Why did jesus pick the 12

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WHY DID JESUS CHOOSE THE 12

Mark 3:12–14 NKJV

But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,

In the first-century Roman world, there were various religious, philosophical, and political leaders who all had a committed group of followers. In Judaism, dedicated apprentices followed a rabbi. From the many who followed Him, Jesus of Nazareth formed a special teacher-student relationship with twelve particular men.

Although the Jews were used to having teachers or rabbis who taught the brightest pupils about the complexities of the Jewish faith, they hadn’t encountered the approach that Jesus used in gathering a group of students or disciples around Him.

The norm was for someone to approach a rabbi and ask to be taught by him, but Jesus did the reverse by choosing the men He wanted and calling them to follow Him.

And the group He chose was a diverse bunch—they weren’t from the Jewish religious establishment. Instead, the twelve men He chose came from various professions and walks of life.

Jesus found Peter and his brother Andrew casting nets into the sea since they were fishermen. He similarly came across the brothers James and John fishing with their father. Upon hearing the call from the rabbi Jesus, all four men readily dropped their nets to become followers. No longer would they be conventional fishermen. Rather, under the tutelage of Jesus, they would become men who would “fish for people” (Matthew 4:18–22).1

The amazing thing that we read in the Gospel accounts is that when Jesus called these men, they left whatever it was that they had previously been doing and followed Him. They completely surrendered their entire identity to Him

The 12 Disciples

Luke 6:13–16 NKJV

And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.

It was no accident that He chose twelve.

God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were divided into twelve tribes. And as Jesus calls out a new people for Himself, He starts with twelve men who will form the basis of a new Israel.

The power of God was clearly at work in calling these men, but it is doubtful whether they knew the full extent of what they were signing up for when they began as Jesus’ disciples. They knew that they had to leave their current jobs and the security that those gave. But it was only as Jesus neared the end of His earthly life that He explained to them the real cost of discipleship.

Ultimately, what Jesus required of His followers was the willingness to give up everything for Him. He put it in very stark terms when He said that anyone who wanted to follow Him must take up his cross (Luke 9:23) and follow Him. In other words, they were to be prepared to die for Him. For some, their allegiance to Christ resulted in their being killed. And yet what Jesus asked of His disciples wasn’t more than He was willing to do Himself as He demonstrated when He freely gave His own life on the cross as a once-for-all sacrifice for human sin.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He “graduated” His disciples, as was the custom of the rabbi. He instructed them to go and proclaim the good news of the kingdom and in addition, He told them that they would be able to do everything that He had taught them to do (Matthew 28:19–20). The book of Acts and the subsequent history of the Church reveal that Jesus’ disciples did precisely that. Through their witness and work, the disciples—becAME “apostles” (that is, “sent ones”)—fearlessly preached the death and resurrection of Jesus, heralded the arrival of a new way of living, and performed mighty miracles to back up their claims. As commanded, they took the gospel to the ends of the earth. They did so without fear with out fear of rejection without fear of failure, without fear of even a grizzly death, they HAD surrendered thier lives to thier lord Jesus for it was no longer thiers but His LIFE to use as the kingdom needed

Christ established the pattern for all of His disciples with His initial choosing of the Twelve. As Jesus made clear throughout the Gospels and as His apostles made clear throughout their New Testament writings, not everyone who calls Jesus “Savior” can be counted as a disciple. To follow Jesus means today what it has always meant. A disciple must devote his or her entire life to follow the Lord, train as His student, and study His Word. Eventually, the disciple will be able to do everything his Master has called him to do (Philippians 4:13). And through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus promises to be with His followers “to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20).

Have you ever wondered why God chooses the people He chooses, and why He lets the leaders of His people do so many strange, foolish, and embarrassing things? I think there is reason for why God chooses men who fumble and blow it time after time. I think the reason becomes more and more evident as we study the 12 men that Jesus chose to be His special disciples who would become the 12 Apostles.

You do not have to examine these hand picked men for very long before you realize they were a fallible lot who added their share of blunders and folly to a world already in the flood stages of this stuff. We must assume that these 12 were the creme of the crop, but it seems incredible how soon they begin to exhibit that they are often sour cream. We all know about Judas, of course, and that is a whole issue in itself. The rest of these men are not exactly paragons of virtue, and knights on white horses in shining armor.

The fact is, some feel that the greatest miracle Jesus ever performed was His endurance of these men as they blunder their way through to the point of their final desertion of Him as He goes to the cross. Never did 12 men ever change the course of history like these 12, but never did a noted leader ever have more trouble with His followers than Jesus had with these 12. I do not like to be critical of the judgment of Jesus, but the New Testament evidence forces us to ask, why in the world did Jesus choose this bunch? Did they lie on their resumes, and did Jesus not check them out and call former employers? Did Jesus turn off His deity, and go only by His human feelings in making these choices? These questions are motivated by the New Testament evidence, which reveals to us that which we want to study.

Luke 5:25–35 NKJV

Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!” After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?” And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”

The Disciples were well aware of what they were Sinners in need of a savoir, the pharisee however while a sinner in need of a saviour was so caught up in his own religiosity in his own self righteousness he missed what was before him

Many today get caught up in their own idea of self worth which is so unbiblical

Romans 12:3 NKJV

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

WE have allot of people of the religious crowd who do the right things say the right thins stay away from the wrong people put god on their schedule on their alloted time and think they have it all together as though they are good I say unto you the man on the corner who is broken homeless struggling with addiction but knows he needs help is in better shape than the pharisee of today

For many believe but have no faith many believe but lack the surrender of one life to christ , they UNLIKE THE 12 HAVE NOT LEFT ALL BEHIND SO THAT IT IS CHRIST WHO LEADS THEIR LIFE

But the bible say we are all wicked sinners in need of a saviour that apart from him we are nothing

THAT THERE ARE NONE GOOD ALL HAVE FALLEN SHORT

Luke 7:30–40 NKJV

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. And the Lord said, “To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is justified by all her children.” Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

Luke 7:40–47 NKJV

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.” “There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?” Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

Jesus Chose the 12 because they were mold-able they did not have a false since of security in their walk with God they knew they needed more and they saw it in Christ that he was the only way the only way to give it to them

tHE 12 . They were not the best men in the world. They were extraordinarily ordinary. Jesus does just as the Father did in the Old Testament. It is God's way, and Paul described it so clearly in I Cor. 1:27-28, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of the world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him."

God deliberately uses inferior tools to build His kingdom so that the beauty of all He creates can be attributed to Him and His wisdom and not to the cleverness of men.

The amazing good news in all this is, you don't have to worry about being qualified to be used of God. If you lack self-esteem and feel ungifted and inadequate, do not fret, for that makes you just the sort of person God can use if you surrender your inadequacy to Him. He specializes in using people who are not fit for the job. The reason is simple, for when God does a beautiful thing through such an inadequate channel both the channel and those who see it cannot fail to recognize the grace of God.

All You must do is this count the cost of following Jesus, look to Him alone not good works not religion to save you and give your life to Him

He has said I came to give life and give it abundantly but first you must be willing to let go and let God have control of your life that he may lead and guide you to green pastures.