Apostleship

What is an Apostle and who were the originals?

A search of the scriptures shows these men as the originally called apostles:

Peter (Simon), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Lebaeus (Thadaeus), Simon (Canaanite), Judas Iscariot

I looked up a few of them in the bible dictionary and found these interesting facts:

James & John:  I never caught that the Savior called these two “the sons of thunder” in Mark 3:17.  How cool is that?  I would take that as a nickname from the Savior.

Bartholomew: He is also possibly Nathanael, who is spoken of as being an apostle.  His name means, “God has given”.

Thomas: His name means “twin”, which is the Greek word Didymus.

An Apostle is one who is sent forth.  The calling of an Apostle is to be a special witness of Jesus Christ.  Twelve of these constitute an administrative council in the ministry.  This council is equal in authority to the first presidency.

The Savior gave the Apostles instructions before he sent them out to preach.  The Savior gave them specific direction on whom to preach to.  He instructed them to freely use their priesthood power to bless and serve others.  He gave specific instructions to help them focus on the spiritual matters and not temporal matters.  Knowing that the work of Apostleship would be dangerous, he told them to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves”.  He taught them to rely on the Spirit.  He taught them to be bold and fearless.

It was a magnificent event when Peter, James & John were called by the Savior.  I thought Peter’s reaction was a sign of humility.  He immediately expressed his weak immortal state, which could be perceived as the first fruits of repentance.  He and James and John then immediately left all and followed the Savior.  I think this incident was much more than just a miracle for the eyes.  The spirit of the Lord must have been very strong for them to make such a drastic decision.  I think I could be more like them by doing all that is asked of me by the servants of our Father in Heaven.  I think my devotion could be better shown by living the Gospel principles fully.  I also think that the more in tune with the spirit I am, the better I will recognize when the Lord is calling for my service.