Did disciples know Jesus before being called?

Answer 1

List of Disciples:-

Peter/Simon Peter

Knew Jesus through His cousins James & John

"His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome . There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship.

[from article"Peter" in Easton's Illustrated Bible Dictionary]

Andrew

Knew Jesus through His cousins James & John

"His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome . There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship."

[from article"Peter" in Easton's Illustrated Bible Dictionary]

James the son of Zebedee Son of Thunder "Boanerges"

aka James the Greater brother of John

was cousin of Jesus

[For details see Question "Who are the different Mary's,

and how are they related to Jesus"]

John the son of Zebedee Son of Thunder "Boanerges"

brother of James "Disciple whom Jesus loved"

was cousin of Jesus

[For details see Question "Who are the different Mary's,

and how are they related to Jesus"]

James the Less Son of Alphaeus [Hebrew "Clophas" aka "Clopas]

Wife of Clophas was Salome, who was mother of

sons of Zebedee, and therefore she was Jesus'Aunt

and Alphaeus His Uncle.

He was therefore a cousin of Jesus

[For details see Question "Who are the different Mary's,

and how are they related to Jesus"]

Matthew

Also known as Levi.

Matthew is the Greek name and Levi was the Hebrew name.

As a tax-collector he worked for Greek-speaking Romans

by gathering taxes from Hebrew-speaking Jews.

He was the Son of Alphaeus [Clophas aka Clopas]

The wife of Clophas was Salome, who was mother of

sons of Zebedee, and therefore she was Jesus' Aunt

and Alphaeus His Uncle. [For details see Question "Who are the different Mary's, and how are they related to Jesus"]

He was therefore a cousin of Jesus

Mat 9:9 And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Mar 2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the sonof Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Simon the Zealot Son of Alphaeus [Hebrew "Clophas" aka "Clopas]

He was a Zealot. He was the son of Clopas (brother of Joseph,

Mary's husband. The Wife of Clophas was Salome, who was

mother of sons of Zebedee, and therefore she was Jesus' Aunt

and Alphaeus His Uncle.

He was therefore either a cousin of Jesus

OR possibly

Jesus'half-brother

Matthew 13

55Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not Hismother called Mary? And HisbrothersJames, Joses,Simon,and Judas?

"As Alphaeus, the father of James, is generally regarded as the same as Clopas or Cleopas this identifies Simon Nathaniel, son of Cleopas with Simon Zealotes. If so, this sheds slight on James, son of Alphaeus and Simon Zealot as brothers. He has also been identified with Simon, the brother of Jesus…."

[from article "SIMON, (the Canaanite) (the Zealot)" at"http://www.wordsforcourageousliving.com/talltwelve/simoncanaanite.html

Either way, he was a bloood relative of Jesus.

Thaddeus aka Judas ["Not Iscariot"]

aka Lebbaeus

Brother of James the Less and brother of Matthew/Levi

[both cousins of Jesus.

[For details see Question "Who are the different Mary's, and how are they related to Jesus"]

Thaddeuswas therefore a cousin of Jesus

Philip

He was fisherman from Bethsaida in Galilee, the city of Andrew

and Peter. When Philip was called by Jesus he readily responded

to the call. Philip brought Nathanael to Christ. (John 1:43-48).

Because John depicts Jesus calling Philip out of a crowd attending

John's baptisms, he could have been a follower of John the Baptist.

"The manner in which St. John speaks of him indicates a previous

friendship, with the sons of Jona and Zebedee, and a consequent

participation in their messianic hopes. The close union of the two in John 6 and John 12 suggests that he may have owed to Andrew, the first tidings that the hope had been fulfilled. The statement that Jesus found him,Joh_1:43, implies a previous seeking."

[From article "Philip" in Smith's Bible Dictionary]

Therefore knew Jesus through his fellow fishermen and friends Andrew, James & John

[See articles "Philip, native of Bethsaida"at http://www.guidedbiblestudies.com/topics/philip.htm and "Philip the Apostle: Profile & Biography"at http://Atheism.about.com/od/biblepeoplenewtestament/p/PhilipApostle.htm]

Bartholomew aka Nathanael

Re John 1:43-51

"For one, Nathanael is shown as having a pre-existingfriendship with Philip (and presumably one with Peter and Andrew as well), as they were all Galileans in search of the truthbefore their encounter with Christ. Philip's concern for Nathanael can be shown by the fact that Philip went to him to help convince him to join the party with Jesus Christ, given their existing search for the fulfillment of scriptures that was known to

be "in the air" at that particular time, as the 70 weeks prophecy was nearing its widely recognized end. Nathanael's known interest in such matters and his friendship with Philip allowed him to be called to join Philip and a group of other apostles on

their trip to Galilee. "

[From "Bartholomew Called Nathanael" at http://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/bartholmew-called-nathanael-an-israelite-in-whom-there-is-no-guile/ ]

Knew Jesus through close friendship with Philip and

likely Peter and Andrew

Thomas Also known as Didymus

Place of birth and occupation unknown

Don't know how he came to know of Jesus.

Judas Iscariot

Judas was from Kerioth, a city south of Jerusalem, in Judea.

The "Iscariot" after Judas' name stands for Kerioth.

Was probably the best-educated of all the disciples.

"Judas was a Judean - NOT a Galilean. ALL the other disciples apparently were Galileans....

Judas Iscariot's father [was] Simon, the leper, and that Simon, the leper, was also a Pharisee. We also know that Jesus' disciples were at the supper, including Judas Iscariot....[who] was, indeed, the son of Simon, the Pharisee, who had been healed of his leprosy by Jesus.

"It is highly probable that Judas Iscariot was a "plant" - a spy - purposely placed by the Pharisees into Jesus' inner circle, to keep an eye on Jesus, essentially, to spy on Jesus, to report what He said and did, to report where he went and with whom He talked, to report any plans (they thought) Jesus may have had to take over the earthly leadership of the Jews from the Pharisees,...

"The Pharisees,..were threatened with loss of their control over the people who were now, by the thousands, following Christ. "

[From article "Who was Judas Iscariot's Father?"at http://www.goodnewsaboutgod.com/studies/spiritual/home_study/judas_father.htm ]

Knew Jesus through the healing of his own father who was Simon the leper.

With his father [Simon the leper] healed of leprosy, Judas Iscariot should have been an overwhelmingly grateful wholehearted believer and follower of Jesus, but he wasn't, which makes his ungratefulness and perfidy all the greater.

Eleven of the twelve Disciples knew Jesus personally before being called, either because they were relatives, via friends, through fellow fishermen, or through healing.

Thomas Didymus ["Doubting Thomas"] is the ONLY disciple from all twelve about which we don't know how he heard of Jesus.