The Twelve
10/12/23
John 15:16: “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
These are the words of Jesus as He is addressing His disciples, His apostles, His friends. He wants the twelve to know that it was He that chose them and not the other way around. That was the standard practice in this time; a student would find a Rabbi and say, “I want to follow you.” Not so with Jesus. He approached each one of the 12 and said, “Follow me!” He WANTED them! And they followed. He is calling them into a very intimate discipleship role with Him. Discipleship is a WHO before a WHAT! Jesus is that WHO! And as such He has authority. These men have seen him demonstrate that authority over sickness and disease, over demons and religious rulers, and over them. Not just to call them, and they respond, but also in the ability to change names: “You are Simon, you are now going to be called Peter. You are Levi, you are now going to be called Matthew.” Now they are in a new group, a new community, a diverse group with only Jesus as the common denominator. What do they all have in common??? They were all called by Christ and they all followed. For what purpose: To be transformed by Jesus, to be able to cast out demons and to share the good news that the Messiah is here and His name is Jesus. Who are these twelve? Let’s take a closer look.
Mark 3:13-19:
So, right off the bat, if we look at this group from the 30,000 ft. view, we see a rather divergent group of men. Yes, surrounding and being held together by Jesus, but they are all together, without much in common other than they are Jewish men. There are two sets of brothers in the group, which if you know anything about brothers, there is going to be conflict (there always is when brothers get together) and you have two from very different political spectrums, that’s going to create conflict: One that hates Rome and all things Roman and stands ready to kill Roman soldiers, and another who willingly worked for the Romans against the Jews. This is just part of the mixed caldron of men Jesus calls to Himself.
Taking a small detour here for just a moment to make an observation. Jesus has called us and we have responded. He has called us into his church (the Greek word is: ekklesia, or “called out ones”), called out of the world to be together to strengthen “one another” to then be “salt and light” in and to a world that desperately needs Jesus. But we are called together to be in a group. Christianity is not an individual sport. You cannot be an island and be a Christian, you have to be in the community of Christ. So, we would have to disagree with the 20th century theologian Paul Simon when he writes; “I am rock, I am an island.” No, we are a “called out” community of very diverse individuals, committed to, and counting on one another, just like the original 12.
The selection of the 12 in the synoptic gospels, synoptic meaning “seen together” because they contain many of the same stories in similar order, (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is followed immediately after a night of prayer and immediately before the sermon on the mount. Don’t let that sentence pass you by. Jesus spent a lot of time alone, communing and consulting with His Father, to draw strength and direction for His earthly ministry and mission. In selecting 12 men, Jesus is making an indictment against the Jewish culture, the Jewish mindset of the 12 tribes of Israel. The religious leaders in Israel had already disqualified themselves from ministry and Jesus is replacing the leadership with 12 new leaders. The 12 are the new spiritual leaders in Israel! So, in these 12 men, Jesus is instituting a new community, a new Kingdom and new community/Kingdom rules.
Some of the men we know a little about and some we don’t know anything about. But this is what we do know; in each of the synoptics, each list always has 3 groups of 4: 4, 4 & 4
Group 1 always had the same four, group 2 always has the same 4, and group 3 always has the same 4. They might not be in the same order in their group, but they are always in the same group. Each group had its own leader. Peter, always listed first in the first group, Philip, always listed first in the second group and James the son of Alphaeus, always listed first in the third list. Peter’s name is always first on every list, while Judas is always last on every list. There are nicknames involved. There is a personal, warm, intimate setting and feel here. You know if you have been part of any group for any period of time, there is always kidding, poking fun, having fun and developing a deep sense of love for all the members. Sure there was conflict, but there were also deep emotional connections as well.
Peter: Matt. 10:2 tells us that Peter was the leader: “the names of the apostles are these: FIRST Peter.” That word “first” doesn’t mean in a list, it means chief or leader. Peter was the leader of the disciples. Peter’s name is actually mentioned more times in the Gospels than any other name other than Jesus. Simon was his actual name; Peter is a nickname meaning ROCK. “Peter” is the Greek equivalent of the Aramaic “Cephas.” It isn’t a proper name, but rather, like Boanerges, (“Sons of Thunder,” the nickname Jesus gives the brothers James and John. More on that and them later.) it is most likely referring to a quality about Cephas that Jesus is calling out and describing. Jesus would call him Simon when he was acting like his old self…He would call him Peter when he was encouraging him or desiring for him to grow and take strides as a leader!
In the 1979 Major League Baseball draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers selected a pitcher in the 17th round. Not exactly a stellar pick, he would spend 4 years in the minor leagues and would begin his major league career on September 1, 1983 as a “reliever” against the Montreal Expos. He pitched when they put him in, he practiced hard and played “winter ball” in the Dominican Republic trying to do all he could to get better at pitching. At one point, when this pitcher was just getting “hammered” on the mound, Tommy Lasorda, the “eloquent” manager of the Dodgers, who was not known for his quiet demeanor, nor suffering fools (and ill performing athletes) gladly, went to the mound to have a “discussion” with this young pitcher. His diatribe, which was so loud that it could be heard in the stands, was to ever be called by the players: the “Sermon on the Mound.” Tommy’s bottom line, “you give the batters too much respect, you are too timid, soft and weak. From now on I’m going to call you ‘Bulldog’ so you will have a tougher attitude against the batters you face.” He kept using that nickname around him until one day that pitcher grew into that nickname. In 1988 he would go on to set the record for “consecutive scoreless innings pitched:” 59. He not only led the Dodgers to a World Series Title, but became the only player to receive the League Championship Series MVP award, the World Series MVP award and the League Cy Young award in the same season, and when he retired in 2000, Orel Hershiser was one of the best pitchers in baseball. Nicknames can be a very good thing and have a positive effect.
There are some aspects to Peter that we see in all leaders, good qualities that help make a leader who he is! Inquisitiveness, Initiative, Involvement. And yes, with those “Pros” come some “Cons.” Obviously there are failings. He is often called the “foot in mouth disciple,” (I can certainly relate to that attribute… can you?), saying wrong things or things when he shouldn’t, like at the Transfiguration. Matt. 17:4-5: Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” Peter spoke and it took the voice of God to quiet him down. When Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. John 13:6-10. Peter first rejects the Lord washing his feet, but once Jesus explains to him why, Peter is quick to add, “then wash not only my feet but my hands and head as well.” Sometimes, he just didn’t know where the metaphor or parable ended. And then, obviously his failing in denying Jesus three times. Matt. 26:69-75. But we also see him transformed and restored by Jesus and ultimately remember him for his godly character and his total devotion to the Lord, His word and to His church.
What kind of character will you be known for? It isn’t IF people remember you, it’s HOW people remember you. J.R. Miller wrote, “The only thing that walks back from the tomb with the mourners and refuses to be buried is the character of a man. What a man IS survives him. It can NEVER be buried!” Charles Spurgeon said, “A good character is the best tombstone. Those who loved you and were helped by you will remember you when forget-me-nots have withered. Carve your name on hearts, not on marble.” How will you be remembered? For your godliness or your sinfulness? For your walk with the Lord or your walk with the Devil. It’s one or the other. For decades I would have said that I would be remembered for my wonton selfishness and sinfulness. As the saying goes,” It takes a lifetime to build a person’s character and a moment to destroy it.” I destroyed mine moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day and year after year until finally the Lord and I both said “enough.” He had to let the weight of my sin crush me before I could come to that place of repentance. That place of resting in His grace. I am so glad He did. What about you? Billy Grahm said, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” The good news is, all is NOT lost in Christ and, in fact, all things become new!
Next, we have James and John. It’s always, Peter, James and John. This is the inner circle, the ones closest to Jesus. Notice it’s not Peter AND Andrew, his brother, no Andrew is the leader of the second group. If I were writing this list, I would have paired them as brothers: Peter and Andres, James and John, but that’s not the way they functioned in their relationship to Jesus and their relationship with the other nine. James and John always follow Peter in the lists.
They are called “Boanerges,” – sons of thunder. Mark translates the Aramaic word “Boanerges” for his Gentile readers. They are given this name by Jesus as recorded in Luke 9:54, where James and John are going through a Samaritan village and they witnessed how Jesus was, not just rejected, but treated. In reaction to what they saw they asked Jesus, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them.” Jesus with a little bit of indignation in His voice and maybe a little shaking of His head as He wonders, “what in the world have I gotten myself into,” rebukes the two telling them, vs. 56, “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” They are Sons of Zebedee. We know he must have been some man of importance and wealth as is recorded earlier in Mark (1:20), because we know he had “hired servants.” Other than that, we really don’t know anything else about their father.
Starting with James, it is interesting to note, that he is the least known of the inner three. In fact, the only time he is mentioned by himself, is in Acts 12 when he is being martyred. Other than that, he is always mentioned with his brother John. He was probably the older of the two since his name is always mentioned first. He seems to be a passionate man, who like his brother, had much zeal, and sometimes, it was misplaced! Two accounts illustrate this. One, we have already discussed is when they wanted to call down fire from Heaven to destroy those who would not hear the Gospel! The other instance, Matt. 20:20, is when they get their mom to ask Jesus if they could sit on Jesus’ right and left in the kingdom! But when zeal eventually gets mixed with knowledge, it is a very good thing! James shared the Gospel and stood for the truth about Jesus even until his dying day. He is the first of the disciples to be martyred.
John: We know him very well. He wrote the Gospel of John, I, II & III John and Revelation. He is nicknamed the “disciple of love,” but clearly he didn’t start out this way! He too was a son of thunder and wanted to call fire down from heaven! But John is a wonderful picture of what happens when someone stays in the presence of God and is transformed by the Gospel. John followed Jesus around wherever He went! And he learned well from Jesus!!! He started out as the son of thunder, and ended as the disciple of love. Jerome says that at the end of his life, he was so frail that he had to be carried into church. And as he was, the phrase that was always on his lips was “little children, love one another!” Love one another… From thunder to love, all because of the transforming work of Christ in his life.
Andrew is Peter’s brother and he is kind of the opposite of Peter. He is not brash, he doesn’t say the wrong things, in fact whenever we see him talking in Scripture, which is extremely rare, he is always saying the right things! His name means: “manly.” He had simple faith and he saw simple strengths in seemingly insignificant people and things. For instance, he was the one who pointed out the little boy with the 5 fish and two loaves of bread! Andrew was the first to meet Christ and he was the first to introduce his brother and others to Christ! Then he was happy just to take a backseat to Peter and him have the “spotlight.” I think he was good friends with John the Baptist; “Let Jesus, and others, increase while I decrease.” Tradition tells us that this is how he spent the rest of his life, sharing the Gospel, leading others to Jesus and doing it to the north, as far as Scythia (Russia.). So you have two opposites: Peter and Andrew, brothers both used by God!
Philip: This is not the same man in Acts 6, the deacon with the Ethiopian eunuch. We do not know much about Philip. John is the only writer that talks about him and only in small vignettes, and what he does share shows that Philip was a bit skeptical. Philip’s acceptance to Christ’s call is one that demonstrates he desired to see if the Messiah was real. John 6:5, at the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus tests him by asking, “where are we going to get the food for all these people?” Philip’s answer was, basically, “Man, I have no idea how we can make this happen.” The last time we see him is in John 14:8, in the upper room where, in his struggle to wrap his mind around what the Lord is saying, says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father and it is enough for us,” and Jesus’ reply is, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip?” So Philip was a bit skeptical, and didn’t have much faith…and yet those are the ones Christ called!!!
Bartholomew: This is actually nickname for the man. His actual name is “Nathaniel.” “Bartholomew” means Son of Tolmai. He came from Cana. Brought to Jesus by Philip. He and Philip seem to always be side by side. Nathaniel, or Bartholomew, can be summed up by his love for the Scriptures In his calling in John 1:43-51 and the interaction with both Philip and Jesus shows this: “We have found the one that the SCRIPTURES speak of!” Notice they didn’t say, “we found a really cool man, he can do miracles, etc. No! Philip and Bartholomew both knew what the scriptures taught about the Messiah, why? because they were looking for Him there. But Bartholomew had a bit of a prejudice, “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” “We think we found the Messiah, but we didn’t think we’d find Him coming out of Nazareth.”
Jesus, in His first words to him declared, “a man in whom there is no deceit!”…that word means, “truly,” or “genuine.” Jesus “saw” and “knew” him for who is “genuinely” was: He had a heart eager to receive the Messiah! He was longing for the Messiah! He was studying!
Matthew: Tax collector! Disdain and hated, especially by fellow Jews and by Zealots like Simon, was all a tax collector could expect, and Matthew was no exception. Tax collectors were thought to be deceptive, liars, wicked and considered to be “dead” to their families. But notice, it is the name Matthew and not Levi that Mark uses here. Jesus changes his name to Matthew, which means, “A gift of God.” Given how he was thought of in the Jewish communities and by his own family, I don’t think Levi, now Matthew, felt like a gift of anything except trouble, rejection and despair. But Mark wanted to show the true, transformed person he would become, the one Jesus called and, who would go on to write the gospel that bears his name.
Thomas: He is also know as Thomas, “Didymus” which means the twin. We don’t know if he actually had a twin but tradition tells us that he looked like Jesus, which may be why “twin” was used. Also, we know him better as “doubting Thomas.” He was a pessimist! His two main appearances in Scripture are in the upper room after Jesus rose, John 20:24-25, where he wants physical proof of Christ’s resurrection in order to believe. Also, in John 11:16, when Jesus said they were going to go to raise Lazarus and Thomas said, “let’s go so we can die with Him!” “Great.. everyone knows where Jesus is going and all the religious leaders are trying to kill Him, so we might as well go along too so we can die with him… Wonderful!!!” Pessimistic and skeptical and yet this is the one Jesus called as one He trusted to proclaim His Kingdom.
James the son of Alphaeus: Later in Mark, he will refer to him as “James the Less.” Literally. “Mikros,” where we get our word for “microbe.“ So, James the Tiny Guy, which might be a reference to his size or age or lack of notoriety in relation to the other James, we don’t really know, and that is the only thing Scripture has to say about him.
Thaddeus: Judas son of James. He has two nicknames, “Thaddeus” which can mean something equivalent to “Momma’s boy,” and Lebius, which can mean “child of the heart,” or “gentle child,” which leads us to believe he is a sensitive individual. He probably wanted to be known as Thaddeus after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.
Simon the Zealot: His nickname is “the zealot.” Would have hated the Romans, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Essenes, and the likes of Matthew!!! And yet Christ calls him!
Judas: Judas, from Judea. The betrayer of Christ, and yet Jesus calls him. Why? Without Judas, God’s redemptive plan could not have been fulfilled. Jesus came to die!
Look at this crazy group Jesus calls! Clearly, He didn’t take a leadership training class in how to pick the best individuals! Just look at this list: 4 fishermen, 1 tax collector, 1 zealot, and then 6 others that we really don’t know much about. We know next to nothing about half of them! This is so encouraging to me!! Don’t judge your worth or value based on how famous or known you are. God uses these men to LITERALLY CHANGE THE WORLD! Not because of their great theological acumen and clever speech, but because of what they became with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and we know almost nothing about half of them!
No backup plan, and no backup crew, these guys are it. Our Lord uses ordinary, weak, failing, ignorant saints...guess why? Because those are the only kind there are. Welcome to the group! Welcome to the club! Jesus is calling you, yes YOU, with all your faults, frailties and foibles. We are just like they were. Here we already see the gospel at work yet again! Jesus does not choose those who LOOK righteous! Jesus chooses the ordinary, limited and strange! They stink, both literally and figuratively! They are certainly an eclectic group of men! And Jesus says, “YOU are the new leadership here!
Consider YOUR calling: I Cor. 1:24-31: “…but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.’ ”
Look at how sweet it is that Mark includes some of their failings! Why? Because JESUS TRANSFORMS!!!!
Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter: Peter is on this list as a reminder of how much of a mess you can make of your devotion to Jesus and still become a ROCK in His service! The SONS OF THUNDER! They wanted to kill anyone who opposed them! But because of the Gospel, James would BE killed by those who opposed him, willing to lose his life to share Christ and John would become the disciple of LOVE not HATE!
The skeptical, the prejudice, the doubting, the pessimistic, the nobody, the mama’s boy, and the zealous murderer at heart, all transformed by the Gospel. But Judas is a reminder of how close a person can be to Jesus and be lost. If you reject the Gospel, if you are following Jesus to get something you love more than Him, from Him, you are lost and, if you do not come to a place of loving Him, you will be lost forever. But there is such hope in this list! Who knows all of the reason these men came to Jesus! But ultimately, the Gospel gripped their heart, Jesus became their greatest treasure, and they followed Him unto death.
According to tradition handed down from the early church, the same fate of martyrdom, fell to all the Apostles except John (whom they tried to kill by poising and boiling in oil, but to no avail) who was ultimately exiled to the isle of Patmos. Peter was crucified upside down at his request, according to Eusebius. Before he was crucified, he was forced to watch his wife be crucified. As he watched her being led to her death, Peter called to her by name and said, “remember the Lord!.” Then Peter was taken away and crucified upside down. His brother Andrew reportedly was also crucified, tied instead of nailed to a cross to prolong his suffering. James the brother of John is the only Apostle whose death is recorded in Scripture. He was executed by Herod Agrippa. Philip was said to have been stoned to death in Asia Minor but not before multitudes came to faith in Christ through his preaching.
The traditions vary concerning how Philip's close companion Nathanael, “Bartholomew,” died. Some say he was bound and thrown into the sea. Others said he was crucified. Matthew may have been burned at the stake. Thomas likely reached India where some traditions say he was killed with a spear. According to the Apocryphal martyrdom of James, James the son of Alphaeus was stoned to death by the Jews for preaching Christ. Simon the Zealot according to some traditions preached the gospel in Egypt, North Africa and Persia where he was martyred by being sawn in half like Isaiah. Other traditions say he was eventually crucified by the Romans. Thaddaeus, “mamma's boy,” was a preacher of the gospel in modern Turkey and he was clubbed to death.
Why would ANYONE DO THIS??? Because, life is Christ, death is gain, and Jesus is worth it to receive the reward of HIS SUFFERINGS! Even if it means my death!
Questions:
Has Jesus asked you to “follow Him?” How have you responded?
Do you know that Jesus wants you? That He loves you and died for you? I have given God COUNTLESS reasons NOT to want me!...and NONE of them has ever been strong enough to change His Love for me! And I know it’s the same with you. There is nothing you have done or are doing that will ever change His love for you!!
Jesus calls all of us to be His disciples: to be with Jesus, speak about Jesus and be transformed by Jesus. Are you His disciple? Can you say He has transformed you?
Does He mean more to you than anything else in your life and in this world?
Do you have a home church, one that can nurture, teach and support your Christian growth? If not, why not?
Have you had a character “check,” while reading this? What can you do, today, that will get you back in a loving and submissive relationship with the Lord of all eternity?
Do you know that the Lord continues to call you to come to Him? Matthew: 11:28-30: “Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Aren’t you tired of running? Tired of turning your back on Him? Tired of always trying and never quite “doing?” You are in really good company. If Jesus can call and use the disciples, he can you use. I know, I was in the same shape until I finally took His yoke. I have never been happier than doing His work. Why not join me? His work is never done you know!!!