This is Part III of the short version of Gospel Lists which deals with “some beings, some places and some things gospel.” Part III of Gospel Lists contains three lists: list of gospel characters, list of the greatest commandments and list of the first twelve apostles of Christ.
LIST: GOSPEL CHARACTERS
This list contains the names of gospel characters who played a significant part in the gospel stories.
Main Character
- Jesus Christ (with God the Father and the Holy Spirit) who was the central figure of the gospel stories
Supporting Characters
- Mary - The mother of Jesus; The only gospel character who was with Jesus during his birth and death
- Joseph - The legal or foster father of Jesus
- Gabriel - The angel of God who announced to Mary that she will be God’s mother
- Three Magi - Known also as the three kings; The three learned men from the east who followed the celestial signal of a star that informed them a king will be born for the Jews and led them to Bethlehem
- Herod “the Great” - The king who ordered the massacre of male children aged two years and below in Bethlehem during the birth of Jesus Christ
- Elizabeth - The cousin of Mary and the mother of John the Baptist
- John the Baptist - The prophet who “prepared the way” for the Lord Jesus
- Simeon - The devout man who presided over the purification ceremony of infant Jesus in the temple; The God-fearing man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel and who was given an assurance by the Holy Spirit that he will not die until he sees the messiah
- Nicodemus - The Jewish leader to whom Jesus revealed the reason for God’s plan of salvation
- Peter - One of the first two disciples of Christ and the leader of the first twelve apostles of Christ; The name given by Jesus Christ to Simon, which meant “rock”; The rock upon which Christ built his church
- John - The beloved disciple; Often describe as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”
- First Apostles of Christ - Made up of Simon called Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Patriot and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus
- Mary and Martha - Dear friends of Jesus whose dead brother named Lazarus was raised to life by Jesus
- Mary Magdalene - The faithful follower who witnessed the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Christ
- Bartimaeus - The blind man whom Jesus healed because of his gut-level faith
- Zacchaeus - The tax collector with whom Jesus ate a meal in his house and, consequently, who became a repentant sinner and a true son Abraham
- Samaritan Woman - The woman near Jacob’s well with whom Jesus had a conversation which revealed that Jesus ignored the prejudices of his time in order to save people from sin since salvation was (and is) for all
- Caiaphas - The High Priest who planned the killing of Jesus
- Pontius Pilate - The Roman governor of Judea who presided over the trial of Jesus and gave in to the demand of a mob – led by the religious authorities – who wanted Jesus to be crucified
- Herod (Herod Antipas) - The king who ordered the beheading of John the Baptist and who became a friend of Pilate after the latter gave the former the chance to interact with Jesus personally during the trial of Jesus
- People of the Holy Land during the time of Jesus
LIST: GREATEST COMMANDMENTS
The two greatest commandments were given by Jesus in response to the question asked by one of the teachers of religious laws of his time.
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) - This is the greatest commandment. One’s spoken and written words, one’s thoughts, one’s feelings and one’s actions must be motivated by the love of God. However wonderful, amazing, great or heroic all of one’s spoken and written words, all of one’s thoughts, all of one’s feelings and all of one’s actions, if they are not motivated by the love of God, they do not amount to anything until God, in his wisdom, goodness and compassion, decides they amount to something good.
- “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31) - This is the second greatest commandment and it is directly related to the love of God. Inversely, love of God without love of neighbor is not love of God. There are many ways by which God manifests himself to humanity, and the most common manifestation is through one’s neighbor: the most vulnerable in society, the orphans and the widows, the children and the elderly, the people in need of God, the individuals with special needs, the homeless and so on. In short, God commands us to love our neighbor because if we love our neighbor, we are loving God.
LIST: FIRST TWELVE APOSTLES of CHRIST
The list contains the names of the first twelve apostles of Christ. The word apostle is often associated with the term disciple. It means a follower, and in the case of the first twelve, it means a special follower who attends to the needs of his leader. Judas Iscariot is a perfect exception.
- Simon who was named Peter by Christ
- Andrew the brother of Simon
- John, son of the Zebedee and the beloved disciple
- James the Greater and the brother of John
- Philip
- Bartholomew
- Thomas
- Matthew who was a tax collector
- James the Lesser and the son of Alpheus
- Thaddaeus
- Simon the Patriot
- Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus
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Note: Bible Verses Reference for the “LIST: GREATEST COMMANDMENTS” - NLT 2013
