mmoa_writes

Whatever Happened to the Twelve Apostles?

THEY WERE NOT the kind of group you might have expected Jesus to send
forth on his mission to reach the world. There was nothing special or
spectacular about them. They were just ordinary working men. But
Jesus formed them into the backbone of his ministry and gave them the
most extraordinary task imaginable: calling the entire world,
including the mightiest empire ever known, to repentance and faith in
the Nazarene Way. Within three centuries the Christian faith would be
the official faith of the empire.

Reports and legends abound and they are not always reliable, but it
is safe to say that the apostles went far and wide as heralds of the
message of the risen Christ. An early legend says they cast lots and
divided up the world to determine who would go where, so all could
hear about Jesus. They suffered greatly for their faith and in most
cases met violent deaths on account of their bold witness.

The New Testament tells of the fate of only two of the apostles:
JUDAS, who betrayed Jesus and then went out and hanged himself, and
JAMES the son of Zebedee, who was executed by Herod about 44 AD (Acts
12:2).

PETER and PAUL were both martyred in Rome about 66 AD, during the
persecution under Emperor Nero. Paul was beheaded. Peter was
crucified, upside down at his request, since he did not feel he was
worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

ANDREW went to the "land of the man-eaters," in what is now the
Soviet Union. Christians there claim him as the first to bring the
gospel to their land. He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day
Turkey, and in Greece, where he is said to have been crucified.

"Doubting" THOMAS was probably most active in the area east of Syria.
Tradition has him preaching as far east as India, where the ancient
Marthoma Christians revere him as their founder. They claim that he
died there when pierced through with the spears of four soldiers.

PHILIP possibly had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa
and then in Asia Minor, where he converted the wife of a Roman
proconsul. In retaliation the proconsul had Philip arrested and
cruelly put to death.

MATTHEW the tax collector, ministered in Persia and Ethiopia. Some of
the oldest reports say he was not martyred, while others say he was
stabbed to death in Ethiopia.

BARTHOLOMEW had widespread missionary travels attributed to him by
tradition: to India with Thomas, back to Armenia, and also to
Ethiopia and Southern Arabia. There are various accounts of how he
met his death as a martyr for the gospel.

JAMES the son of Alpheus, is one of at least three Jameses referred
to in the New Testament. There is some confusion as to which is
which, but this James is reckoned to have ministered in Syria. The
Jewish historian Josephus reported that he was stoned and then
clubbed to death.

SIMON THE ZEALOT, so the story goes, ministered in Persia and was
killed after refusing to sacrifice to the sun god.

MATTHIAS was the apostle chosen to replace Judas. Tradition sends him
to Syria with Andrew and to death by burning.

JOHN is the only one of the company generally thought to have died a
natural death from old age. He was the leader of the church in the
Ephesus area and is said to have taken care of Mary the mother of
Jesus in his home. During Domitian's persecution in the middle 90's,
he was exiled to the island of Patmos. An early Latin tradition has
him escaping unhurt after being cast into boiling oil at Rome.
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