Choosing the Twelve
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, Mark 3:18 · Berean Standard Bible
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,
Look at this list: a tax collector and a zealot in the same group. These men would normally have hated each other. But Jesus brought together people who had nothing in common except Him.
Mark lists the remaining apostles, revealing the diverse group Jesus assembled.
A tax collector who worked for Rome. A zealot who wanted to overthrow Rome. And Jesus put them in the same group and called them brothers. That's what His kingdom does—it brings together people the world says should be enemies.
The list continues with Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot—a diverse group spanning different backgrounds and temperaments.
The diversity is notable: Matthew (a tax collector) and Simon the Zealot (an anti-Roman revolutionary) would have been natural enemies. Jesus' community transcended the deepest social and political divisions of the day.
Mark catalogs the remaining apostles, each name representing a unique background and story.
The apostolic list reads like a cross-section of first-century Jewish society: fishermen, a tax collector, a political zealot, and others of varied backgrounds. Jesus assembled a community that modeled the reconciliation His kingdom would bring.
16These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter),
17James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”),
18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot,
19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
20Then Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat.
Read all of Mark 3 — A man with a withered hand, a crowd pressing in from every side, and twelve unlikely men called to change the world.
This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.
Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.
Download on the App StoreFree on iPhone & iPad