The Disciples
The lives, stories and careers of Jesus's most beloved disciples
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The easiest way to get to know the disciples like a friend is to meet them as such. The disciples were human. They loved like we do, made mistakes as we do, and ultimately died for Christ. The disciples can be broken down into three groups of four. Simon Peter (who we will discuss first), James, John, and Andrew are mentioned the most out of the twelve disciples, forming our first group. The second group is composed of Philip, Bartholomew (also known as Nathanael), Matthew, and Thomas. The third group, the least mentioned in the Bible, is made up of James, the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Thaddeus (also called Jude), and Judas Iscariot.
I want us to start with Simon Peter, Jesus’ best friend. He was a fisherman, a brother, and a disciple. A man of God whose name was changed by Christ Himself.
We find information about Peter only in the first four gospels, and he only appears in the New Testament. He wrote First Peter and Second Peter himself. However, like many of the disciples, we don’t know a lot about him from what the Bible gives us.
In John 1:44, we find that Peter’s family was originally from Bethsaida in Galilee, but during Jesus’s ministry, Peter lived in Capernaum. He lived at the northwest end of the Sea of Galilee where he and his brother Andrew worked as fishermen. They worked in a partnership there, as told in Luke 5:10, with James and John, the sons of Zebedee1. All three of these men soon became Christ’s disciples. In Corinthians 9:5 and Matthew 8:14, we find evidence that Peter was the son of Jonah (or John) and Joanna, and he was married (Mark 1:30), unfortunately, we do not know the name of his wife. We know Peter is married because Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law in chapter eight of Matthew, in Mark chapter one and Luke chapter four.2 We also find out in Acts 4:13 that although Peter has his own business, he had limited formal education.
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About the Book
They were a group of misfits—unimportant, unassuming people whom Jesus had selected to follow him, just as he chose you. They were the twelve disciples, and in The Disciples, author Holly Michaels delves into their lives, their path with Christ, and how they changed the world.
Based on years of Michaels’ research, this book takes a careful look at the twelve disciples, the closest people to Christ during his lifetime and active ministry. See where they were born, where they met Christ, and how they walked with him before and after his death.
Find ways to connect to the lives of the disciples through open-ended questions after each disciple in a way to expand your spiritual growth, find the truths of God’s words in your own life, and be the Lord’s disciple in this broken world. The Disciples helps you dive deeper into a relationship with Christ by learning about him in a new way—through his twelve closest friends.
About the Author
Holly Michaels is a lover of Jesus and is dedicated to introducing people to the riches of Jesus’ love. She has won several awards for her poetry and has been published in several literary magazines and newspapers. The Lord blessed her with her own flourishing photography business when she was just eighteen years old and does it full time while working with students in special education. Michaels lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband.