Early in the New Testament we read about the birth of John (later known as John the Baptist), a priest’s son who was to become a prophet and announce the coming of a saviour from the house of David.

Many people went to John and obeyed his call to repentance and baptism.  Most left after they were baptised, but some stayed longer and became John’s disciples.  While they were with him, they saw Jesus come to be baptised and some heard John’s announcement that this was not only the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, but also the son of God.  Two, in particular, believed John and immediately followed Jesus to learn more about him.  They also called their friends, and soon Jesus had followers of his own.

As we delve into what is known about Jesus’ apostles, it’s worth noting that ‘apostles’ means ‘ones sent’.  The word is used because, although many people followed Jesus, he wanted to send out 12 special disciples in pairs to preach.  Before doing so, he spent all night in prayer to God (Lk 6:12-16).

It is very likely that all of them were Jews (see Mt 15:24; 10:5; Jn 1:47).  With the possible exception of Judas Iscariot, whom some suggest came from Kerioth in Judah, they were probably all from Galilee, based on the observation: ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’ (Acts 2:7).

There are four lists of Jesus’ apostles, and you’ll notice as you read them that there are some differences in order and slightly varied names.  Judas Iscariot is missing from the list in Acts because by that time he had betrayed Jesus and committed suicide. 

Matthew 10:2-4 (ESV)

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 Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mark 3:16-19 (ESV)

16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Luke 6:12-16 (ESV)

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Acts 1:13 (ESV)

13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James.

List order

Only Simon Peter (1), Philip (5), James the son of Alphaeus (9) and Judas Iscariot (12) are in the same position in each list in which they appear.

The following table, which will be completed in another newsletter, presents the details we know about the apostles from the Bible.  Some apostles are mentioned very rarely, and in those cases, we have included all the references to them from the New Testament.  For others, we have only included a selection of references.  With Peter, the most frequently mentioned of all the apostles, we have included a list of reference below the table so that the table will not take up too much room.  This week, the table only includes Peter and his brother Andrew.  The other 10 will be included in the second newsletter in the series.

The 12 Apostles – Peter and Andrew

Note that whenever "J" appears in the table or event lists, it refers to Jesus.

[Table to be continued]

References to Simon Peter

This is not a complete list, but tries to include everything particularly significant.

Jn 1:42 J named him Peter
Mt 4:18-20 J called him
Lk 5:8 asked J to leave him because he was a sinner
Lk 5:10 partners with James & John
Mk 1:29 J left synagogue with James & John and went to house of Peter & Andrew
Mt 10:2; Mk 3:16; Lk 6:14 list of apostles
Jn 6:68 Lord where shall we go? – you have the words of life
Lk 8:45 asked J how he knew spirit gone out when crowd around him
Mk 5:37-43; Lk 8:51-56 went in with J, James & John to raise Jairus’ daughter
Mt 14:28-31 walked on water
Mt 15:15 sought explanation of ‘blind guides’
Mt 16:16-23; Mk 8:29-33; Lk 9:20 ‘You are the Christ’ and ‘this will never happen to you’
Mt 17:1-13; Mk 9:2-13; Lk 9:28-36 J’s transfiguration with James & John
Mt 17:24-27 collectors of tax and finding coin in fish’s mouth
Lk 12:40-41 asked if parable about being ready was for people or disciples
Mt 18:21-22 asked how often should forgive
Mt 19:27-20:16; Mk 10:28-31; Lk 18:28-30 asked ‘we left all to follow you – what do we get?’
Mk 11:21-23 pointed out withered fig tree
Mk 13:3-27 with Andrew, James and John asked J about fulfilling of signs and destruction of temple
Lk 22:8 sent by J with John to prepare feast
Jn 13:6-10 ‘don’t wash my feet’
Jn 13:24 asked John to ask who J meant would betray him
Jn 13:36 asked J ‘where are you going?’
Mt 26:33-35; Mk 14:29-31; Lk 22:34; Jn 13:37-38 ‘though all fall away, I won’t’ – J said would deny him 3 times
Mt 26:37-46; Mk 14:33-42 went (with James & John) away from rest with J while he prayed; slept
Jn 18:10-11 cut off Malchus’ ear
Mt 26:58; Mk 14:54; Lk 22:54; Jn 18:15 followed J after his arrest
Jn 18:16 John brought him in to high priest’s compound
Mt 26:69-75; Mk 14:66-72; Lk 22:56-62; Jn 18:17-27 denials
Jn 20:2-7 Mary Magdalene tells him and John of missing body; they visit tomb
Jn 21:2-22 suggested fishing, swam ashore to see J, J asked him about love and sheep
Acts 1:13-22 in upper room, he suggested choosing replacement for Judas
Acts 2:14-41 his speech at Pentecost
Acts 3:1-26 went with John to temple at hour of prayer (9th hour) and healed lame man
Acts 4:1-21 arrested with John by Jewish leaders and threatened
Acts 5:1-11 Ananias and Sapphira
Acts 8:14-17 went with John to Samaria to give Holy Spirit to those baptised
Acts 9:32-42 went to Lydda, Sharon and Joppa – healed Aeneas, raised Dorcas
Acts 10 preached to Cornelius and baptised him and family
Acts 11 explained to critics what happened with Cornelius
Acts 12:3-17 imprisoned by Herod Agrippa I who planned to kill him but he was freed by angel
Acts 15:6-11 Jerusalem conference
Gal 2:11-13 opposed by Paul for hypocrisy
1 Cor 9:5 took his wife with him when preaching

[Series to be continued]

At Bible Tales we publish different types of books: single volume novels; series; collections of micro-tales; a novelette (Paul in Snippets); a book of Jeremiah in chronological order.  This, however, is the first time we have built one book on top of another and included much of the text in a series of newsletters over four years!

In this new book, "Upside Down With Paul", the layout of the book is extremely important.  The book contains four categories of information:

• an updated form of the novelette, "Paul in Snippets" which presents the amazing career of Paul as described by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, 
• imaginative sketches of events taken from the life of Paul,
• an introduction to Paul, his background, biography, journeys and letters, and
• the Berean Literal Bible text of the book of the Acts of the Apostles with some extra notes and helps.

The real challenge for this book is in presenting the varied information in a format that makes a reader feel at home.  Our goal is to make a book that is easy for a reader to enjoy while mulling over the life of one of the most important men in the Bible. 

We have selected a larger paper size – 203mm x 127mm (8" x 5") – as this gives more room to work with on a page than is available in our ordinary novel size of 178 x 111 (7" x 4.37").

It's an exciting project for us and we plan to release the book in hardcover first, then in paperback and eBook.

Sketches, extra sketches and scripture

The short work that started in 2016 as "Paul in Snippets" was enhanced with 36 imaginative sketches from Paul's life and work and became 28 episodes in the Bible Tales newsletter, starting four years ago on 12 June 2021 and finishing today.

The 10,000-word novelette expanded to 52,000 words in our newsletter, yet "Upside Down with Paul" still has some way to grow before we release the final result.

Five previously unpublished sketches will be included (about 10,000 words).

The text of the Biblical book of "Acts" will be incorporated, starting from Chapter 6 where it becomes relevant to the story of Paul, with some added features and notes (adding another 22,000 words).

The final book will contain about 85,000 words.

Pre-orders

To pre-order a copy of "Upside Down With Paul" on our web store, press one of the buttons below, or if you want to easily see the price of all five available options in your local currency, use this link.

Please note that if you place your order just before the closing date, we may not be able to get your book to you on time, depending on your location.  We recommend that you place your order as early as possible.