Matthew 10:1 – 4

1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Jesus, had many disciples. The word disciple means a follower. Jesus had many, but he chose twelve to be his apostles. (Mark 3:14 [Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,]) This is one of the qualifications required to be one of the original apostles, (Acts 1:21 - 22[ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” ]) There were more than the twelve who were with Jesus from the beginning, as two more were chosen for one to replace Judas. These were the answer to the prayer of the last chapter which asked for more laborers to go into the harvest. Jesus gave them the powers to cast out demons, and to heal the sick and diseased. Jesus gave them the right and the powers to help him fulfill His mission.

These twelve men are named here and in (Mark 3:16 – 19) and (Luke 6:14 – 16) some of the names are different and they are named in different orders, but they are all the same men. The name of Judas as the betrayer is identified to distinguish between the brother of James, Judas(both ½ brothers of Jesus and sons of Mary and Joseph).

These men became the laborers to help harvest the multitudes who were like sheep without shepherds.