there were 12 apostles and numerous disciples.

An APOSTLE is an ambassador of the Gospel, basically a teacher. A DISCIPLE is a pupil, a student, a follower. Jesus chose an original 'inner circle' of twelve disciples, who were themselves to 'make disciples' i.e. followers of 'all nations' (see Matthew 28:18-20). Thus there would eventually be many disciples of Jesus. The term 'apostollos' in Greek from which we get our word Apostle from, literally means 'one sent forth.' This is close to the meaning above. Apparently both terms were used while Jesus was on the earth. Luke 6:13 (King James Version) 13And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_disciple_and_an_apostle#ixzz1KVP3CVhS

That is too big a question to answer in just a simple comment, so I will re-direct you to some sites. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_disciple_and_an_apostle http://ask.yahoo.com/20030418.html http://conservativecolloquium.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/is-there-a-difference-between-an-apostle-and-a-disciple/