Gospel Figures

Mary Magdalene was one of Jesus’ most celebrated disciples.She was particularly famous, according to Mark 16:9–10 and John 20:14–17, for being the first person to see the resurrected Christ.

Nicodemus was an esteemed rabbi who had a favorable view of Jesus, but who kept his admiration of Jesus a secret. He is met three times in the Gospel of John, most prominently in a dialogue with Jesus (that provides the context for the famed verse of John 3:16).

Onesimus was the slave on whose behalf Paul wrote his letter to Philemon. The name, which means “useful,” was a common one in New Testament times, particularly for a slave.

Pontius Pilate was the Roman prefect (governor) of Judea, a subprovince of Syria, who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. As prefect, Pilate commanded Roman military units, authorized construction projects, arranged for the collection of imperial taxes, and decided civil and criminal cases. 

Salome was a very common name at the time of Jesus, and there were at least two Salomes mentioned in the Gospels. They took very different courses in their lives, one course leading to salvation, and the other to damnation.

Silas is chiefly remembered as the companion of the Apostle Paul who was arrested with him at Philippi (Acts 16:19-40). They were beaten severely and confined in the inner prison, with their feet in stocks. There they sang hymns in the night, and an earthquake shook the prison, and released them. As a result, the jailer and his household became believers.

Simon was from Cyrene, a city with a population close to 5,000 people. The Greeks made Cyrene a trade outpost in the seventh century B.C., and it lay in the region of Cyrenaica, a coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea. 

In Acts, after the early church begins to convert thousands of people to the Christian faith in a matter of days, we meet for a brief time a man by the name of Stephen. He has a short introduction in Acts 6:5 and becomes the first martyr for the Christian faith just one chapter later.

Timothy is an important person in the Bible, known for his close relationship with the Apostle Paul. He appears in the New Testament, where he is featured in two letters Paul wrote to him, called First Timothy and Second Timothy.