The Disciples: The Lives, Stories and Careers of Jesus's Most Beloved Disciples

By Holly Michaels

They were a group of misfits—unimportant, unassuming people whom Jesus had selected to follow him, just as he chose you. They were the twelve disciples, and in The Disciples, author Holly Michaels delves into their lives, their path with Christ, and how they changed the world.

Based on years of Michaels’ research, this book takes a careful look at the twelve disciples, the closest people to Christ during his lifetime and active ministry. See where they were born, where they met Christ, and how they walked with him before and after his death.

Find ways to connect to the lives of the disciples through open-ended questions after each disciple in a way to expand your spiritual growth, find the truths of God’s words in your own life, and be the Lord’s disciple in this broken world. The Disciples helps you dive deeper into a relationship with Christ by learning about him in a new way—through his twelve closest friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664265745

Holly Michaels

Holly Michaels is a lover of Jesus and is dedicated to introducing people to the riches of Jesus’ love. She has won several awards for her poetry and has been published in several literary magazines and newspapers. The Lord blessed her with her own flourishing photography business when she was just eighteen years old and does it full time while working with students in special education. Michaels lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Holly Michaels.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

"Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English

Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry

of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally

registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International

Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6573-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6575-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6574-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022908280

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/22/2022

A Note from the Author

Imagine a globe, balancing carefully on the bottom needle and spinning. Now imagine if that globe was made up of billions of little puzzle pieces. Each puzzle piece is a person. And imagine for one moment if one of those puzzle pieces fell out of the globe and disappeared forever. The globe, as God designed, would no longer be complete. It would forever be missing one integral part to finish the whole map.

Humans are unique, bearing the image of God. God carefully designed each of us to be a puzzle piece in His grand design of the world. We are each our own piece, carefully selected, and created to complete a bigger picture. We might only see our piece and wonder where it fits in, but God sees the whole globe and knows when we’re missing.

Friends, we are going to dive into a series on the twelve disciples, twelve pieces that fit into a perfect plan for a perfect outcome. They were a group of misfits, unimportant, unassuming people who Jesus hand-selected to follow Him. He also chose you. We’re here to dive into their lives, their path with Christ, and how they changed the world. These twelve people, show how in God’s plan Jesus came to save us. Hopefully, these words inspire you that you too can be the Lord’s disciple in this broken world.

The goal of this book is to share my years of research, encourage you to look deeper into the pages of the Bible, and find some answers and conclusions for yourself. My Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV), the New Living Translation (NLT), the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), and the CSB She Reads Truth (CSB-SRT) version. My observations and conclusions are not all-inclusive or to be regarded as the truth. The conclusions within are compiled from my research and writings by scholars and theologians alike. The purpose is to drive you deeper into a relationship with Christ by learning about Him in a new way—through his twelve closest friends. It has been said you can learn a lot about a man by those he surrounds himself with. So here we are.

Are you with me? Let’s get into it.

Jesus’s closest friends. The Twelve Disciples

Simon (called Peter)

Andrew, brother of Peter

James

John, brother of James

Philip

Nathanael (also called Bartholomew)

Matthew

Thomas

James, son of Alphaeus

Simon the Zealot

Thaddaeus (also called Judas, son of James)

Judas Iscariot, the traitor

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1:   Simon, Whom Jesus Named Peter

Reflection Questions based around Peter and his ministry

Chapter 2:   Andrew the Protocletus, Brother to Simon Peter

Reflection Questions based around Andrew and his ministry

Chapter 3:   James, Brother of John and Son of Zebedee

Reflection Questions based around James and his ministry

Chapter 4:   John, Brother to James and Son of Zebedee

Reflection Questions based around John and his ministry

Chapter 5:   Philip

Reflection Questions based around Philip and his ministry

Chapter 6:   Nathanael, Also Known as Bartholomew

Reflection Questions based around Nathanael and his ministry

Chapter 7:   Matthew the Tax Collector, Also Called Levi

Reflection Questions based around Matthew and his ministry

Chapter 8:   Thomas (Doubting Thomas)

Reflection Questions based around Thomas and his ministry

Chapter 9:   James, Son of Alphaeus

Reflection Questions based around James and his ministry

Chapter 10: Simon the Canaanean, Called the Zealot

Reflection Questions based around Simon and his ministry

Chapter 11: Jude the Son of James, Also Known as Thaddaeus

Reflection Questions based around Thaddeus and his ministry

Chapter