What happened to the twelve apostles?

Scripture tells us surprisingly little about how the apostles' lives ended. Judas Iscariot "went and hanged himself" after betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:5), and Matthias took his place. James the son of Zebedee was the first of the Twelve to be martyred, around AD 44, when King Herod Agrippa I "killed James the brother of John with the sword" (Acts 12:2). Jesus told Peter that "when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee," which John explains was "signifying by what death he should glorify God" (John 21:18-19), widely understood as a reference to crucifixion. John was exiled to "the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God" (Revelation 1:9). Beyond these, we rely on early church tradition, which varies in reliability and should be held more loosely than Scripture. Tradition holds that Peter was crucified in Rome under Nero in the 60s, with later accounts adding that he asked to be crucified upside down. Andrew is said to have been crucified at Patras in Greece, and the X-shaped cross linked with him comes from later medieval tradition. John is the one apostle traditionally said to have died of old age, at Ephesus. Thomas is remembered as carrying the gospel to India, where he is said to have been martyred near modern Chennai, and Christians in India still trace their roots to him. Traditions about the rest are less certain and often conflict: Bartholomew in Armenia or India, Matthew in Ethiopia or Persia, Philip at Hierapolis in Asia Minor, and Simon the Zealot and Thaddaeus in Persia. What is clear from Scripture is that these once-fearful men became bold witnesses who faced hardship and death rather than deny that they had seen the risen Lord.

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