Thematic Bible: Disciple


Thematic Bible



Greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in [the fellowship of] the Lord.


One of the two men who had listened to John and had become a follower of Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.


Greetings to Apelles, [who was tested and] approved in [the service of] Christ. Greetings to members of the family of Aristobulus.


and to Apphia our sister [Note: This was probably Philemon's wife], and to Archippus our fellow-soldier [Note: This was probably Philemon's preacher son. See Col. 4:17] and to the church [that meets] in your house.

And tell Archippus [Note: He may have been the preacher at Colosse or Laodicia. See Philemon 1:1-2], "See to it that you fulfill your ministry [there], which you have received in [the service of] the Lord."


Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the [other] brothers who are with them.


Hurry up and come [to me] before winter. Eubulus sends his greetings, along with Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia and all [the rest of] the brothers.


Yes, and I am asking you also, [my] faithful partner [Note: This person is unknown, but may have been one of Paul's preacher companions], help those women, for they have worked hard with me in [spreading] the Gospel, along with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life. [See Rev. 3:5; Heb. 12:23].


Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Jesus, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know what all happened there the past few days?"





As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem He took the twelve apostles aside. As they traveled along He said to them,

And when he came [back] to Jerusalem, Saul attempted to associate himself with the disciples but they were afraid of him [because of his past], and could not believe that he was a [true] disciple.

But the Jews who did not obey [the Gospel message] incited the spirits of the [unconverted] Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

When we located the disciples [there] we stayed [with them] for seven days. They advised Paul, through [inspired revelations from] the Holy Spirit, not [even] to set foot in Jerusalem.


and when he found him, he brought him [back] to Antioch. So, for an entire year Saul and Barnabas gathered the church together and taught many people. [It was] here in Antioch that the disciples were first [divinely] called Christians.


Now after these things [happened] the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples [Note: Some ancient manuscripts say "seventy." This group would have been in addition to the twelve. See Luke 9:1], and sent them two by two on ahead of Him into every town and locality that He planned to visit.


Some of John's disciples came to Jesus saying, "Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast frequently [i.e., going without food and/or drink for religious reasons], but your disciples do not fast [at all]?"


The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to Straight Street and ask for a person named Saul, from Tarsus, at the home of Judas; you will find him [there] praying."


And so they presented two men [for consideration]: Joseph, called Barsabbas (and also called Justus) and Matthias.


Barnabas and Saul returned [to Antioch] from Jerusalem after they had fulfilled their mission [i.e., of taking the contribution for the famine-stricken people of Judea. See 11:27-30]. They took John Mark [back to Antioch with them].

After arriving at Salamis [a town on the island], they proclaimed the message of God in the Jewish synagogues [there], with John [Mark] attending [to various details of their ministry].

After thinking about the matter [for awhile], he decided to go to the house of Mary, mother of John Mark, where a large gathering [of Christians] was praying.

Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and arrived at Perga [a town in the province] of Pamphylia. [It was here that] John Mark left the party [of evangelists and attendants] and returned to [his home in] Jerusalem. [See 12:12].


Greetings to Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all [the others] of God's people who are with them.


Greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the [other] brothers who are with them.


[I send] greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, and to the family of Onesiphorus.


He began speaking boldly in the synagogue and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and proceeded to explain to him God's way more accurately [than he had known].

After this happened Paul left Athens and went to Corinth [i.e., a principal city of Greece]. There he met a certain Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, [in northern Asia Minor] who, with his wife Priscilla, had recently come from Rome, because Claudius [the Roman Emperor] had ordered all Jews out of that city. Paul met this couple and, because they followed the same trade of tentmaking, he stayed with them and went to work [for them].

After this [incident] Paul remained [in Corinth] for some time before leaving the brothers and sailing for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila. Paul shaved his head while in Cenchrea as part of a vow he had taken. When they arrived at Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there. He then went into the [Jewish] synagogue and held discussions with the Jews.

I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow-workers in [the service of] Christ Jesus. They risked their own lives for me, so not only I, but also all the Gentile churches [i.e., people converted from among the Gentiles] are grateful to them [for this].

[I send] greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, and to the family of Onesiphorus.

The churches in Asia send you their greetings [Note: This was the westernmost province in present-day Turkey]. Aquila and Prisca [Note: This married couple were close friends and fellow-tentmakers of Paul], along with the church that meets in their house, send you their warm greetings in [fellowship with] Christ.


Now in the church at Antioch there were [these] prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch [i.e., governor of Galilee], and Saul.