2  Common Men, Uncommon Calling—Part 1: Introduction  (Luke 6:12–13)

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles. (6:12–13)

Throughout redemptive history, God has chosen ordinary people to do extraordinary things, a truth that the apostle Paul emphasized in 1 Corinthians 1:20–29:

God chose Abraham, an idolater (Josh. 24:2), to be His friend (Isa. 41:8) and the father physically of Israel (Isa. 51:2; Luke 1:73; John 8:56) and spiritually of believing Gentiles (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7). Joseph entered Egypt as a slave, rose in God’s providence to be the prime minister (Gen. 41:39–44; 45:9, 26), and was used by God to preserve His people (Gen. 45:7; 50:20).After spending forty years in exile in the land of Midian (Acts 7:23, 30), Moses, the murderer, was used by God to deliver Israel from bondage in Egypt. A harlot named Rahab from the destroyed Canaanite city of Jericho became an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5) and an example of a faithful believer (Heb. 11:31). David went from being a lowly shepherd to delivering Israel from the Philistines by killing Goliath, and eventually became Israel’s greatest king. And despite living in the wilderness (Luke 1:80), wearing rough clothing, and eating a wild diet (Matt. 3:4), John the Baptist was declared by our Lord the greatest man who ever lived (Matt. 11:11).

Consistent with that pattern, when Jesus chose twelve men to be His official representatives, He chose common, ordinary men. The Twelve were not from the established religious elite; none were Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, Levites, rabbis, or scribes. None were exceptionally wealthy (with the possible exception of Matthew, who gained what he had by extorting his fellow Israelites). Nor were the apostles chosen from the intellectual elite—the Old Testament scholars; the literate; highly educated; the theologically astute. Instead, they were “uneducated and untrained men,” noteworthy only for” having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Several were fishermen, one was a tax collector and hence a traitor to his people, another was a political revolutionary. All except for Judas Iscariot were Galileans, scorned as unsophisticated and uncouth by the more cultured Judeans. Yet the lives and ministries of these men (minus Judas Iscariot and including Paul) would change the course of history.

Before examining each of these men in detail in the next few chapters, some general background information is in order. This introductory chapter will therefore discuss the setting for the Lord’s choosing of the Twelve, His selecting them, His sending of them as His official representatives, and conclude by looking at their significance.

THE SETTING

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. (6:12)

The word time does not refer to calendar time, such as a specific day week, or month, but is a general term for season, era, or period. It describes here the time of Christ’s intensifying conflict with the scribes and Pharisees. They first appeared in Luke’s account in 5:17, and their hostility toward Jesus quickly manifested itself (v. 21). Since that first incident, their opposition to Him had been steadily escalating (v 30; 6:2, 7, 11). In view of that mounting hostility, which would culminate in His execution less than two years later, the time had come for Jesus to choose the men who would carry on His earthly ministry after His death. He knew that they needed intensive preparation and training in the time remaining before the cross for their roles as His official representatives.

Recognizing the critical importance of His choice of these men, Jesus went off to the mountain alone to pray (cf. 5:16). The specific mountain on which the Lord prayed is not known, but there were many in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee. In His humanity, having set aside the independent use of his divine attributes (Phil. 2:5–8), Jesus sought the Father’s will in choosing the Twelve. So important was this decision to the future course of redemptive history that Jesus spent the whole night in prayer to God. Dianuktereu?n (meaning, “to spend the whole night”) appears only here in the New Testament. It denotes an activity that continues throughout an entire night. The Greek phrase translated in prayer to God is an unusual construction, and could be translated “in the prayer of God.” Jesus spent the long hours of darkness in unceasing, fervent, persevering, inter-Trinitarian prayer to the Father before selecting the twelve apostles.

THE SELECTING

And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, (6:13a)

In answer to our Lord’s fervent, night-long intercession, God revealed His will as to which of the disciples were to be selected for special training and apostolic commissioning. Therefore when day came, Jesus called His disciples to Him. Disciples translates the plural form of mathētēs, which means, “student,” “follower,” or “learner.” In Greek and Jewish culture prominent rabbis, orators, philosophers, or teacherswould attract followers, who would travel with them from place to place. Because of His powerful, unparalleled teaching (John 7:46; Matt. 7:28–29), ability to heal any disease, cast out demons, raise the dead, and perform other miracles (e.g., 5:4–9; Matt. 14:14–21, 25–32; 15:32–38; John 21:5–11), the Lord Jesus Christ attracted a large number of disciples. Those with Him in the grain fields (6:1), for example, would have included more than merely the Twelve, who had not yet been chosen. The miraculous feedings of the five thousand and four thousand men (which would also have included thousands of women and children) indicate the vast size of the crowds that followed Jesus (cf. 12:1).Not all, of course, were genuine followers. Unwilling to accept the demands of following Christ (John 6:53–65), “many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (v. 66).

Out of the large group of disciples, some of whom came to Him on their own and others that He specifically called to follow Him (5:8–11, 27–28), Jesus chose twelve of them. As He would later remind them, “You did not choose Me but I chose you” (John 15:16; cf. 6:70; 13:18). Although Jesus chose the Twelve at this time, He did not officially commission them and grant them authority to heal and cast out demons until later (Luke 9:1).

That the Lord chose twelve men is not random, because that number was symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel. The importance of the number was underscored by the addition of Matthias to take Judas’s place (Acts 1:23–26). Since Israel and its leaders were apostate, the Twelve were to serve as the leaders of the new, true Israel of God—the redeemed, believing remnant. Jesus made that connection clear in Luke 22:29–30 when he told the Twelve that they would reign over Israel in the millennial kingdom: “Just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

There are four lists of the twelve apostles in the New Testament (cf. Matt. 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Acts 1:13). The names on all the lists appear in three groups of four, always in the same order, though the names in each group may be shuffled (except for the list in Acts, which omits Judas Iscariot, who had by that time committed suicide). These groups are arranged in order of decreasing intimacy with Christ. The first group consists of two pairs of brothers: Peter and James, and John and Andrew; the second of Philip, Bartholomew (Nathanael), Matthew, and Thomas; the last of James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot. Peter’s name is always first in all four lists, and Judas Iscariot’s last (except in Acts). The order of the names within each group sometimes varies, but Peter’s name, as noted, is always first in group one, Philip’s is always first in group two, and James the sonof Alphaeus’s always heads group three. Those in group one, Peter, James, John, and Andrew, were the first four called by Jesus to be His disciples (John 1:35–42), the most intimate with Him, and those about whom the most is known. While there is some information about those in group two, very little is known about group three.

The Twelve were a diverse group, not only in their occupations, as noted above, but also in their political views. Matthew and Simon, for instance, could not have been further apart. Matthew was a tax collector, a traitor who served the Roman occupiers by exploiting his own people. Simon, on the other hand, was a member of the Zealots, a faction radically opposed to Rome. Some of them, known as the Sicarii for the concealed daggers they carried, were terrorists. They resorted to kidnapping or even murdering Romans and Jews they suspected of being loyal to Rome. Were it not for their common devotion to Jesus Christ, Simon may well have murdered Matthew. It was that same devotion that molded all twelve men, different as they were in occupation, temperament, and political views, into a cohesive unit.

THE SENDING

whom He also named as apostles (6:13b)

Having chosen the Twelve, Jesus named or designated them apostles. Apostolos (“apostle”) refers to a messenger, ambassador, or representative invested with the full authority of the one who sent him. The concept of an apostle can be traced to the Jewish concept of the shaliach, which also referred to a messenger sent with full authority to act on behalf of another. Some rabbis, for example, were sent to the Diaspora (Jews living outside of Palestine) with authority to act on behalf of the Sanhedrin on various matters. A shaliach could also act on behalf of an individual, similar to the modern-day legal concept of power of attorney Thus in Jewish practice, the shaliach was the same as the one who sent him (cf. John 13:20; Gal. 4:14). David, for example, proposed marriage to Abigail through messengers, and she signified her acceptance of his proposal by washing their feet (1 Sam. 25:40–42). Jesus’ designating the Twelve to act on His behalf would thus have been understood by everyone in that culture.

But before being sent out by Jesus, the Twelve needed to be personally mentored by Him. Mark 3:14 notes that the Lord chose them “so that they would be with Him.” Only after that time of preparation did He “send them out to preach.” Their call to be apostles was not an end in itself, but merely the next step in the sequential process of preparingthem to carry on Christ’s gospel ministry after His death. First, they believed in Him (cf. John 1:35–51). Second, He called them to leave their occupations and follow Him full time (Luke 5:6–11, 27–28).Third, He chose them to be apostles. Fourth, He sent them to preach the gospel to Israel (Matt. 10:1–6). Finally, He sent them out to evangelize the world (Acts 1:8). Because of their central role in the ministry of the gospel to Israel, Luke mentions them six times in his gospel. But emphasizing their foundational role in the church, he mentions them almost thirty times in Acts.

THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

Despite their crucial role in the church and their proclamation of the saving message of the New Covenant, the apostles are often not given their due honor. Peter, James, and John, the three closest to the Lord, are the most familiar. Matthew (because of his gospel), Andrew, and Philip are less well known. Thomas, regrettably, is remembered chiefly for doubting Christ’s resurrection (though there was far more to his story than that, as will be seen in chapter 7 of this volume), while Judas Iscariot, of course, is infamous for betraying Christ. The rest of the apostles are largely unknown; in fact, many Christians could not even name Bartholomew (Nathanael), James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. Yet all the apostles deserve respect for the vital ministry they performed—and they will be honored throughout eternity by having their names inscribed on the gates of the glorious city of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14).

The apostles were important for at least six reasons. First, as noted above, they were the foundation of the church. In Ephesians 2:20 Paul wrote that the church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.”

Second, the apostles received revelation “which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit” (Eph. 3:5).The entire New Testament was written by the apostles or their close associates. And before the New Testament was written, the believers “were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching” (Acts 2:42). That teaching, as recorded in the New Testament, is still the only authoritative source of doctrine.

Third, the apostles were given to edify the church. According to Ephesians 4:11–12 God “gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.”

Fourth, not only was their doctrine authoritative, but also their lives were exemplary Ephesians 3:5 calls them the “holy apostles,” leading Paul to exhort believers to be imitators of him (1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1; 1 Thess. 1:6).

Fifth, the apostles were given miraculous power to confirm their message. The marks of a true apostle, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, were “signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12). He reminded the Romans that he had carried out his ministry “in the power of signs and wonders” (Rom. 15:19). The writer of Hebrews noted that the message of salvation “was confirmed to us by those who heard [the apostles], God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will”(Heb.2:3–4).

Finally, the apostles were greatly blessed (Luke 18:28–30) as they will be in eternity (Rev. 21:12–14).

But despite their privileges and importance, the apostles were by no means perfect; they were ordinary men, not stained-glass saints. They had several major weaknesses which the Lord had to correct.

First, they were obtuse and lacking in spiritual understanding, for which Jesus repeatedly rebuked them:

Are you still lacking in understanding also? (Matt. 15:16)

Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matt. 16:9–11)

Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? (Mark 8:17)

Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:13. See also Mark 9:32; Luke 9:45; 18:34; John 12:16; 20:9.)

The Lord remedied the apostles’ ignorance by continually teaching them the truth (cf. Luke 24:45). Even after His resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with them “speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

Second, the apostles lacked humility They were, frankly, egotistical, self-centered, and proud, focused on who among them was the greatest. On one occasion Jesus “began to question them, ‘What were you discussing on the way?’ But they kept silent, for on the way they haddiscussed with one another which of them was the greatest” (Mark 9:33–34). On another occasion

Even the Lord’s dramatic announcement at the Last Supper that He would be betrayed was followed by “a dispute among [the apostles] as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). James and John angled for the most prominent places in the kingdom by having their mother approach Jesus on their behalf (Matt. 20:20–21). Jesus responded to the apostles’ self-seeking pride by setting an example of humility for them to follow (John 13:1–15).

Third, the apostles were weak in faith. Fearing that their boat would be swamped, they cried out, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” (Matt. 8:25). Jesus’ response was a rebuke for their inability to trust: “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” (v. 26). When Peter began to sink after joining Jesus in walking on the Sea of Galilee, “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’“ (Matt. 14:31). The Lord also rebuked the apostles’ lack of faith in Matthew 16:8, demanding of them, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?” Jesus responded to the apostles’ doubt by performing miracles to strengthen their faith (cf. John 20:30–31).

Fourth, the apostles’ (especially Peter [Matt. 26:69–75]) deserting of Jesus when He was arrested (Mark 14:50) demonstrates their lack of commitment. The Lord’s answer for that sinful weakness was to pray for the apostles to remain faithful (Luke 22:31–32; John 17:11–26).

Finally, the apostles lacked power. Puzzled by their inability to cast out a demon they asked Jesus, “Why could we not drive it out?” (Matt. 17:19). Jesus remedied their lack of spiritual power by sending them the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

Humanly speaking, then, the Twelve hardly seemed qualified for the momentous task to which Jesus had called them. But God uses less than adequate people, because that is all He has to work with. After being delivered from the unprecedented catastrophe of the worldwide flood, Noah got drunk and disgraced himself (Gen. 9:20–21). Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel and spiritual father of believing Gentiles, lied about Sarah. Fearing that the Egyptians would kill him and seize her if they knew she was his wife, he pretended she was his sister (Gen.12:12–13). Later, his son Isaac did the same thing with his wife Rebekah (Gen. 26:7). Jacob extorted his brother Esau’s birthright from him (Gen. 25:30–33). Moses’ prideful disobedience of God’s command kept him from entering the Promised Land (Num. 20:10–12). Aaron, Israel’s first high priest, led the people into idolatry and immorality (Ex. 32:1–24). Joshua made a treaty with some of the inhabitants of Canaan, which the Lord had forbidden Israel to do (Josh. 9:3–27). David, Israel’s greatest king, the “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), and the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2Sam. 23:1), committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11:1–4) and then murdered her husband in an attempt to cover up her resulting pregnancy (vv. 14–15). After his triumph over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah fled in abject fear from one woman (1 Kings 19:1–3). Isaiah confessed himself to be “a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Jonah disobeyed God’s command to go to Nineveh and proclaim judgment (Jonah 1:1–2), and instead fled in the opposite direction. After being cast overboard in a raging storm and spending three days in the stomach of a huge sea creature (vv. 15–17), the reluctant prophet obeyed God’s original mandate (3:1–3). But when the people of Nineveh repented, instead of rejoicing, Jonah became angry and wanted to die (4:1–3). Even the apostle Paul proclaimed himself to be the foremost of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15) and “the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because [he] persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:9).

Jesus knew the apostles’ weaknesses, faults, and shortcomings. But He also saw in them the potential under His power to change the world. These twelve common men received the most noble of all callings, the ministry of the New Covenant, proclaiming the glorious truth of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. But like all ministers of the New Covenant, they had “this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power [would] be of God and not from [themselves]”(2 Cor. 4:7).