The Apostles of Jesus Christ: The First Bishops

 

Today we are going to look at the Apostles, the First Bishops of the Church. In the course of this article, I am once again going to show how the Orthodox Faith has maintained the apostolic tradition of the church and give a little background into the lives and the teachings of the apostles found outside of scripture.  Many of you may already know these stories, but I am assured that many of you don’t. It seems like in the world today we almost make the people of the Bible as otherworldly figures, heroes and characters in a story. But like me and you reading this article today, these were actual people with actual lives and all the shortcomings and faults that we have present in our own daily lives. The difference is simply that they had the courage and faith to act on what they believe whereas today many people do not. So without further ado, I give you, the Apostles: First Bishops of the Church.

Let’s start with St. Peter. Obviously and perhaps the most famous of the Apostles. In the Roman Catholic papist theology, he was also appointed by Jesus to be a sort of earthly successor, to be his one and only vicar on earth. We as Orthodox do not hold to this tradition and deem it a heresy. As would St. Peter himself. St. Peter was the son of Jonas and the brother of Andrew, who is the first-called. Originally named Simon, Jesus renamed him Cephas, or Peter in English upon his calling to the Apostleship. He would never leave Christ’s side and was one of the core apostles within the twelve. St. Peter as we know denied Christ three times upon his arrest and also received forgiveness three times by Christ after his resurrection. From there Peter began in earnest to preach the gospel in all of Judea, Antioch and parts of Asia. Peter would eventually end his life in Rome, the most famous church he established within the collection of local churches at the time. Peter would be crucified upside down at the hands of Emperor Nero for his firm holding to the faith in around 66 AD. Now earlier I mentioned Antioch and this is of great importance because while Rome can also claim their bishop is the successor of Peter, so to can Antioch. The Patriarch of Antioch is also a successor to St. Peter and is still located on the Street called Straight within the city.

Next, we arrive at St. Andrew the first called.  St Andrew is one of the most widely reaching of the apostles as he traveled far and wide around the known world to preach the gospel. The son of Jonas and brother of St. Peter, Andrew was originally a disciple of St. John the Forerunner.  When the lots were drawn to determine the location that Andrew would go to preach the gospel, he was given Byzantium, the Greece, Georgia and of course Kievan Rus’. There, St. Andrew would establish the See of Constantinople which is still the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch, the Greek lands where he baptized many and established churches, giving us Greeks the heritage and firm foundation of Christianity in the country. He preached in Georgia and established a few small churches there before moving to Kiev where he planted a cross and prophesied that this land would see a great city built with many golden domed churches. Finally in Patras, he was flailed and crucified on an x-shaped cross after Proconsul Aegeates’ family believed in the miracles and teachings of St. Andrew. St. Andrew’s relics were sent to Constantinople, his head to Rome, and a hand of his to Moscow.

St. James, the son of Zebedee is one of the inner circle of Christ and another far reaching apostle. We know from the scriptures that James was present for the transfiguration of Christ. From there St. James was drawn by lots to the region of Spain and preached the gospel there. He converted many to the faith and left a lasting mark on the entire region. St. James eventually returned to Jerusalem and defended the Holy Scriptures vehemently. St. James was condemned to death after false witnesses were brought against him. One of these false witnesses was Josias. Josias was so overcome by the witness of St. James that he too believed and was executed for his faith in Christ. James was beheaded in Jerusalem where it is said he forgave the axman right before the blade was swung.

The next apostle is St. John the theologian, of whose books we still have bound within Holy Scripture. He was the son of Salome and Zebedee his brother was St. James. St. John as I have stated wrote many of the books of the New Testament, and was eventually exiled to the island of Patmos where he wrote the Book of Revelation. St. John did not die a martyr’s death as did the other apostles, but was granted to live into old age by the Lord. He was one hundred years old when the time came for his repose. In Ephesus, he took seven of disciples outside the city and had them dig a grave in the shape of a cross. There they buried him alive. After a period of time, his grave was opened but the body of St. John was not there. Every year a dust rises from the ground and people are healed of diseases.

St. Phillip is the next apostle to discuss and one that I find very interesting myself. This young man, though not the youngest of the group, was well versed in the scriptures of the Jewish people. From there he immediately recognized Jesus for who he was, and accepted him as Messiah. St. Phillip too went to Asia and Greece and preached throughout the land. While there the high priest tried to club St. Phillip to death before he was stricken blind and turned completely black. Many of the pagans were then swallowed up by the earth, and those who were sick were healed. Because of this pagans flocked in droves to the faith and accepted Christ. While in Hieropolis he killed a giant snake the pagans worshipped as their god. Because of the anger of the pagans, he was crucified upside down along with St. Bartholomew. Again the earth swallowed many people up and pagans flocked to take down the apostles from their torments. By this time, St. Phillip had reposed.  His relics were then sent to Rome.

St. Bartholomew, also called Nathaniel was there along side St. Phillip when he was martyred.  St. Bartholomew went from there to India where he translated the gospel of St. Matthew and eventually made his way to Armenia where he was able to cure the king’s daughter of insanity. From there, the king’s brother had him skinned, crucified, and eventually beheaded. Because of the miracles associated with the tomb of St. Bartholomew, the pagans threw his coffin in the sea, where it eventually ended up on the Island of Lipara where the local bishop buried it again inside a church.

St. Thomas, often called Doubting Thomas by the West, is of great importance to our brothers and sisters of India where he preached. He is also associated with the churches in Syria and Persia, and the Patriarchate of Antioch hold him within high regard. Though many lies are often told about St. Thomas, we can understand that while his faith did become weak for a moment after Christ’s death, by the divine grace given to Thomas he was never again someone who doubted the power of Christ. While in India preaching the gospel he converted the wife and son of a local chieftain. The local chieftain imprisoned and tortured him, eventually executing him using five spears. He reposed in the Lord having given his entire life to the work of Christ.

Matthew the tax collector, the writer of the Gospel of Matthew, was originally called Levi, but like Peter his name was changed. He wrote about his life with Christ in the gospel that bears his name and upon the resurrection was sent to Ethiopia to preach the gospel. He returned and preached mainly among the Jewish population. He received the wrath of Fulvian the prefect of the region. Though Fulvian would have Matthew burned alive for his crimes against Rome, he immediately recanted of his deeds and ordained a priest by the local bishop. Fulvian eventually was granted a vision by St. Matthew who told him that it was his duty to become the bishop after the bishop’s repose.

Though it is often confusing, yes there were indeed two James’ in the twelve apostles. St. James the son of Alphaeus was the other St. James within the twelve. He too preached the gospel among the Jewish people in Judea, Edessa, Gaza, and Eleutheropolis. He would eventually finish his missionary journeys in Egypt where the local pagans would crucify him.

One of the brothers of Christ through St. Joseph’s first marriage, Jude was the brother of St. James the Just. He did not believe in Christ at the beginning of his ministry, and was deeply ashamed of the fact, because he had lived with Christ his entire life. He protested giving Jesus a portion of Joseph’s estate upon his repose and rejected Christ for a time. Eventually though Jude became one of the twelve apostles preaching in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. He was preaching Ararat when the pagans there decided they were going to kill him and crucified him before shooting him with arrows.

St. Simon the Zealot is the next to last apostle of Jesus Christ. He was at the wedding in Cana when Jesus turned the water into wine and immediately left his family and became a follower and apostle of Jesus Christ. He reached as far south as Mauritania in Africa before returning and heading to Georgia. St. Simon was eventually killed for his faith in Abkhazia.

 

Though many would assume that St. Matthias is the logical choice as the final apostle of Jesus, and others would assume it would be Judas, the Orthodox Church does not recognize either of them as being apostles of Jesus Christ. The Final apostle is of course St. Paul. St. Paul the Apostle of Jesus Christ is the most widely read of the apostles writing the majority of the New Testament and his missionary journeys are very well known. I will not try to recount every detail of those because they are recorded in scripture. St. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, preaching not to his own people but those of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. He of course worked most closely with Luke the Evangelist. St. Paul traveled to Rome, the see of St. Peter and was martyred together with Peter. While Peter was crucified, St. Paul was beheaded by Nero.

These are the lives of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The men closest to him in his earthly ministry and the ones who established churches and sees across the world. Though some have fallen away due to error of their successors, all of these men are an example to us all. I pray that they intercede for us daily before the Lord and I humbly ask for their prayers. As we celebrate the Annunciation tomorrow I pray that the Theotokos also prays for us and we are found worthy of Christ.

Amen.