In
Luke 6:12, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer, for He was about to call His
12 Apostles from among the many disciples who were following Him. You might ask
what is the difference between a disciple of Jesus and an Apostle? A disciple
is a learner, one who “disciplines” him or herself to follow Jesus as an
apprentice. In the New Testament an Apostle is a chosen messenger sent with a
special commission. Jesus had many disciples (see Luke 10:1) but only twelve
handpicked Apostles. It is here in Luke 6:14-16 that Luke gives us their names.
The
names of the Apostles are also given in Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:16-19; and Acts
1:13. Acts, of course only names 11 of them and leaves out Judas Iscariot because
he has committed suicide. In all the lists, Peter is named first and, except in
Acts 1:13, Judas is named last. The Judas in Acts 1:13 is Judas the brother (more
likely "the son") of James, who is also called Thaddeus in Mark 3:18.
It was not unusual for one man to have two or more names.
Simon
received the name Peter (stone) when Andrew brought him to Jesus (John
1:40-42). Bartholomew is the same as Nathanael (John 1:45-49). The other Simon
in the group was nicknamed "Zelotes," which can mean one of two
things. It may mean that he belonged to a group of fanatical Jewish patriots
known as "the Zealots," whose purpose was to deliver Israel from the
tyranny of Rome. Or, perhaps the word Zelotes translates
from the Hebrew word qanna which means "jealous for God, zealous for God's
honor."
Nor
are we sure of the origin of the word Iscariot that is attached to Judas the
traitor. It probably means "man [ish in Hebrew] of Kerioth," a town
in southern Judah (Josh. 15:25). Some connect it with the Aramaic word seqar
which means "falsehood." Thus, "Judas the false one." The
geographical explanation is probably right
What
an interesting group of men! They illustrate what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
1:26-29, and they are an encouragement to us today. After all, if God could use
them, can He not use us? Perhaps seven of them were fishermen (see John
21:1-3), one was a tax collector, and the other four are anonymous as far as
their vocations are concerned. They were ordinary men; their personalities were
different; yet Jesus called them to be with Him, to learn from Him, and to go
out to represent Him (Mark 3:14).
Please
take the time to click on the following link and go to my Pastor Mike Impact
Ministries website and read some very interesting, detailed observations on
these 12 men taken from John Phillip’s commentary on Luke. https://www.pmiministries.org/post/special-notes-on-the-disciples-of-jesus
Why
12 Apostles? Because there were twelve tribes in Israel, and Jesus was forming
the nucleus for a new nation (see Matt. 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9). The first
Christians were Jews because the Gospel came "to the Jew first" (Acts
13:46; Rom. 1:16). Later, the Gentiles were added to the church through the
witness of the scattered Jewish believers (Acts 11:19) and the ministry of
Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. In the church, there is no difference
between Jew and Gentile because we are "all one in Christ Jesus"
(Gal. 3:28).
It
is significant that after Jesus called His 12 Apostles, and before He preached
this great sermon, He took time to heal many needy people. This was a
demonstration of both His power and His compassion. It was also a reminder to
His newly appointed assistants that their job was to share His love and power
with a needy world. It is estimated that there were 300 million people in the
world in Jesus' day, while there are over 8 billion today, four fifths of them
in the less-developed nations. What a challenge to the church!
One
of the greatest callings that you can respond to in life, is “to be on mission
with Jesus” to share the Good News of salvation through His Cross with the lost
and needy world around us!
Yes,
God can use you too!
God
bless!
