Jesus chose twelve men from a larger number who were following Him.

  SIMON PETER…he would become a leader in the early church and write two letters (1 Peter and 2 Peter), he may be the one Mark took his material from for Mark’s gospel.

ANDREW…another leader who continually brought people to Jesus.

JAMES…a brother to John.  James would be beheaded because he was Jesus’ apostle.

JOHN…brother to James.  John was a leader in the early church and would live the longest.  He wrote the gospel of John, the three letters of John, and the book of Revelation.

PHILIP…another leader in the early church.

BARTHOLOMEW (Nathanael) was a student of the Old Testament.

MATTHEW…a tax collector.  Matthew wrote the gospel of Matthew.

THOMAS…a skeptic.  He wanted proof for his faith.  And he was given proof of the resurrected Jesus…the nail prints in Jesus’ hands were shown to Thomas.

JAMES…son of Alphaeus.  He was a disciple/apostle…and little else is known.

SIMON…the zealot.  He too was a disciple/apostle, and like James, little is known.

JUDAS…son of James.  Another name he was known by: Thaddeus.  He too is obscure.
These eleven disciples were all from Galilee.  Galilee was in the north of Israel.

JUDAS ISCARIOT…who became a traitor.  He was from south of Judah in Israel.  Judas betrayed Jesus and later had remorse (but did not repent) and hung himself.
Remorse is far different from repentance.  Remorse is being deeply sorry for what you have done or not done.  Repentance is admitting your wrong to God and asking His forgiveness.  Then turning from your sin and turning to God.

For when God forgives, He forgets the sin!  And so should you.
(NASB) 1 John 1:8-9 “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

When you work in a place where there is mud, or filth, or other messy substances…you become dirty.  That is what sin is like, it is filth.
God sees you in the same way until you confess your sins and ask His forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ’s work on the cross.

Wouldn’t Jesus’ spilled blood be a wasted effort if God did not forget your confessed sins?
(NIV) Micah 7:19 “You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot
and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

Good News!  You are forgiven and God has forgotten those confessed sins.
(NIV) Hebrews 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness
And will remember their sins no more.”