The Calling of the Twelve Apostles

I was looking up the original Twelve Apostles in the bible dictionary and very unfortunately there is not a whole lot of information of many of them. Especially the ones that I was really interested in such as Andrew, Philip and some of the other lesser known ones, However, here are some things I learned:

• Peter means “rock” and it makes it that much more interesting when the Lord says “…Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church…” (Matthew 16:18)
  
• It is most likely that Bartholomew also goes by Nathanael and they are the same person. There is also obviously a close friendship between him and Philip as they are always associated together.
  
• I also didn’t know that Andrew and Peter were brothers, so that is a little embarrassing. Haha!

So what is an Apostle?

An Apostle literally means “one sent forth”. In regards to the Twelve Apostles they were to be special witnesses of Christ and to testify of his divinity and specifically his bodily resurrection from the dead.
Christ taught his Apostles what they needed to do in order to prepare them to proclaim the gospel and to be his special witnesses. He his teachings and guidance to them can be found in Matthew 10:5-42 and in these versus he teaches them to search and heal those who are sick and to minister to them. He teaches them that there are going to be people who will not listen or who will “scourge” them “in their synagogues”. I think the scripture that stood out the most while I was reading was this:

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:

 be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves”

–Matthew 10:16

While Christ mostly required them to stay within the bounds of the House of Israel  he was first and foremost teaching them to find his “lost sheep” and to recover those who were looking for the Savior. He says:

“He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that

 receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.”

-Matthew 10:39

Christ is teaching his disciples to search out those who are looking for the gospel and giving them guidance as to how to do this.  He is helping them to know and recognize who truly is looking.
I think we can all learn from the Savior’s teachings. All the things that he taught his apostles can be used to teach us. We need to make sure we are doing what he would want us to do and we need to be as Peter, James and John in a moment’s notice gave up everything and follow Christ. It is interesting in Luke 5:1-11 that Peter, although unsure, followed Christ’s command to let the nets down again, even though they had caught nothing all day. Despite his uncertainty Peter did it anyways and in doing so received a witness of the Savior. Once he had received this witness (along with James and John) they “…forsook all, and followed him.” (Luke 5:11)

Likewise we must be as Peter.  Even in times of uncertainty we must trust the Lord and follow his commandments. He knows more than we possibly could. In doing this, we will receive a testimony of our own and we must continue to strengthen it and nourish it by following Christ.