I had breakfast with a friend yesterday and we were talking about church based in natural families. He said that some people believe that was how it was with the early disciples as well. If we took all the church traditions seriously, a very family-based picture emerges….

Named Contemporaries of Jesus in the Gospels

The Twelve

• 5 relatives: John, James son of Zebedee, Matthew / Levi, Jude / Thaddeus, James the Less / James son of Alphaeus
• 7 others: Peter, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Nathanael / Bartholomew, Simon the Zealot, Judas Iscariot

Other believers

• 13 relatives: Mary, Joseph, Joses, Elizabeth, Zechariah, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene / Mary of Bethany, Martha, Lazarus, Salome, Clopas / Cleopas / Alphaeus, Mary of Clopas / Mary mother of James, Zebedee
• 11 others: Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Joanna, Susanna, Anna the Prophetess, Simeon, Zacchaeus, Simon of Cyrene, Simon the Leper, Jairus, Bartimaeus

Others

• 19 non-relatives: Herod the Great, Caesar Augustus, Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, Herod Antipas, Herod Archelaus, Philip the Tetrarch, Quirinius, Lysanias, Barabbas, Malchus, Simon the Pharisee, Rufus, Simon Iscariot, Herodias, Chuza, Alexander