Jesus appointed 12 special ambassadors to serve as witnesses of the resurrection and to help establish his church. In recent Pew Packers classes, our children learned their names: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. The names of the apostles were recorded in four NT lists (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13).

       An examination of these lists and other relevant passages shows that most of the apostles have more than one name. Thaddaeus, for instance, is also known as Judas son of James (Luke 6:16). Bartholomew, which means “son of Talmai,” may be the surname of the disciple Nathanael (John 1:45). Simon the Zealot is also identified as Simon the Cananaean (Matt. 10:4). Thomas is “called the Twin” (John 11:16). The tax collector Matthew in the first Gospel is Levi in the second Gospel (Mark 2:14). No evidence suggests that Jesus is responsible for these variations.

       However, the Lord did surname three of the apostles. Was it a mere coincidence that all three belonged to the inner circle? James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Jesus called Boanerges (Mark 3:17). This name, meaning “sons of thunder,” probably reflected the young brothers’ stormy temper (Luke 9:54-56). Apparently, the colorful name Boanerges was rarely used in the first century church.

       Andrew’s brother received the only Christ-given name that stuck. Jesus renamed him Peter (meaning “stone”). Actually, Jesus often called Simon by his given name (Matt. 16:17; Luke 22:31; John 21:15), but gradually early Christians came to think of Rock as an appropriate name for an apostle who was such a solid leader in the church.