Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Selections are something we watch happen as a normal part of life in every part of the world. Political elections are one major selection process with huge ramifications for nations. Athletic selections are often major events as teams recruit the best players and expect to achieve championships.
These days we’ve been following Jesus on His way toward Easter and today let’s spend a few moments considering the selection process that Jesus undertook as He chose 12 men to join Him in the mission for which He came to earth.
As Jesus’ popularity grew, so did the crowds, no matter where He went. While much of the reason Jesus came to earth was a redemption mission only He could accomplish, the long term result of His time here on earth would be accomplished by normal folks just like you and me whose lives would be changed by Jesus and who would then live their lives sharing His story and mission with others.
While this selection process of the 12 disciples was very significant, we only find it recorded in Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16. Dr. Luke reports “…Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and He spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose 12 of them whom He designated ‘apostles’.”
You’ll recall there are recorded for us several times Jesus stepped away from the crowds to pray. It was essential Jesus sought the guidance of God the Father when making strategic decisions which were mission critical, and this was certainly one of those times! All night God the Son, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit met in consultation about this selection decision. Have you thought about WHY? What would be the result of this night of prayer?
Of course these 12 men would be the ones who would have the closest relationship with Jesus for the rest of His earthly life. They would be with Him day and night to Easter weekend, and then He would commission them to take all they learned from Him to the world. After Jesus left planet earth and returned to heaven, it would be these men who spoke and wrote as representatives of Jesus. Each of them would die a martyr’s death, and each would leave a remarkable legacy of impacting the world with Jesus’ story.
History has not treated them equally. Some of course became far more famous than others, but on this day when Jesus selected them, they were each invited into a very special relationship with Jesus and none of them could have predicted what the future would hold for them.
Luke writes that “Jesus called His disciples to Him and chose 12 of them whom He also designated apostles.” ‘Disciples’ was something everyone understood in the first century Roman empire. They were everywhere in almost every vocation. Rabbi’s and all types of educators had followers who studied with them or learned from them but so did carpenters and farmers and tent makers and every other vocational specialty. Most all craftsmen had apprentices as did most successful business owners. An apprentice was a disciple and it was a tried and true method of developing the next generation of craftsmen in every field. An ‘apostle’ however was something different.
An apostle was a disciple who knew they were being groomed for a very special leadership role. Their training would be more intentional, more specific, more full orbed so when the day came and they were commissioned out to fulfill the role for which they’d been trained, the expectation was they would very quickly have disciples around them who would help them accomplish their important mission while they would be be groomed to do the same in their future. Do you see the intentional, multi-generational succession plan?
Now the truth is the four Gospel accounts do not give us equal perspective on these 12 men. In fact some of them are hardly mentioned at all, but let’s not assume they were insignificant. If Jesus spent an entire night discussing this selection process with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, we must assume they each had a very strategic role, even if it is not detailed for us.
Historians have written volumes on the travels of these men as they faithfully took the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of what was the vast Roman Empire and beyond before each of them was finally martyred. Of course as they traveled, those they met and told of Jesus also traveled and they told others what had been told to them. By the end of the second century the spider web of Jesus’ story had reached well down into Africa, east well beyond India, north to the Black Sea and further north, and west all the way to Scandinavia, Great Britain, France, Spain and all of Europe.
I find it interesting the Bible spends virtually no time telling us about the family background, the educational training, or any other pedigree of these 12 men selected by Jesus that day. It’s not important is it? These were ordinary men invited by Jesus to spend several months watching, listening, learning all they could about Jesus and His message. Their lives were changed as they spent time with Jesus, and after His resurrection, anointed by the power of the Holy Spirit these men became impassioned with one life objective: take the message of Jesus to anyone, anywhere and help those people experience the same life transformation they had experienced as they trusted Jesus.
We know of course the risen Jesus also called Saul the Pharisee who became the Apostle Paul, and in the church in Jerusalem 7 men were selected to be Deacons, and in the church in Antioch, others like Barnabas were raised up to be teachers and leaders… and so the world changing movement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread like wildfire across the known world.
This weekend my friends, I invite you to consider the miracle of what has happened in 2000 years since Jesus made His selection that day of those 12 men. Luke tells us in Luke 8:1 “After this Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out, Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household, Susanna and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.”
Down through the centuries, those who have been most effective sharing the story of Jesus have been those normal folks who’ve experienced a personal, powerful, life change as they’ve come to know Jesus! Men, women, teens, even children. Well educated as well as illiterate people. The miracle of the Jesus movement has not been able to be stopped by politics or warfare or persecution or imprisonment or natural disaster or global pandemics of disease.
I invite you this weekend to thank God for those who have helped you know Jesus! Thank Jesus for all HE has done to change your life, and thank Jesus that for the rest of your lifetime, you too can be part of this global phenomenon, followers of Jesus impacting our world with the hope, the truth and the message and the person of Jesus Christ!
Here’s a new song to help you celebrate Jesus this weekend, as you consider this global movement!
Today’s Scripture is Luke 6:12-16.
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 262.441.8785
“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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