Twelve Ordinary Men

If you have a Bible, we are back in Mark 3:13 today and we will be reading through verse 19 so I know that we are going to be doing a little bit of backtracking but for the most part, we won’t be repeating anything that we learned last week. Tonight our focus is going to be on the twelve apostles. As we saw last week and as we will see tonight, Jesus called to Himself the followers that He wanted and He appointed twelve of them so that He could send them out to preach and to cast out demons. As some of you probably know, tomorrow night is a big night for football fans because tomorrow night is the first night of the NFL draft. This is a huge event for football fans because everyone is waiting and watching to see who is going to be added to their team and who may be traded during the draft. It was estimated by the NFL that over the course of 3 days, as many as 60 million people tuned in to watch the draft. People want to watch this because they love their team and they want to see who gets added to address some of the missing pieces. Like for me, I am really hoping that tomorrow night and the next few days that the Ravens focus on building up their offensive line and adding a cornerback and maybe a wide receiver. Why do I want that? Because that was a struggling point for the team last year. Now unless you are a team like the New York Jets, you usually want to add the best available person to your team right? You want to add the best player to meet the needs of whatever position it is that you need to fill. If you really need a quarterback and there is a great one available for you in the first round, it makes no sense if you go out and draft yourself a punter. What kind of team then did Jesus build? If you were hoping to put together a world changing team, who would you want to join? Really think about it for a second, if you were a political leader and you were thinking about starting a new nation, who would you want on your team? Maybe you would want really strong people to do the heavy lifting, maybe you would want scientists and doctors and philosophers with degree after degree under their name. Maybe you would want someone with great charm and charisma to help get people on board with what you are doing. In the eyes of the world, that would probably be the smart thing right? Get the influential, get the intelligent, get the popular, and get the powerful. But is this what Jesus does? The twelve that Jesus called, were not the high and mighty of the world, they weren’t renowned, they were uneducated, many were fishermen, one was a tax collector, one or maybe even two that were actively engaging in rebellion against the Roman empire, in short these weren’t the superheroes of the day. In the eyes of the world, these men weren’t worth the first round pick. These were simply twelve ordinary men that Jesus used to change the world. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer and then we will read Mark 3:13-19

Mark 3:13–19 NASB95

And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons. And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

Why Twelve?

There are three questions that I want us to look at tonight. Why did Jesus pick twelve? Who are these twelve? What does Jesus do with ordinary people? We won’t spend a lot of time with this first question but why is it that Jesus appoints twelve in verse 14? Why not 13 or 14 or 100. We know that it is not for a lack of bodies because as we saw last week, there was an entire crowd of who knows how many that were following Him. What is significant about the number 12? It comes down to what the twelve would symbolize. For all of my Old Testament people in here, how many tribes of Israel were there? There was 12! And how many does Jesus appoint? 12. What’s the connection you think between the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve disciples or apostles? I like how Douglass O’Donnell describes it: “The number twelve corresponds to the twelve tribes of Israel, and the symbolism thus points to both an embodiment and a replacement. These men will embody what it means to be true Israel, and thus, as flawed as they are, they will replace the current ungodly religious leaders.” There’s this clear parallel that exists between the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. There is this clear connection between the old and the new covenant. Where the twelve tribes failed to point the world to the Savior, these twelve men would go on to fulfill the role that the tribes were appointed to. Thomas Schreiner said, “The twelve apostles are the nucleus of the new people of God. They are the new Israel or, perhaps better, the restored Israel. Paul says that the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and thus they play a fundamental role, shaping the entire direction of the church of Jesus Christ.” But more than just being a numerical sign, Mark tells us three reasons as to why these twelve were appointed in verses 14 and 15. Mark says in Mark 3:14–15 “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons.” The three reasons are first that these men would be with Jesus, the second is so that He could sent them to preach and the third is to have authority over the demons. Christ appoints these twelve so that they would have a closer relationship with Him. He chose these men so that they would walk with Him, see how He lives, see what He does, and learn from Him. These men have been brought near so that they could ultimately be sent out. As they would come to be known as apostles, the Greek word Apostolos, would point to the fact that these men were sent out. These 12, with Judas being replaced later on by Matthias, would be sent out with the authoritative message of the King. So, who were these men?

Who Are the Twelve?

We could spend a lot of time talking about each of these twelve. For some of these twelve, we have more information than about some of the others and I actually have a copy of John MacArthur’s “Twelve Ordinary Men”, an awesome book that looks at each of the twelve that I’m giving away if any of you are interested in learning more about these men. The older I get, the more I love to read biographies. If you were to go into my office right now, you would find a couple of biographies but if you were to go into my house and look at my dresser, you would see nothing but biographies. The reason that I love to read biographies now is that I love to see how God works in the history of the world and I love to see what God does through the lives of the great saints that have gone before us. Great biographies can be humbling. I remember reading the two volume set on Martyn Lloyd-Jones last year by Iian Murray and after reading about that great man, I was left feeling like I’ve never preached a day in my life. Same for whenever I read about George Whitefield. I read the biography and diary of the great missionary David Brainerd and I was left feeling like I’ve never suffered a day in my life. Good, Christian biographies magnify the faithfulness of God and show us that we still have some work to do. Remember what I’ve said, in the past: No one writes biographies about lazy people. When we look back on the apostles, we see ordinary men that God used in extraordinary ways. Over the past few months, we have already met some of these men. Men like Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew we have already come into contact with but by the end of verse 19 we are also introduced to Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. One of the chief elements of these twelve men is that that were chosen by Christ Himself. Jesus did not go through an interview process trying to fill out the positions that were needed but each of these men were chosen for the divine purpose and will of God. Remember that the way that Jesus picked His disciples was totally different than the way that the rabbi’s of his day would pick their disciples. The followers would always pick the one they followed and would apply for the opportunity to follow them but Jesus has no such process. Instead, it is Jesus that calls and chooses those that would follow Him. Of course, this list also includes Judas, the very man that would betray Christ. Understand, Judas was no further outside of God’s reach than anyone else. He didn’t get into the inner circle without the sovereignty of God. Jesus calls the ones that He wants and He would spend the rest of His earthly life training these men to carry out the work of the Gospel. John MacArthur said, “The twelve would be personally mentored by the Messiah Himself. They would be trained as His apprentices. These twelve men would be responsible for the spread of the gospel and the establishment of sound doctrine, laying the foundation of the church. For the remainder of His earthly ministry, Jesus intensely invested Himself in preparing them.” Christ chose these men, not because they were men of acclaim or men of great learning or men of vast accolades, but He simply chose them because these were the men that He wanted. It was not the swift or the powerful that Christ chose but those that were really nothing in the world so that ultimately we would all see that the surpassing worth and glory belongs to Christ and not to man and we will come back to this thought in a little bit. As a bit of a sidebar, have you guys recognized that you have the ability to pick the people that you want to hang out with? And if you have the ability to pick the people that you hang out with, who do you think you should surround yourself with? To be honest, some of you are hanging out with bums that are going to do nothing to enhance your walk with Christ. I understand that we can’t be free of the world and I know that Christ ate with sinners, but this does not mean that the totality of our lives should be spent living with people who love sin and could care less about Christ-centered living. Who are you surrounding yourself with? Jesus does not need to choose the great to change the world. He can pick anyone or no one and change the world. And let me just go ahead and put this out to you all, you do not have to be the top of the class, the top of the food chain, the top pick in the draft in the eyes of the world to be used by God. The apostles are proof of this. Most of these guy were fishermen, one was hated by his own people because he was a tax collector, Simon was a Zealot and a Zealot was a first century Jewish sect that despised the Romans. They showed aggressive opposition to the Roman policies and Pagan cultures. In fact, some have said that many would have looked at Simon as the one that was most likely to betray Jesus because Simon had the biggest issue with authority. These twelve men were also young. It has been said that they were anywhere between the ages of 13 and 30. These were men from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of temperaments and if we are honest, these were not the men that would likely be chosen by the world to take on the task to which they were being called. But appearances can be deceiving can’t they? Alistair Begg once spoke at a conference and he talked about this fake hiring company that Jesus consults with as He is looking to “hire” for the position of Apostle. Here’s what Begg said: “From: The Jordan Management Consultants, Sent to: Jesus, the Son of Joseph, Dear Sir: Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you’ve picked for leadership positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests. We have not only run the results through the computer but also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the staff’s opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you’re undertaking. They do not have the team concept. Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, placed personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a skeptical attitude that would tend to undermine morale. Matthew has been blacklisted by the Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. And James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the manic-depressive scale. One of your candidates, however, shows a great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness. He meets people well, has a keen business mind, has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your CEO and right-hand man.” So, if Christ is building a business, the eyes of the world say that Judas is the best choice. But we all know that Judas would end up doing what? Betraying Him! Instead, Christ chose these men, as uneducated and unqualified as they were and used them. It’s the age old saying of Christ doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. And equip them, Jesus did. If we were to jump ahead to the book of Acts, we would see very early on that the disciples that are listed in Mark 3, the disciples that are seen throughout this book, they look very different in the book of Acts. What changed them? They had been with Jesus. Not only had they been with Jesus, they had been saved by Jesus. They were given apostolic power from the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. In Acts 4, Peter and John are standing before the rulers, elders, and scribes in Jerusalem. In Acts 4:5-12, we see these men boldly stand for Jesus Christ, they boldly proclaim the Gospel without fear of death. Total opposite of what we see happen the night that Jesus is betrayed. Peter says in Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Verse 13 is amazing to think about. Luke writes in Acts 4:13 “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” What were they? Uneducated, untrained, but what stood out the most was that they had been with Jesus. People can tell when you have been with Jesus. People can tell when you have been in the presence of the King. They might be able to see that you aren’t the brightest. They might be able to see that you aren’t the strongest or the most attractive. But can they tell that you have been with Jesus? Can they tell that Jesus is with you? What is it in your life that you want people to take notice of? In this room right now, you are surrounded by ordinary people. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. What does Jesus do with ordinary people?

What Jesus Does With Ordinary People

As we saw last week, all Christians are ultimately called and chosen by Christ. They aren’t called to the same position that the Apostles were by all Christians are ultimately called by God. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 NASB95

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.”

Who does it sound like Paul is writing to? Doesn’t it sound like he is writing to some pretty ordinary sounding people? He is writing to other Christians and he says, “Think back to when God first called you. You weren’t the wisest, or the mightiest, or the noblest, but look what God has done. Look at how He in sovereignty has chosen that which was fooling to the world to shame the wise, look at how He has chosen weakness and suffering to bring to shame that which is strong. Look at how God has taken that which was seen as nothing and that which was despised and has used them in ways that only He could use so that no one could boast in the presence of God and say, ‘Look what I’ve done.” It is by Christ alone that we have wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In a sense, that which Jesus did for those twelve, He does for every believer in history. Sinclair Ferguson writes, “There is a pattern in Jesus’ dealings with His disciples which He continues to use. He calls us to be with Him in order to send us out to others to bring to them the good news of the Kingdom of God.” If you are a Christian, you are not an apostle like Peter. But you are sent like Peter. You are sent to share the good news, you are sent to live a life pleasing to the Lord, you are sent to follow. Here’s what I want us to do real quick. I want every single one of you to come up here and I want you to tell me what it is that you think you are the best at. I’ll give you a minute to think about it but what is it that you think you can do best? (Go down the line) With all of those things, God can still use you. Look God can use anyone but He chooses to use the ordinary. He chooses to use those that are poor in spirit, He chooses to use the merciful and the peacemakers and the persecuted because it is when He uses them, it is plain as day that the power and glory is due to Him and not to ourselves. Knowing that God uses the ordinary, how does this encourage you in your life? How does this encourage your walk with the Lord? Why? So that no man may boast before God. Remember if you are a Christian you have been called and singled out by the Lord Jesus Himself. He has called you to Himself so that we would be with Him. What are you going to do with the time that He has given you and what are you going to do so that others may look at you and see that you have been with Jesus. Let’s pray.