"From Ordinary to Extraordinary" (Matthew 10:1-4)

The Ordinary Twelve

Common Men

They had jobs.

Fishermen: Peter, the leader of the Apostles; Andrew, Peter’s brother; James and John, sons of Zebedee (Matthew 4:18-22)

Tax Collector: Matthew (Levi according to the Gospels of Mark and Luke)

Zealot: Simon

Treasurer: Judas

Unknown: Bartholomew (“Nathanael” according the John’s Gospel); Thaddeus (Judas, son of James according to John and Luke); Philip; Thomas; James, son of Alphaeus

They had families.

Peter was married and Andrew was his brother.

James and John were brothers who left their father in the boat to follow Jesus.

They had problems.

John 1:48–49 “Nathanael said to Him, “From where do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.””

Matthew being a tax collector was a big deal. Mentioned several times. He was very much disliked, even hated.

Peter’s mother-in-law was very sick.

Great Sinners

Descendant from Adam.

Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!””

Peter also denied Jesus, three times.

The Sons of Zebedee; James and John showed arrogance and pride as they asked to sit at Christ’s right and left hand in His Kingdom. (Matthew 20 & Mark 10)

Luke 9:54 “And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?””

Showing aggression and anger, earning the nickname Sons of Thunder.

All the Apostles struggled with faith and experienced doubt and confusion.

Unexpected Heroes

Most likely you would not have chosen them when looking for people to change the world.

You would look for power/ wealth/ influence/ intelligence

We would have searched as Samuel searched when God sent him to anoint a new king over Israel.

Someone tall, strong, good warrior, handsome and influential.

1 Samuel 16:7 “But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.””

Christ knows the hearts of all men (John 2:25) and saw the passion, the potential, the loyalty and the faithfulness that was in each of their hearts as He called them to follow Him.

He chose 12 outsiders nobody would have chosen and He changed the world.

The Extraordinary Twelve

Changed the World

The world will never be the same after the work done by these men.

We read their stories and their writings to this day. (The Christian Bible is still the number one selling book of all time with over 7 Billion copies sold worldwide)

The Quran, at 800 million does not even come close.

Their willingness to die horrible deaths for what they knew to be true inspires us to this day and stops the mouths of scoffers and unbelievers.

They took the message of Jesus all across Europe, Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

The performed miracles and established the foundations of Christ’s Church that stands to this day.

Authority and Power

Authority over unclean spirits.

They were subject to them and had power over them.

Acts 19:15 “And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?””

Power over sicknesses and diseases

Acts 3:1-11, Peter heals a lame man

Acts 5:12-16

These ordinary men become extraordinary.

Faithfulness and Obedience

To have such faith.

Luke 17:5–6 “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you have faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”

After the resurrection of Christ, they had that faith/ unshakable/ unmovable

From lack of faith (Matthew 8:26) to faith in abundance. Extraordinary faith.

To be so obedient

Philippians 2:8 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

To follow in our Savior’s footsteps and be obedient to the point of death. (Horrible deaths)

Obedient with no hesitation when confronted with persecution of any kind. Extraordinary obedience.

The One Difference

Christ Jesus

Jesus gave them the authority and the power.

They did not have it on their own/ They were unable to find it within themselves.

That power and authority belong to Him and He shared it with them.

He is the one who takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;...”

Nothing ordinary remains so once placed into the hands of the Son of God.

Jesus was the most extraordinary Man who every lived.

The Son of God; God incarnate; Perfect and spotless Lamb; The First and the Last; Alpha and Omega who holds the seven stars in His hands.

Nobody understands the hearts of men like Christ.

Nobody loves, or feels compassion toward sinners like Christ.

Patient and willing is He is bring healing and salvation to anyone who asks of Him.

Power and authority over all things; Whose throne stands above all things.

His very blood has power to cover a multitude of sins and His breath has power to bring forth or even destroy all things.

Common Denominator

These were Jesus’s Apostles.

“Summoning His twelve disciples...”

They may had come from different backgrounds and had different opinions on some things but all were connected in Him.

If any of them had attempted to stand on any other foundation, then they would have remained ordinary and never would have been elevated to the extraordinary.

If you looked into the lives of any of these here named you find an extraordinary mark and it is the mark of the Son of God.

Ordinary fishermen became extraordinary fishers of men. Zealots became zealous for the love of Christ. Even betrayal became known as the greatest, most extraordinary betrayal in the history of the world.

Continuing Cycle

This change from the ordinary to the extraordinary is not limited to the Apostles.

Anyone who is in Christ immediately becomes elevated to the extraordinary.

It would be impossible not to be.

We have seen God do this time after time.

Charles Spurgeon was recording saying on his death bed, praising God how He could take a fat country boy from Kelvedon and make him a minister of His Holy word.

George Whitefield prayed “Oh Lord, make me an extraordinary Christian.” And the Lord most certainly did.

The Lord can and will do the same for us.

We must relinquish ourselves to Him.

He will take our ordinary lives and make them extraordinary.