Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
When you have a very, very important decision to make, how do you prepare? Yesterday we looked at what Jesus did as He prepared to select His team of men who would BE WITH Him. These 12 men are called Jesus’ disciples in the Gospel accounts. Some of them are very famous, even 2000 years later, a few of them we know very little about.
But Luke 6:12 tells us Jesus spent an entire night praying to God the Father as they discussed who, from among the hundreds in the growing crowds, would be the right men to spend the next several months with Jesus, as Jesus prepared them to be His ‘apostles’. Do you remember I explained to you yesterday that an apostle is a person selected by Jesus, trained by Jesus and sent out by Jesus to represent HIM and bring His Gospel message to the world.
So today let’s watch as morning came and Jesus selected His team of 12 disciples, whom He designated to be apostles. (Luke 6:13) This brief event is recorded in Luke 6:12-16; Mark 3:13-19 and Matthew 10:1-4. Evidently there were many men who were followers of Jesus, sometimes called ‘disciples’ in the early chapters of the Gospels, but on this occasion, Jesus selected 12 and those men left their jobs, their families and focused the next several months, almost full time, traveling with Jesus and being trained by Him. Interestingly the three lists are very similar in order, but because Matthew was an eyewitness, let’s look at his description.
The first disciple in each of the lists is Simon to whom Jesus gave the name Peter, remember? (John 1:42) Peter was a brash, bold, hardworking fisherman who, when anointed by the Holy Spirit, became a bold leader among these disciples and ultimately became the primary apostle to the Jewish people. (Galatians 2:8) No disciple is mentioned more frequently in the Gospels or the story of Acts than Simon Peter.
Second is Peter’s brother Andrew, who met Jesus first and brought his brother Peter to meet Jesus. (John 1:40-42) Andrew is the disciple who also brought the little boy with his lunch to Jesus when Jesus fed 5000 people, remember? (John 6:8,9) And on Palm Sunday Andrew brought to Jesus some Greek men who had come to Jerusalem for Passover and wanted to speak to Jesus. (John 12:20-23) Andrew and his brother Simon Peter were from the town of Bethsaida, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee and were fishermen together. (John 1:44)
James is usually the third disciple listed and identified, almost always, as the brother of John. James & John were sons of Zebedee who evidently employed his sons and friends, Andrew & Simon Peter, in his Sea of Galilee fishing business. James became a key leader of the disciples after Jesus ascended to heaven. James was the first to be martyred, executed by King Herod Agrippa. (Acts 12:1,2)
John, the brother of James, is perhaps the second most famous of all the disciples. He is the author of five books of the New Testament: The Gospel of John; the letters 1,2,3 John and of course, the Revelation. John is presumed to be Jesus’ closest earthly friend, referring to himself in the Gospel of John as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’, not once but five times! John was the only disciple standing with Mary at Jesus’ cross as Jesus entrusted His mother Mary to John for her care. (John 19:25-27) John was the last of the disciples to die, living well into his 90’s and exiled to the remote island of Patmos where John received from Jesus by vision, the book of The Revelation. (Revelation 1:1,2)
Philip is the fifth disciple mentioned and was the first that Jesus called after Jesus returned to Galilee from His baptism. (John 1:43) Philip evidently was quickly convinced Jesus was the Messiah, as he proved by what he told his friend Nathaniel as Philip brought Nathaniel to meet Jesus. (John 1:44,45) Philip was from Bethsaida, the same town as Peter and Andrew. We see Phillip calculating how much it would cost to feed the 5000 people (John 6:5-7) and in the upper room, before Jesus went to the cross, Philip is famous for having said to Jesus “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” (John 14:8-12)
Nathaniel, a close friend of Philip, was brought to meet Jesus by Philip, as I mentioned. (John 1:45) Interestingly Nathaniel is listed in all three Gospel lists of disciples by the name Bartholomew and always he is named immediately after Phillip. Nathaniel is among the seven disciples with whom resurrected Jesus had breakfast after He miraculously filled their empty nets with fish. (John 21:2) Nathaniel was from Cana in Galilee, the place where Jesus turned the water into wine. (John 2:1-11)
And then we come to Matthew, the tax collector whom Jesus invited to follow Him. Matthew is the author of the first book of the New Testament and experienced a very significant life transformation as Matthew followed Jesus.
Thomas, also known as Didymus (John 21:2) is perhaps best known as being the ‘doubter’ who was not present that Easter evening when resurrected Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. Thomas is recorded as saying: “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were… I will not believe.” (John 20:24-29) One week later Jesus appeared to Thomas and Thomas was convinced of Jesus’ resurrection and became a courageous ambassador of Jesus, going as far as India to proclaim the Gospel, according to historical records.
The final four disciples are known by their relationship with their fathers and other than Judas Iscariot, little is recorded about them in the Gospels. James, the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot. Yet historical records tell us each of the twelve, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, were significantly changed by their relationship and their time with Jesus and when powerfully anointed by the Holy Spirit of God at Pentecost, (Acts 2:1-4) they took their commissioning seriously and eventually spread out across the Roman empire taking the story of Jesus, for the rest of their lives, to the farthest corners of the Empire!
Twelve ordinary men whose lives and legacies were changed by Jesus selecting them to be His team of disciples and then spending several months, every day with Jesus, as He walked from town to town in Israel, bringing God’s message of hope. Let’s pause to consider these questions as we close today:
1. How long have you known Jesus? How would you describe your relationship with Him and how has that relationship affected your life?
2. As we move into 2026, what priority will you give your relationship with Jesus? How will you measure that priority in TIME or how Jesus affects your values, your choices, your lifestyle?
3. When your earthly life is concluded, how will Jesus fit into your personal life legacy?
Oh my, those are stirring questions, aren’t they? And when combined with the “Lessons Learned” notes at the “Grand Narrative” link below, I think you’ll find yourself drawn to some very helpful personal reflection with Jesus! As always, I have found a wonderful worship song, and I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Matt. 10:1-4.
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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