The Twelve Disciples
- stpeterstoronto
- Jul 26, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 2, 2025
Did you know...
that the word disciple means to be a personal follower of Jesus?
This is the story about the 12 men who left their jobs and went with Jesus.
Many people came to listen to the teaching of Jesus and followed Him. These followers were called disciples. There were many disciples, but Jesus chose twelve men to be His special followers. They were called the disciples or apostles of Jesus.
The word apostle means one who is sent on a mission. The twelve men had a mission after Jesus died - to spread Jesus' teaching and preach God's word.
Jeesus tööpõld suurenes kogu aeg ja ta ei jõudnud enam üksi rahvast rahuldada. Nii valis Jeesus endale kaksteist jüngrit. Ta õpetas neid ja saatis neid jutlust pidama. Nüüd olid nad inimeste püüdjad, kes kogusid rahvast Jumala riigile.
Peetrus jättis maha oma endise töö ja temast sai Jeesuse järgija. Ka sama toimus vend Andreasega. Veel kaks kalurit, Johannes ja Jaakobus hakkasid Jeesusega käima.
Kapernauma lähedal oli tollihoone. Kui Jeesus Leevitit tollihoone ees nägi ütles ta temale: "Käi minu järel!" Jeesus pani Leevile uue nime - Matteus.
The day after Jesus was baptized, John the Baptist was near the Jordan River. He was telling everyone how he had seen the Holy Spirit descend from heaven and rest on Jesus. "I saw it happen and I testify that He is the Son of God."
Jesus walked by and John said “Look! There is the Lamb of God!”.
Two men who had been with John followed Jesus. One man was named Andrew who quickly found his brother Simon (who Jesus named Peter, the rock) and said, “We have found the Messiah (which means Christ).”
Jesus called to them and said, “Follow me.” Because they were fishermen, Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of people”. Jesus meant that from now on, instead of catching fish, they would go out fishing for men, teach them, and bring them to God.
The next day Jesus travelled to Bethsaida on the shores of Lake Galilee where he found Philip and asked him to come to be his disciple.
Philip went off to find a friend called Nathanael to tell him that the Messiah had been found. Jesus recognized Nathanael as an honest man. Both joined Him as disciples.
When Jesus was at a lakeshore teaching crowds that had gathered around Him, he saw a tax collector named Matthew (Levi) and said, “Come, be my disciple.” So Matthew got up and followed Him.
That night Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to be his dinner guest along with his fellow tax collectors and many other sinners.
When the teachers of religious law saw Jesus eating with bad people, they asked, “Why does He eat with such scum?”
Kirjatundjad nurisesid, et Jeesus käib patustega läbi. Jeesus ütles selle peale: "Terveile ei ole arsti tarvis, vaid haigeile. Ma olen tulnud patuseid meele-parandusele kutsuma." Ka Siimon sai omale teise nime - Peetrus.
Jesus answered them explaining that healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do.
Jesus had come to call sinners, not those who thought they were already good enough.
The disciples of Jesus are mentioned often in the Bible. They had a special commitment to Jesus because they left their jobs quickly, simply because Jesus said to them, “Follow Me.” Jesus gave these men special jobs to do and special powers including making sick people well.
The names of the disciples are sometimes confusing because some have the same name and others are known by more than one name.
The disciples are:
Simon, who is called Peter (Cepha), and
Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother (not John the Baptist);
Philip
Bartholomew (also known as Nathanael);
Thomas
Matthew the publican (Levi);
James the son of Alpheus
Lebbeus, whose surname was Thaddeus;
Simon the Canaanite; and
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrays Jesus.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
Jeesuse jüngrid olid:
Peetrus
Andreas (Peetruse vend)
Jaakobus - Sebedeuse poeg
Johannes - Sebedeuse poeg
Filippus
Bartolomeus
Toomas
Matteus
Jaakobus (Alevue poeg)
Juuda - Tadeus
Siimon - Kaana Linnast
Juudas - Iskariot (andis Jeesuse ära)
Unless otherwise noted, images are the copyright Sweet Publishing (Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael meet Jesus; Jesus Invites Matthew) for teaching purposes only, all rights reserved, and are used according to their terms of use - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. Distributed under a license with FreeBibleimages.
Learning Activity Extensions
Read about the story in the Bible:
Mark 2:14-17
Luke 5:27-32
John 1:28-51
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