activities of the Baptist in Bethabara and Ænon in John John 1:28 and John 3:23 . This period of ministry includes the Discourse on the Church , in which Jesus anticipates a future community of followers and explains the role of his apostles in leading it. It includes the parables of The Lost Sheep and The Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18 , which also refer to the Kingdom of Heaven. The general theme of

4042-487: The anticipated community. It teaches that in the Kingdom of God, it is personal humility that matters, not social prominence and clout. At the end of this period, the Gospel of John includes the Raising of Lazarus episode in John 11:1–46 , in which Jesus brings Lazarus of Bethany back to life four days after his burial. In the Gospel of John, the raising of Lazarus is the climax of the "seven signs" which gradually confirm

4136-520: The apostle James, son of Alphaeus . Two of the leading triumvirate, Peter and John, were additionally sent by Jesus into the city to make preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper ), and were also the only two sent by the collective apostles to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria . If John is to be identified with the disciple whom Jesus loved , then it was also only Peter and John who followed behind Jesus after his capture in

4230-428: The beginning of this period, Jesus predicts his death for the first time, and this prediction then builds up to the other two episodes, the final prediction being just before Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time, the week of his crucifixion . In Matthew 16:21–28 and Mark 8:31–33 , Jesus teaches his disciples that "the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of

4324-481: The city. In the three Synoptic Gospels, entry into Jerusalem is followed by the Cleansing of the Temple episode, in which Jesus expels the money changers from the Temple, accusing them of turning the Temple to a den of thieves through their commercial activities. This is the only account of Jesus using physical force in any of the Gospels. The synoptics include a number of well known parables and sermons such as

4418-443: The claims of martyred apostles do not rely upon historical or biblical evidence, but only on late legends. Relics of the apostles are claimed by various churches, many in Europe. By the 2nd century AD , association with the apostles was esteemed as an evidence of authority. Churches that are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees . Paul's epistles were accepted as scripture , and two of

4512-412: The coming of the Holy Spirit that he had promised them, Peter advised the brethren: Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus... For he was numbered with us, and received his portion in this ministry... For it is written in the book of Psalms , "Let his habitation be made desolate, Let no one dwell therein", and, "Let another take his office"... So one of the men who have accompanied us during all

4606-425: The community of believers at the time. Following the proclamation by Peter , the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus is the next major event and appears in Matthew 17:1–9 , Mark 9:2–8 and Luke 9:28–36 . Jesus takes Peter and two other apostles with him and goes up to a mountain, which is not named. Once on the mountain, Matthew 17:2 states that Jesus "was transfigured before them; his face shining as

4700-414: The core of the early Church as it is believed that the Apostles dispersed from Jerusalem to found the apostolic sees . The major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 includes the commissioning of the Twelve Apostles , and covers most of the ministry of Jesus in Galilee. The final Galilean ministry begins after the beheading of John the Baptist as Jesus prepares to go to Jerusalem. In

4794-400: The date of the Last Supper is very close before the date of the crucifixion of Jesus (hence its name). Scholarly estimates for the date of the crucifixion generally fall in the range AD 30–36. The three Synoptic Gospels refer to just one passover , specifically the Passover at the end of Jesus's ministry when he is crucified (with the exception of Luke's Gospel, which narrates a visit of

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4888-413: The dead, crowds gather around Jesus and believe in him, and the next day the multitudes that had gathered for the feast in Jerusalem welcome Jesus as he descends from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem in Matthew 21:1–11 , Mark 11:1–11 , Luke 19:28–44 and John 12:12–19 . In Luke 19:41–44 as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, he looks at the city and weeps over it, foretelling the suffering that awaits

4982-470: The disciples increase their faith in Jesus, and, in Matthew 14:33, they say, "Of a truth thou art the Son of God". Major teachings in this period include the Discourse on Defilement in Matthew 15:1–20 and Mark 7:1–23 where, in response to a complaint from the Pharisees, Jesus states: "What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.'". Following this episode, Jesus withdraws into

5076-408: The discourse is the anticipation of a future community of followers, and the role of his apostles in leading it. Addressing his apostles in Matthew 18:18 , Jesus states: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". The discourse emphasizes the importance of humility and self-sacrifice as the high virtues within

5170-404: The dust off their feet as they leave, a gesture which some scholars think was meant as a contemptuous threat. Later in the Gospel narratives, the Twelve Apostles are described as having been commissioned to preach the Gospel to "all the nations," regardless of whether Jew or Gentile . Paul emphasized the important role of the apostles in the church of God when he said that the household of God

5264-439: The father of both James, son of Alphaeus and Matthew is named Alphaeus , according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the two were brothers as well. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of the Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis the apostles James, son of Alphaeus , and Thaddaeus were brothers and sons of Alphaeus (named also Clopas ) and his wife Mary of Clopas who

5358-506: The final ministry than the other periods, devoting about one third of their text to the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem . The gospel accounts place the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the countryside of Roman province Judaea , near the River Jordan. The gospels present John the Baptist 's ministry as the precursor to that of Jesus and the baptism of Jesus as marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry, after which Jesus travels, preaches and performs miracles . Jesus's baptism

5452-413: The first view is correct then Paul may be referring to a female apostle  – the Greek name (Iounian) is in the accusative and could be either Junia (a woman) or Junias (a man). Later manuscripts add accents to make it unambiguously Junias; however, while "Junia" was a common name, "Junias" was not, and both options are favored by different Bible translations. In the second view, it is believed that Paul

5546-594: The four canonical gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions , were attributed to the apostles. The Apostles' Creed , popular in the West , was alleged to have been composed by the apostles themselves. Bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession , from

5640-424: The gospel does not present any elaboration of who these twelve actually were, and the author of the Gospel of John does not mention them all by name. There is also no separation of the terms "apostles" and "disciples" in John. According to the New Testament there were only two pairs of brothers among the Twelve Apostles: Peter and Andrew , the sons of Jonah, as well as James and John , the sons of Zebedee. Since

5734-411: The gospels present the Walking on water episode in Matthew 14:22–23 , Mark 6:45–52 and John 6:16–21 as an important step in developing the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, at this stage of his ministry. The episode emphasizes the importance of faith by stating that, when he attempted to walk on water, Peter began to sink when he lost faith and became afraid. At the end of the episode,

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5828-455: The identity of Jesus as the Son of God and the expected Messiah. It is also a pivotal episode which starts the chain of events that leads to the crowds seeking Jesus on his Triumphal entry into Jerusalem —leading to the decision of Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin to plan to kill Jesus ( Crucifixion of Jesus ). The final ministry in Jerusalem is traditionally called the Passion and begins with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem early in

5922-419: The identity of Jesus as the Son of God , (as in his Baptism ), but the statement "listen to him" identifies him as the messenger and mouth-piece of God. The significance is enhanced by the presence of Elijah and Moses, for it indicates to the apostles that Jesus is the voice of God, and, instead of Elijah or Moses, he should be listened to, by virtue of his filial relationship with God. 2 Peter 1:16–18 echoes

6016-422: The initial encounter with the disciples of John the Baptist in John 1:35–37 , where "two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus". Assuming that there were two incidences of Cleansing of the Temple , which was located in Jerusalem, a possible reference to an early Judean ministry may be John 2:13–25 . The Early Galilean ministry begins when, according to Matthew, Jesus goes back to Galilee from

6110-434: The initial selection of the Twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus . According to Mark: He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter),James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave

6204-483: The later Judean ministry Jesus starts his final journey to Jerusalem through Judea. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee (actually a freshwater lake) along the River Jordan, he returns to the area where he was baptized. The final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion week and begins with Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem . The gospels provide more details about

6298-437: The law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again." Later in this period, at about the middle of each of the three Synoptic Gospels , two related episodes mark a turning point in the ministry of Jesus: the Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration of Jesus . These episodes begin in Caesarea Philippi , just north of the Sea of Galilee , at the beginning of the final journey to Jerusalem which ends in

6392-501: The location of Cana . The return of Jesus to Galilee follows the arrest of John the Baptist . The early teachings of Jesus result in his rejection at his hometown when in Luke 4:16–30 Jesus says in a Synagogue, "No prophet is acceptable in his own country", and the people reject him. In this early period, Jesus' reputation begins to spread throughout Galilee. In Mark 1:21–28 and Luke 4:31–37 , Jesus goes to Capernaum , where people are "astonished at his teaching; for his word

6486-407: The name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who handed him over. According to Matthew: Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are

6580-642: The name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who

6674-409: The names of the Apostles is given, that all false Apostles might be excluded. The names of the twelve Apostles are these; First, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother. To arrange them in order according to their merit is His alone who searches the secrets of all hearts. But Simon is placed first, having the surname of Peter given to distinguish him from the other Simon surnamed Chananæus, from

6768-749: The names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. According to Luke : Now during those days he went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent the night in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who

6862-452: The original Greek words , both titles are descriptive, as an apostle is one sent on a mission (the Greek uses the verb form: apesteilen ) whereas a disciple is a student, but the two traditions differ on the scope of the words apostle and disciple . Although not one of the apostles commissioned during the life of Jesus, Paul, a Jew also named Saul, claimed a special commission from

6956-561: The other hand, when his own disciples show fear of a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus instructs them to have more faith, after he orders the storm to stop. In this period, Jesus is still gathering the twelve apostles , and the Calling of Matthew takes place in Matthew 9:9 . The conflicts and criticism between Jesus and the Pharisees continue, e.g. they criticize Jesus for associating with "publicans and sinners", whereby Jesus responds: "It

7050-465: The post-ascension Jesus as "the apostle of the Gentiles ", to spread the gospel message after his conversion . In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant , Paul did not restrict the term "apostle" to the twelve, and often refers to his mentor Barnabas as an apostle. In his writings , Paul, although not one of the original twelve, described himself as an apostle . He

7144-454: The route Jesus followed from Galilee to Jerusalem passed through Perea . However, the Gospel of John does state that he returned to the area where he was baptized, and John 10:40–42 states that "many people believed in him beyond the Jordan", saying "all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true". The area where Jesus was baptised is inferred as the vicinity of the Perea area, given

7238-570: The same four apostles in each group. Each group is always led by the same apostle, although the order of the remaining three names within the group varies. Thus, Peter is always listed first, Philip is always listed fifth, and James, son of Alphaeus is always listed ninth. Judas Iscariot is always listed last. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John does not offer a formal list of apostles. Although it refers to "the Twelve",

7332-544: The same message: at the Transfiguration, God assigns to Jesus a special "honor and glory" and it is the turning point at which God exalts Jesus above all other powers in creation. Many of the episodes in the Later Judean ministry are from the Gospel of Luke but, in general, these sequence of episodes in Luke do not provide enough geographical information to determine Perea, though scholars generally assume that

7426-472: The silver he received for betraying Jesus down in the Temple, then went and hanged himself. Acts 1:18 says that he purchased a field, then "falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out". According to the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon , early Christians (second half of the second century and first half of the third century) believed that only Peter, Paul, and James, son of Zebedee, were martyred. The remainder, or even all, of

7520-501: The start of his ministry . A chronology of Jesus typically sets the date of the start of his ministry at around AD 27–29 and the end in the range AD 30–36. Jesus' early Galilean ministry begins when after his baptism, he goes back to Galilee from his temptation in the Judaean Desert . In this early period, he preaches around Galilee and recruits his first disciples who begin to travel with him and eventually form

7614-413: The start of the ministry of Jesus. One approach, based on combining information from the Gospel of Luke with historical data about Emperor Tiberius yields a date around 28–29 AD/CE, while a second independent approach based on statements in the Gospel of John along with historical information from Josephus about the Temple in Jerusalem leads to a date around AD 27–29. In the New Testament,

7708-437: The sun, and his garments became white as the light." At that point, the prophets Elijah and Moses appear and Jesus begins to talk to them. Luke is specific in describing Jesus in a state of glory, with Luke 9:32 referring to "they saw his glory". A bright cloud appears around them, and a voice from the cloud states: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him". The Transfiguration not only supports

7802-420: The tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:[b] Simon (to whom he gave

7896-515: The time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, must become with us a witness to his resurrection. So, between the Ascension of Jesus and the day of Pentecost , the remaining apostles elected a twelfth apostle by casting lots , a traditional Israelite way to determine the will of God (see Proverbs 16:33 ). The lot fell upon Matthias according to Acts 1:26 . Paul

7990-624: The village of Chana in Galilee where the Lord turned the water into wine." Ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus , in the canonical gospels , begins with his baptism near the River Jordan by John the Baptist , and ends in Jerusalem in Judea , following the Last Supper with his disciples . The Gospel of Luke Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at

8084-548: The week that includes the Last Supper and is liturgically marked as Holy Week . The gospels pay special attention to the account of the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem, and the narrative amounts to about one third of the text of the four gospels, showing its theological significance in Christian thought in the Early Church . Before arriving in Jerusalem, in John 12:9–11 , after raising Lazarus from

8178-486: Was a period of about three years. Scholars that support a three-year ministry, such as Köstenberger state that the Gospel of John simply provides a more detailed account. During the ministry of Jesus, the tetrarch ruling over Galilee and Perea in this period was Herod Antipas , who obtained the position upon the division of the territories following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC. The gospels present John

8272-504: Was anointed by Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Paul considered himself perhaps inferior to the other apostles because he had originally persecuted Christ's followers while thinking he was not in the least inferior to those "super-apostles" and not lacking in "knowledge". Paul referred to himself as the apostle of the Gentiles. According to Paul's account in his Epistle to the Galatians , James, Peter and John in Jerusalem accepted

8366-625: Was baptising in Enon near Salim , "because there was much water there". First-century historian Flavius Josephus also wrote in the Antiquities of the Jews ( 18 5.2 ) that John the Baptist was imprisoned and then killed in Machaerus on the border of Perea. Luke 3:23 and Luke 4:1 indicate possible activities of Jesus near the Jordan River around the time of his baptism, as does

8460-520: Was called by the resurrected Jesus himself during his Road to Damascus event. With Barnabas, he undertook the role of apostle in the church. Since Paul claimed to have received a gospel not from teachings of the Twelve Apostles but solely and directly through personal revelations from the post-ascension Jesus, after Jesus's death and resurrection (rather than before like the twelve), Paul was often obliged to defend his apostolic authority ( 1 Cor. 9:1 "Am I not an apostle?" ) and proclaim that he had seen and

8554-514: Was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Each of the four listings of apostles in the New Testament indicate that all the apostles were men. The canonical gospels and the book of Acts give varying names of the Twelve Apostles. The list in the Gospel of Luke differs from Matthew and Mark on one point. It lists "Judas, the son of James" instead of "Thaddaeus". All listings appear in three groupings, always with

8648-591: Was called the Zealot, and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. In the Gospel of Matthew , this episode takes place shortly before the miracle of the man with a withered hand . In the Gospel of Mark and Gospel of Luke it appears shortly after that miracle. This commissioning of the apostles takes place before the crucifixion of Jesus , while the Great Commission in Matthew 28:16–20 takes place after his resurrection . St. Jerome comments on this passage saying, "A kind and merciful Lord and Master does not envy His servants and disciples

8742-465: Was the sister of the mother of Jesus . The Golden Legend , compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the 13th century, adds to the two apostles also Simon the Zealot . Peter , James son of Zebedee , and James's brother John formed an informal triumvirate among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels . Jesus invited them to be the only apostles present on three notable occasions during his public ministry:

8836-588: Was with authority", in the Exorcism at the Synagogue in Capernaum episode, which is followed by healing the mother of Peter's wife . Luke 5:1–11 includes the first Miraculous draught of fishes episode in which Jesus tells Peter , "now on you will catch men". Peter leaves his net and, along with him, James and John , the sons of Zebedee, follows Jesus as disciples thereafter. This period includes

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