Below is a list of people named in the New Testament who had known Jesus directly either as friends, family, or disciples who had direct knowledge of his life or teachings; who were healed by Jesus or had family healed by Jesus and so had direct knowledge of his power; or who had him in their home at some point and so had direct knowledge of him. Not included are people who met him but had no significant interaction as far as we can tell (e.g. Simon the Cyrene), or those who met him only at his trial and did not hear him teach or see him perform miracles (e.g. Pontius Pilate).
The much-disputed letters (Hebrews, 2 & 3 John, 2 Peter) are not included. They also, possibly not coincidentally, have little information to add.
ID | Person | Relationship to Jesus | Reference | Hometown or region |
1-01 | Andrew | Disciple Other points of interest: had formerly been a disciple of John the Baptist | Matthew 4:13, 18 John 1:40, 1:44 (Many references in the texts; the ones listed help locate his home) | On the sea of Galilee, from Bethsaida near Capernaum |
1-02 | Bar Timaeus | Healed by Jesus | Mark 10:46 and parallels | Jericho |
1-03 | Bartholomew | Disciple | Matthew 10:3 among others | |
1-04 | Cleopas | Follower; probably also friend of disciples in that he knew where to find them when they were in hiding. Saw Jesus and spoke with him after his resurrection at least twice, once on the road to Emmaus and again later the same evening back in Jerusalem. | Luke 24:13-33 | |
1-05 | Jairus | Father of a girl that Jesus raised from the dead Other point of interest: synagogue ruler | Mark 5:22 and parallels | |
1-06 | James, son of Alphaeus | Disciple | Matthew 10:3 among others | |
1-07 | James, brother of Jesus | Jesus’ brother | Mark 6:3-4 and others | Nazareth |
1-08 | James, son of Zebedee | Disciple | Matthew 4:13, 21 | Originally from Capernaum or its vicinity. |
1-09 | Joanna | Follower and financial supporter | Luke 8:1-3 | Wife of Chuza who was Herod’s steward, so may have been in Herod's household |
1-10 | John, son of Zebedee | Disciple | Matthew 4:13, 21 among many others | Originally from Capernaum or its vicinity. |
1-11 | John the Baptist | Cousin / forerunner | See Luke 1:39-40, John 1:28 | Hill country of Judah, later on banks of the river Jordan. |
1-12 | Joseph (aka Barsabbas and Justus) | Disciple | Acts 1:21-23 | |
1-13 | Joseph | Jesus’ father / step-father | Matthew and Luke birth narratives | Nazareth |
1-14 | Joseph, son of Joseph | Jesus’ brother (or step-brother / half-brother) | Mark 6:3-4 and others | Nazareth |
1-15 | Joseph of Arimathea | Disciple | Matthew 27:57 | Arimathea |
1-16 | Judas, son of James | Disciple | Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13 | |
1-17 | Judas, son of Joseph | Jesus’ brother | Mark 6:3-4 and others | Nazareth |
1-18 | Judas Iscariot | Disciple | Matthew 10:3 among others | |
1-19 | Lazarus | Raised from the dead by Jesus; referred to by Jesus as a friend; known to the disciples. | John 11:1-44 and John 12:1-10. | Bethany |
1-20 | Malchus | Healed by Jesus. Other point of interest: Servant of the high priest, wounded during Jesus' arrest. | John 18:10-11 | |
1-21 | Martha of Bethany | Hosted Jesus; was also sister to Lazarus who was raised from the dead. | Luke 10; John 11-12 | Bethany |
1-22 | Mary | Jesus’ mother | Numerous | Nazareth, at least for a time. |
1-23 | Mary Magdalene | Follower Beneficiary of a healing and financial supporter. | Mark 15:40-41 Luke 8:1-3 | Probably originally from Magdala |
1-24 | Mary of Bethany | Hosted Jesus; was also sister to Lazarus who was raised from the dead. | Luke 10; John 11-12 | Bethany |
1-25 | Mary the mother of James and Joses | Follower | Mark 15:40-41 | |
1-26 | Matthew / Levi | Disciple | Matthew 9:9 among others | Vicinity of Capernaum |
1-27 | Matthias | Disciple | Acts 1:21-23 | |
1-28 | Nathanael | Disciple | John 1:45-51, John 21:2 | Cana |
1-29 | Nicodemus | Met with Jesus. Other point of interest: member of Sanhedrin. | John 3:1-21 | May have lived in Jerusalem |
1-30 | Peter (also known as Simon and Cephas) | Disciple | Matthew 4:13, 18John 1:40, 1:44 | On the sea of Galilee, from Bethsaida near Capernaum |
1-31 | Philip | Disciple | John 1:43-44 | Bethsaida in Galilee |
1-32 | Salome | Follower | Mark 15:40-41 | |
1-33 | Simon, son of Joseph | Jesus’ brother | Mark 6:3-4 and others | Nazareth |
1-34 | Simon the Leper | Hosted Jesus at dinner in his home | Matthew 26:6 and parallels | Bethany |
1-35 | Simon the Zealot | Disciple | Matthew 10:4, Acts 1:13 | |
1-36 | Susanna | Follower and financial supporter. | Luke 8:1-3 | |
1-37 | Thaddaeus | Disciple | Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18 | |
1-38 | Thomas | Disciple | Matthew 10:3 among others | |
1-39 | Zacchaeus the tax collector | Hosted Jesus in his home | Luke 19:1-9 | Jericho |
There are times when I leave the location blank even though an inference seems fairly obvious. I would generally prefer that my ideas of what is 'obvious' should be double-checked by someone with more historical background in that era and culture. A 'location' listed in this table has some direct evidence behind it.
3 comments:
Thanks for posting this!
Interesting. This could be used to assign early Christians a "Jesus number", sort of the way mathematicians have an Erdos number. Or maybe I'm just a nerd.
Hi Tony-Allen: Thank you for the encouragement.
Hi Bruce: Well, y'know, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool nerd myself. The next post in this series has the "two degree" people known from Scripture. I've got the research done, just finishing the write-up at the moment ...
Take care & God bless
Anne / WF
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