Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this Wednesday,
Have you ever been selected to be on a team which was for you was such a powerful experience that it changed your life? Maybe it was a sports team; or perhaps a work team; or maybe even a team of people who traveled abroad to do something significant? In our journey with Jesus, today let’s watch Jesus prepare to select His TEAM!
In the weeks since Jesus started doing His miracles and speaking publicly the crowds grew very rapidly whenever word spread that Jesus was in town, any town! (Mark 3:7,8) It should not be difficult for us to understand why or to imagine what it looked like. We are very familiar with popular people whether athletes or musicians or actors or even politicians. Some popular people hire security guards to protect them from an adoring public. In Jesus’ case, the time had come for Him to select from the crowds, those few men who would form His team. These men would travel with Him full time, learning from Him.
Of course, NONE of the people who found Jesus fascinating had any idea what God’s Redemption Plan really was… nor what Jesus was going to do to accomplish God’s Redemption Plan. Pause: How well do you think you understand the remarkable, very complex PLAN God put together to rescue humanity from our sin bondage and sin condemnation?
It’s the reason God the Father SENT Jesus here to earth!! Already in 2026 how many times have you paused to express your thanks to God for how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have worked together to accomplish rescue for billions of people since the days Jesus walked on this earth?
Not only did the people not understand God’s plan, none of them could imagine that being selected to travel with Jesus would be preparation and training for them to REPRESENT God’s Plan to our world for the rest of their lives after Jesus would return back to heaven! Finally, NONE of these men could possibly imagine that being on Jesus’ team would actually cost them their lives!
But history tells us each of the 12 disciples died a painful, difficult death. A death caused by angry people who fully rejected their message about Jesus! Pause again my friends. Think about that. And think about how many millions of Jesus followers have been martyred since the days that Jesus selected His team, including thousands who will be killed THIS Year around our world, and why? Because they refuse to deny Jesus!
Jesus understood what it would cost the men He selected, none of them had any idea. Jesus knew this selection process needed God the Father’s very clear guidance. There was no application process, no resume requests, no reference checks. The selection Jesus made was based on the combination of what Jesus had experienced in these first several weeks of public ministry and a full night of prayer in which Jesus sought the clear guidance of His heavenly Father. (Luke 6:12)
Think about that. How much prayer do you and I invest in the really important decisions we need to make, especially if our decision affects other people? Jesus knew that for these 12 men, their lives would forever be changed by His invitation!
Mark tells us in Mark 3:14 “Jesus appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” (Mark 3:14) Do you see that their first assignment was to SPEND TIME with Jesus! Why? Of course, because the only way they would be able to understand God’s Redemption Plan, the mission for which Jesus came to earth, was to spend lots of time with Jesus.
The Holy Spirit was going to use several months of TIME with Jesus to help each of these men become like Jesus so they could represent Jesus very well. Do we understand how important TIME with Jesus is, my friends? In 2026 will that be a priority for you and me and will we become more and more like Jesus as we prioritize TIME with HIM? How will that change our lives, our marriages, our families, our reputations?
Luke 6:13 tells us “…Jesus chose twelve of them, whom He designated apostles.“ Bible scholars have concluded the criteria for being an “apostle” of Jesus was three things:
* Personally called by Jesus to be with Him.
* Personally taught and equipped by Jesus to communicate Jesus’ Gospel message.
* Personally commissioned out by Jesus to represent Jesus.
In addition to these twelve, the other man referred to as an ‘apostle’ is Paul, formerly Saul the Pharisee, who had his encounter with Jesus in Acts 9 and Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament.
Now tomorrow we’re going to look at each of these twelve men, whom Jesus selected, and seek to understand why; and what happened to these men as a result of being selected to be on Jesus’ team. For today I suggest you and I spend some time reflecting on what we’ve learned today about this selection process and may I give you three questions to ponder…
1. Has Jesus selected you and me to enter a relationship with Him that not only saves us from our sin condemnation but transforms us into the person God designed you and me to be? If so, how have you and I responded to Jesus’ selection?
2. If TIME with Jesus is so important to God, how much of a priority have you and I made spending time with Jesus? When & where do you and I spend time with Jesus? What do we do with that time?
3. How has being called by Jesus into a relationship with Him and spending time with Him affected who you and I are? How is it affecting our thinking, our emotions, our priorities in life, our decisions, our values, our relationships with other people?
Oh my, so much to reflect on today. I hope you’ll take some focused time with Jesus right now by reviewing the “Lessons Learned” in the “Grand Narrative” link below, and worship with the song I’ve included at the end of our study today. And of course, I’ll be here tomorrow waiting for you as we watch Jesus select His team!
Today’s Scripture: Luke 6:12,13.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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