Christ's Chosen Apostles

Scripture Reading

Luke 6:12–16 NIV84

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Introduction

We come this morning to a very important passage in terms of the development of the ministry of Jesus Christ in the world. Thus far on the Gospel of Luke we’ve been clearly shown by Luke through the various interactions of Jesus that Christ has authority in this world. His authority is unmatched by any other person.

That authority was evidenced through his power over demons; it was evidenced through his ability to speak to sickness and that sickness immediately submitting to his authority and leaving the person that is was infecting; it was seen through him fogiving the sins of man - a function that only God himself could truly perform - which he then confirmed through the healing of the paralytic.

The fact is that Christ’s authority, by this point in the Luke of Gospel, has already been well established.

What has also become evident, particularly over the last few passages that we’ve considered, is the animosity and confrontation that has been mounting against Jesus by the religious leaders of his day. The Pharisees and Scribes have been watching Jesus, and they are convinced that he is a threat to the Jewish religion. They see him as a threat to the people. They see him as a threat to themselves (that’s probably the most significant point). But they’ve clearly started to consider how they deal with Jesus in order to put a stop to him. They’ve ultimately decided that they want to put him to death (seen in Luke 6:11, cf Mark 3:6)

This brings us to this morning’s short passage, which really marks somewhat of a transition. Thus far we have not heard much of the teaching of Jesus. But from this point on, we will hear much more of the actual words of Jesus and his confrontation with the people around him.

We also find in this passage that Jesus particularly selects 12 men that will follow him very closely, and into whose lives he will invest his time and energy to train them and teach them, ultimately to prepare these men to those who will go out into the world with the express purpose of establishing his church.

We have thus far been introduced to just a few of these 12 disciples.

We were told about Simon the fishermen. With him as fishing partners were James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

We were also introduced to Levi (Matthew). He was a tax collector. He left everything in order to follow Jesus Christ, and even threw a celebratory party for his tax collector friends.

But this passage demonstrates for us clearly who these 12 men were that were chosen by Jesus.

Notice firstly from this passage...

1. Christ’s Posture (v.12)

We have already seen from the Gospel of Luke that Christ was a man who was regularly in prayer before His Father. He spent time in communion with His Father, knowing that appearing as a man in the flesh, among those who were sinful in their conduct, he was in desperate need of His Father’s sustaining grace and mercy. Although He was God-incarnate, the second person of the trinity, He was also fully man, and so humbly depended on the Father in a world in which he would be tempted in every way (Hebrews 4:15).

And so in the current context, we find that Jesus prayed.

Luke 6:12 NIV84

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

“One of those days...” - the context must be remembered here. There are people with power who are seeking to kill Jesus. The previous two incidents recorded, relating to the Sabbath Day, lead us to a hightened sense of the impending risk to Christ’s life. And Christ is not unaware that the very reason that He has come into the world is ultimately in order to have his life taken from him.

And because of this, he will be selecting particular men, who will be given a particular task and function once His life has been taken.

We see also from this verse that he went out to a mountainside to pray. In the original text, this is a definite article - it was “THE mountainside.” Probably it was a mountainside that was well known to the original readers of the day, although it is less clear to us. What is important to note is that Luke conveys the fact that Christ was praying on the mountainside.

The significance of this is that this was typically a meeting place between God and His chosen messengers or prophets etc. The mountain was a place where God revealed Himself to his chosen people, where he made himself known; where God revelation to His people etc.

It was on the mountain Sinai, that God showed himself to Moses, and gave him the commandments by which Israel were to live

It was on the mountain that God revealed himself to Elijah the prophet (1 Kings 19)

It was on mount Carmel that God worked on behalf of Elijah to prove that Baal was a powerless god

Quite simply, the mountain was the place where God would often meet with His prophets and representatives.

The point is not to over-spiritualize this and start climbing mountains ourselves. But the point is that Jesus was God’s Son, and He was seeking God through prayer on the mountain.

Thus there is a picture here is that Jesus is being driven and moved by God Himself. As Jesus will in a moment appoint His Apostles, He does so having communed with God on the mountain, and He is being directed by God through His prayer and communication with God.

We see also something of the significance of this event, and the fervency with which Jesus was seeking after God, by noting that Jesus spent the whole night praying to God.

This is a very striking picture of the earnestness with which Christ sought His Father’s guidance and counsel at this particular moment in time.

These pictures of Jesus praying are opportunities to understand what Jesus was doing at these particular moments in His ministry. At these critical points in the ministry of Jesus (also see his baptism etc.) Jesus is praying. At all the critical points of Jesus ministry, he is to be found in prayer before His Father.

There is going to come another night that is devoted to prayer, and that would be on the eve of his crucifixion.

Now, we must keep in mind that Christ was the second person of the Trinity. He understood the things that were to unfold during the course of his life. He knew that He was on a mission that was headed towards the cross, where his life would be taken. He understood that the purpose for calling these disciples, and the decision of who the Apostles would be, was for the very purpose of expanding His kingdom rule on the earth.

And so Christ took up this posture of prayer, humility before the Father, seeking His leading and counsel.

Secondly...

2. Christ’s Purpose (v.13)

We read about the purpose of Jesus as he chose these 12 men in verse 13...

Luke 6:13 NIV84

13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:

This verse speaks of the actions of Jesus in choosing his twelve apostles. All of the the focus is on his work. Firstly, we see that he...

2.1. He called his disciples to him...

While Christ had been up on the mountain side praying through the night, it is probably not unlikely that the disciples who followed him were nearby. Perhaps a large group of them had even spent the night at the bottom of the mountain. In verse 17, which follows this passage and account of Jesus choosing the 12, it says...

Luke 6:17 NIV84

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon,

By this point of Christ’s ministry, there were a great number of people, multitudes of people that were following Jesus and were considered to be his disciples. This merely means that they were people who were following Jesus. They followed him around, and they witnessed his miracles. They listened to his teaching. But their numbers were great.

Throughout the life of Jesus, we will find that Jesus was follwed by many people - crowds of people.

You will recall that in our study in Luke I’ve already referenced the disciples of John, and how they recognised that Jesus was baptizing more disciples that John was, and they were concerned about this, and even spoke to John about it. They informed John that “…everyone is going to him.”

So the numbers of disciples of Jesus was a large throng.

But when we speak about the disciples of Jesus within this context, we must understand that many would not remain as faithful and true disciples. Many of those would eventually turn away from Jesus.

A vast number of those who considered themselves disciples of Jesus, those who were following Jesus around, would not long after leave Jesus when his teaching became something that didn’t align with what they desired to gain from Jesus. Or when he said things that they didn’t like and appreciate.

In John 6, there was that account of Jesus, after having fed the large crowds with the loaves and the fishes, that Jesus said to his disciples that unless they ate of his flesh and drank of his blood, they had no life in them. They were looking to him to provide them with the next meal. They wanted earthly things from him. And quickly straightened it out that he wasn’t in the world to meet their daily physical desires.

But after this account, we read in John 6:66.

John 6:66 NIV84

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

And so, even here, in Luke 6, there are large crowds followingn Jesus. And in verse 13 of our text, we read that Jesus called them to himself. All of those who were in this area where Jesus had spent the night praying, were called to him.

And then from these, we read that...

2.2. He chose twelve...

Christ undergoes a deliberate action of choosing twelve particular people from this larger group of disciples.

Here is a delibera*te act of selecting a small group of people from among the large group of disciples.

The act is very significant in terms of the number that He chose. We will go into this in a moment.

But one thing that i’d like to point out just before we do, is that Christ chose these men based on what His Father had showed him in terms of the choosing. There is a wonderful dynamic at work here.

John 17:6 NIV84

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

While that could be applied more broadly to all of Christ’s disciples at that moment, it did have particular relevance to the 12. These were those that God had given to Jesus.

But then we must notice this important point...

2.3. He designated...

"He named them...” - designated.

Luke says here that Jesus “…designated them apostles.”

If we are going to understand the significance of this title, this designation, then we need to give it some careful thought and consideration.

An Apostle in general terms refers to a person that has been sent out or commissioned for a task. We need to see in the Scriptures that there are different ways in which this term is used. I’m going to just demonstrate this through the Scriptures in the general use, and then I want to come back to these 12 men, and their specific designation as Apostles, because the distinctions are important for us to recognise.

In more general terms, we find that a number of men were referred to in the general sense as Apostles. They were people that were sent out or commissioned by someone for a particular task. And for our purposes, they were particularly sent out by the church.

Acts 13:2–3 NIV84

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Later on, as Paul and Barnabas had been preaching, there was some resistence against their teaching. And so we read in Acts 14:4, within the context of this disagreement...

Acts 14:4 NIV84

4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.

The Apostles there refers to Paul and Barnabas. But this does not mean that Barnabas is included in the 12 (I’ll come to Paul in a little while…) You find elsewhere that Barnabas is referred very distinctly from the Apostles being the 12. But he was sent by the church, commissioned to go on a particular assignment. In this sense you could call him an apostle of the church.

We this also in the book of Philippians...

Philippians 2:25 NIV84

25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.

The word “messenger” in the NIV there is the word “apostle.” Epaphroditus was the sent one from the church of Philippi.

1 Corinthians 15:3–7 NIV84

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,

Notice the distinction in the above between “The Twelve,” and “all the apostles...

So there is a distinction in the way the term Apostles is used in the Scripture.

But there is a very clear sense that the Twelve that Jesus appoints here are unique. While the term is used elsewhere to describe those who are sent as messengers, or with another particular task, (much like we send out missionaries from the church today) the Scriptures make it clear that there are only 12 specific Apostles sent by Christ for the establishment of the church.

This leads us to consider the 12 themselves. What was Jesus point in “disignating them Apostles?”

They would be sent out into the world to stand as representatives of Christ with His authority going with them.

Mark 3:14–15 NIV84

14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.

Luke 9:1–6 NIV84

1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

In essence, these 12 would be trained and taught by Jesus, and they would go out into the world on his authority to proclaim the Gospel message. They would thus form the foundations of the esablishment of the New Testament church through their proclamation of the Word of Christ.

The fact that there were 12 of them is significant in terms of the picture of the New Testament church being the people of God under the New Covenant, as opposed to the Israelites being the people of God under the Old Covenant.

This number represents and is associated with the nation Israel. Jacob had 12 sons. These 12 sons became the patriarchs of twelve tribes of Israel. These were those that were bound together in the Old Covenant nation. The Old Covenant people of God were founded and built on these 12 men.

So we find in the OT the type, and in the NT we find the Antitype - the fulfillment. We find a new nation; a new people; a new temple; a new sacrifice; a new Adam; a New mankind etc.....

All that we have under the New Covenant in Christ something that is distinctly new. It is indeed founded on the old, and it flows out of the old. But it is that which is distinctly new.

Ephesians 2:19–20 NIV84

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

Revelation 21:12 NIV84

12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Revelation 21:14 NIV84

14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The importance of the number 12 in terms of the Apostles is also seen in the fact that when Judas Israciot committed suicide after betraying Jesus, they 11 remaining apostles found it necessary to replace him with a suitable replacement.

Peter thus addresses the other Apostles with these words...

Acts 1:21–26 NIV84

21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

It was these 12 that would then take the Gospel message forward as the foundation for the church. But they were 12 people. Notice also in that account from the book of Acts that there was a specific criteria for the choosing of an Apostle - that is that the apostle had to be an eye-witness of Jesus Christ.

I do want to just give one further point of clarification, and that is concerning Paul. Was Paul an apostle? in a very unique way, he was.

He did not form part of the 12 themselves, but we find that Paul was given a unique calling by Jesus to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. But this again was a commissioning by Christ himself.

In Acts 26:16-18, Paul recounts his own commissioning by Jesus Christ...

Acts 26:16–18 NIV84

16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Very clearly from this it was an appointing by Jesus Christ for a specific purpose as a witness.

Romans 11:13 NIV84

13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry

Galatians 1:15–16 NIV84

15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,

This is simply to outline the fact that when we refer to Paul as an Apostle, he was one that was particularly commissioned by Jesus Christ himself, but with a particular focus on the Gentile world.

This leads us finally to consider...

3. Christ’s Pupils (v.14-16)

Who were these men that were appointed by Christ?

I want to introduce us very briefly to these Apostles. I won’t go into all the details of each person, but I want to make some important observations concerning these men who became the pupils / students / true disciples of Jesus Christ.

This is one of 4 lists that we have in the New Testament. Others in Matthew, Mark and Acts.

In each of these lists, Peter is the one that is named first on the list. He was in a sense the leader of the Apostles. He was a fisherman by trade. We’ve already considered previously his calling to follow Jesus. He is also known as Simon Peter. We find the reason for this in John 1:42, where Peter’s brother Andrew brought him to Jesus...

John 1:42 NIV84

42 And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

The meaning of his name is rock. Jesus renamed this man, not for something that he was, but for something that he would become. He named him as the disciple that he would be. Simon would become the spokesperson and lead disciple as it were. Peter confessed Jesus as the son of God. At that point, Jesus renamed him...

Matthew 16:17–18 NIV84

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

3.1. Ordinary People

Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen.

They had a day to day job of catching fish. It could more appropriately be called a fishing business, but it was a fishing business. They were ordinary people who were not classified as highly educated.

Matthew, we know, was a tax collector. We’ve already seen that this was a job that would lead to being frowned upon by the Jews.

We read of the shock of the Jewish leaders when they hear Peter and John proclaiming the truth of God...

Acts 4:13 NIV84

13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

That doesn’t mean they were completely ignorant, or could do nothing.

It simply is a fact that, for the most part, they were ordinary people.

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 NIV84

26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 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. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

3.2. Frail and Weak

Simon Peter was a fallible man… On commentator writes...

Luke 6:12–16 The Choosing of the Twelve

he was constantly swaying from one position to its opposite. He turned from trust to doubt (Matt. 14:28, 30); from open profession of Jesus as the Christ, to rebuking that very Christ (Matt. 16:16, 22); from a vehement declaration of loyalty, to base denial (Matt. 26:33–35, 69–75; Mark 14:29–31, 66–72; Luke 22:33, 54–62); from “By no means shalt thou wash my feet ever,” to “Not my feet only but also my hands and my head” (John 13:8, 9).

James and John were called Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder...” - it appears they had something of a short fuse, or a fiery nature. They were the ones that wanted to call down fire and brimstone on the Samaritan town.

They also were those who argued for the best spot in Christ’s kingdom. They had a bit of an issue with pride.

Let me add quickly that the rest of the disciples did much of the same thing. They argued among themselves over who was the greatest.

Thomas was a man given to despondency. He didn’t believe it when the other disicples said that Jesus had risen from the dead.

3.3. Diverse...

Matthew was a tax collector.

Simon was known as the zealot. The zealots were a party that had a deep tatred for the foreign rulers, the Roman government. They were not afraid to forment a rebellion against this Roman rule.

How do Simon the Zealot, and Matthew the tax collector get bonded together and work together to establish the rule of Christ in the world?

By God’s grace and design.

People from such diversee backgrounds...

3.4. The Traitor

What do we make of this? A mistake?

Not at all!!

John 6:70–71 NIV84

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Acts 2:23 NIV84

23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

3.5. Devoted

Application / Conclusion

A.1. Importance of Prayer

Important decision? Big changes coming in life?

What about particular spiritual needs in your life.

Are you having trouble sleeping through the night? Use the time to pray.

Pray for the ministry of the church.

Pray for Deacons / Elders / Missionaries from our church.

A.2. Recognise Apostolic Authority

1 John 4:5–6 NIV84

5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Notice the “us” in that verse. He speaks about himself and fellow eye-witnesses of Jesus Christ.

1 John 1:3 NIV84

3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Now in the Scriptures.

A.3. Be Encouraged

Christ chose the weak things…

Christ works through His people.