(Going home from the hospital today!)
Luke 6:12–16 (ESV)
The
Twelve Apostles
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom
he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas
Iscariot, who became a traitor.
If Jesus is God, why is he praying to God? I think there are several reasons. 1) Jesus is God but in his human nature wants to stay in communication with his
Father, In his divine nature... he is in communication with the Father. 2) Through his human nature, he is teaching us the importance of prayer and the need to have an active prayer life. 3) He is teaching us thee need and how to pray by
separating yourself from all the hustle and bustle and pray in solitude.
When he comes down from the mountain, he calls all his disciples together and chose twelve to serve as apostles. We are all disciples
(those who are believers/followers), but we are not all apostles. The word “apostle” comes from the greek work “apostolos” which means “person sent with a commission”. Pastors today are sent (through
the calling process) and are commissioned through the laying on of hands and ordination. Now I'm not putting Pastors in the same category as apostles, but Pastors are set apart from others through their ordination and call from the church.
Jesus comes down from the mountain after praying and picks a motley crew of followers to be called apostles.
1)
Simon (Peter), a fisherman
2) Andrew, a fisherman
3) James, a
fisherman
4) John, a fisherman
5) Philip
6) Bartholomew
7) Matthew, a tax collector
8) Thomas
9) James, son
of Alphaeus
10) Simon, the Zealot
11) Judas the son of James
12) Judas
Iscariot
If we were asked to hire twelve people to serve as apostles, to be honest... these guys would probably not be on the interview list. Jesus knows the hearts of people! A question that always
pops up in my mind is what if Jesus had chosen you? (A humbleing thought) I may be a pastor, but would I have been dead weight, or would I have carried my share of the load. I think of all the missed
opportunities that pop up each day in my own life and wonder if the apostles miss opportunities too??? None of the original twelve asked, applied, or sought their position, but they were "called" by God.
I
pray: O Lord, help me to pray to you and bring my joys and burdens to you. Forgive me when I fail to thank you or give you proper credit. Help to take advantage of sharing the Gospel to all people, and I mean ALL people. I repent
of all pride, racism, and prejudice and help me to love people of all walks of life, shape, or color. Amen.