Who the disciples were and describe their role in early Christianity?

Answer 1

There were 12 original apostles and one of them (Judas Iscariot) betrayed Jesus then killed himself. He was later replaced. We sometimes call them the 12 "disciples," but they should probably be called "apostles." A disciple is any person who follows the teachings of and has their faith in Jesus Christ. An apostle is a person who saw Jesus during His life or after His resurrection (like Paul) and who was appointed to special work by God.

I will not list all their names but will attempt to recite a brief bio for them. They were largely uneducated. Several were fishermen, one was a Jewish tax collector (tax collectors were despised by their fellow Jews and seen as traitors), one was a zealot (a person who believed Jews were supposed to resist Rome by violence and return Israel to glory). Not a group of people you would expect to become "great teachers," but they certainly did.

While Jesus was alive, they kept the group's money, ran errands, and attempted to learn from Jesus and aid His ministry; they often were not much help. They were fearful and timid. In Matthew 26 it tells us they fell asleep instead of staying up to comfort Jesus before His arrest. They also deserted Him because they feared arrest.

Sounds like a sad end to the story, but fast forward to Acts and they have become bold. Peter, the one who denied he even knew Jesus, preached in the city center and 3,000 people accepted Jesus as their God and Savior (Acts 2). The disciples ran the early church, organized their followers, baptized people, preached the news of Jesus and also did miraculous things by God's power in order to testify to the truth of Christ (Acts 3).