Rev Gav

Team

Luke 6:12-16

Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles

¹² One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. ¹³ At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:

¹⁴ Simon (whom he named Peter),
Andrew (Peter’s brother),
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
¹⁵ Matthew,
Thomas,
James (son of Alphaeus),
Simon (who was called the zealot),
¹⁶ Judas (son of James),
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).

Reflect

Jesus retreated to a quiet place to pray. He headed up a mountain to spend the night alone with God. Then, the next day, he came back down the mountain, and out of all his disciples, he chose twelve to be what Luke called ‘apostles’.

Firstly, it’s worth noting that twelve was a significant number. There were twelve tribes of Israel, and Jesus chose twelve disciples to be apostles because he wanted people to make the connection between his new kingdom and the nation of Israel. In other words, Jesus had come to represent the whole nation of Israel and there was a symbolic apostle for each tribe. Secondly, they were called apostles to distinguish them from the rest of the disciples. Disciple means ‘pupil of a teacher’ whereas apostle literally means ‘one sent with a message’, a bit like an ambassador for Jesus.

It’s also worth noting that Jesus’ apostles were quite a mix of people. Amongst them were ordinary fishermen that didn’t belong to any political faction. Bible scholars are pretty sure that Matthew was ‘Levi’ the tax collector — and we know that tax collectors colluded with the Romans. Then there was Simon who was a Zealot, the nationalist rebels in Israel who hated the Romans and wanted people to rise up and overthrow the Romans by force. And finally there was Judas who ended up betraying Jesus a few years later.

If you can be encouraged by anything in this Bible passage, be encouraged that Jesus’ disciples, and these twelve apostles, were both ordinary and from diverse backgrounds. Also, they weren’t perfect! In the same way that Jesus chose his apostles, be encouraged that God has chosen you.

But let’s get back to Jesus. When Jesus had a major decision to make, he needed to spend time alone, to seek God, and to have space to Reflect, and if Jesus — the Son of God — needed to do this, then perhaps we do too?

Do

Today, if you have some big decisions to make, don’t just spend time seeking advice from friends and thinking it through with your best buddies. Like Jesus, try and spend some time alone with God — to seek God, to pray, and to listen.

Pray

Holy God
Thank you for choosing me and for
allowing me to be part of your plan for the world.
Help me find time to be alone with you.
Help me to pull myself away from
my screen, my work, and all my distractions.
Help me to hear your voice
that I might know your will for my life.
This day and forever.
Amen.

Think

Why do you think Jesus chose this diverse ‘twelve’ to be his apostles rather than choosing people of wealth, status, or power?