Series:  Mark, #7

June 3, 2007 

TWELVE APOSTLES

Mark 3:13-19

Mark 3:13-19 NIV

    Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. [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. [16] These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); [17] James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); [18] Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

          If you were looking for a new employee, what would you look for?  Would you scan the resume for educational achievements, for work-related experiences, for skills certifications?  If you were choosing up sides at the company picnic for a volleyball game, who would you pick?  Would you choose the most athletic people in the crowd, or the least?  When I was a kid, and friends would get together for a sand-lot baseball game, they’d toss one kid the bat, and then he and another kid would alternately put their hands on the neck of the bat until they got to the top.  The one who got his whole hand on the bat last got first picks.  Then they’d begin to choose people from the group to be on their teams.  This little process was never very interesting to me, because I knew that no matter who the two team captains were, I would always be chosen last.  No one wanted me on their team, because I wasn’t very good.

          So you can imagine my surprise when God, of all people, chose me (of all people) to be on His team, to represent Him as His undershepherd and spokesman.  But even at that, I probably wasn’t as surprised as some of the men Jesus chose to be apostles.

I.        The Choosing of the Twelve

          A.          Apostles   Luke 22:30; Eph 2:20; Rev 21:14

                    The word apostle (          <apostolos) means a sent one, a messenger.  Other people in the New Testament are referred to as apostles, but there is something unique about the original twelve.  Jesus said that they would one day sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:30).  Paul said the Church was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph 2:20).  In the book of Revelation, we read that the city wall of the New Jerusalem will have twelve foundations, and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. (Rev 21:14).  (I’m not sure who the twelfth one is—it could be either Matthias, who was selected by lots, or Paul, but certainly not Judas). 

          B.          Decision-Making by Prayer   Luke 6:12,13

                    It is significant that Luke 6 (:12,13) tells us that Jesus spent the night praying before calling these men to be His apostles.  This decision was too important to be left to merely human insight and discernment; He needed the leading of the Father.  In fact, He later referred to these men as the ones the Father had given Him. 

          That is very much the attitude we have had as we seek a new youth pastor to take Jim’s place as he and Debbie move into missions full time.  We had a candidate here a week ago for us to interview, to see how he worked with the teens, etc.  He left Friday a week ago, and I asked the elders and search committee to pray about it for a week before sharing their comments with each other.  We really need to hear from God on this! 

          Is there a question or decision that you are facing that you really need to submit to the Lord? You may think you know the answer, but have you asked God?  Have you asked with a willingness to do something different from what you now believe is the right course of action?  I think God is more than willing to lead us in matters like this, but if we are not willing to do whatever He says, we won’t even hear Him.  Submit it to God, and wait.  Take your time.  It is more important to hear from God than it is to make a quick decision. 

          So Jesus prayed all night, and then from the numbers of people who had been showing an interest in Him, He chose twelve.  And as we look at these men, we would have to admit that they were unlikely candidates. 

II.          Unlikely Candidates

          1.          Simon

                    (to whom he gave the name Peter).  Peter, petros in Greek, means rock, but Peter was anything but rock-solid during the time he was with Jesus. He was probably a disciple of John the Baptist, along with his brother, Andrew, before they met Jesus.  He was an impulsive guy, especially with his tongue, often speaking before putting his mind in gear.  For example, when he, James, and John were with Jesus on the mountain where Jesus revealed His glory to them, and Moses and Elijah appeared, it was Peter who suggested that they put up three shelters for the three great men.  Not completely off base, but clearly not pausing to ask what Jesus had in mind for the time.  Then there was the time when Jesus came walking to the disciples on the lake as they struggled to row against the wind, and Peter called out, If that’s you, tell me to come to you!  Jesus did, and Peter did get out of the boat, but then sank and had to be rescued by Jesus.  Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus predicted that the disciples would all fall away from Him, but Peter impulsively insisted that he would die with Jesus before he betrayed Him.  Of course, you know the story of how he denied three times that he even knew Jesus.  Even after the resurrection, we find Peter willing to compromise the essentials of the gospel when he was in Antioch, and he succumbed to pressure from some other Jewish believers not to eat with the Gentile Christians.   So Peter was impulsive, impetuous, had a big mouth, and didn’t always follow through.  He was, though, a natural leader, and was seen as the key apostle to the Jews after Jesus left. 

          2 & 3.          James and John

                    These men were brothers, sons of Zebedee.  Mark adds, “to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder.”  Well!  That tells us something about these two brothers, doesn’t it?  They were fishermen, as were Peter and Andrew, but apparently they had rather explosive personalities.  We see that in the incident when some people in a village did not welcome Jesus, and these two men asked if Jesus wanted them to call down fire from heaven on the village.  What kind of leader is always blowing up at people?

          James and John were the ones who asked if they could sit at Jesus’ right and left hands when He came in His kingdom and power, so that might indicate a somewhat selfish desire for power. 

          On the other hand, James and John (and Peter) were the three who got to see Jesus in His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration, and they were the ones Jesus asked to go a little farther into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray for Him the night of His arrest. 

          John seemed to have some connections in the High Priest’s house, because he was let into the compound after Jesus had been arrested.  John was the only one of the twelve apostles who stayed with Jesus at His crucifixion, and Jesus commended His own mother, Mary, into John’s care before He died.  John was the author of the Gospel of John, and of the three letters with his name on them in the New Testament.  He wrote the book of Revelation while he was in exile on the island of Patmos.

          4.          Andrew

                    was a fisherman by trade, and had been a disciple of John the Baptist.  When Jesus was preparing to feed the 5,000, Andrew mentioned that there was a boy there with a lunch, but he didn’t see what good that would do with so many to feed.  His chief claim to fame was that he brought his brother Simon Peter to Jesus. but that’s about all we know about him. 

          Let’s just pause here for a minute and reflect on Andrew’s life.  He doesn’t seem to have been very important; we don’t know of anything that he did for God that really stood out—except that he brought Peter to Jesus, and Peter was a leader among the apostles, and was appointed by Jesus as the first pastor of the first Christian church.  Andrew’s main role in the kingdom of God was to lead someone to Christ who would be great.  If you don’t see yourself as very important in the kingdom, take heart—you could be the one who leads someone to Christ who will go on to do great things for God.  Or perhaps you will mentor someone like that.  Lord, make me an Andrew! 

          5.          Philip

                    He was from Bethsaida in Galilee.  When Jesus suggested that the apostles get some food for the large crowds who had come to hear Him preach, Philip didn’t see how they could do that, because it would cost so much.  Later, in the upper room just before the crucifixion, Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus replied, John 14:9, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?”  So he seems to have been a little slow to catch on to the reality of who Jesus was.  (To be fair, I think the others were, too; Philip was just innocent enough to ask the stupid question.)

          6.          Bartholomew   John 1:45

                    This isn’t actually a real name; it comes from the Hebrew construction, bar Tolmai, meaning Son of Tolmai.  He probably had another name, and scholars think he was the Nathaniel mentioned in John 1:45.  When Philip told Nathaniel about Jesus, he expressed doubt that anything good could come from Nazareth.  But Jesus said that he was a man who was completely without deceit or duplicity. 

          7.          Matthew

                    We know that his given name was Levi, and he was a tax collector, an occupation that made him very unwelcome in most Jewish circles of that day.  It was so strange for Jesus to select him as one of His followers that the Pharisees remarked about it to the other apostles.  Matthew wrote the gospel of Matthew. 

          8.          Thomas

                    Thomas was a twin, and was sometimes called Didymus, which is Greek for “twin”.  Thomas was the skeptic in the bunch, the scientist who had to have hard data and solid evidence before he would believe that Jesus rose from the dead.  He insisted he had to touch the scars of the crucifixion before he would believe that it was really Jesus.  Because of that, people ever since have called him “Doubting Thomas”.  We might say he was from Missouri, the “Show Me” state.   

          9.          James son of Alphaeus  Mark 15:40

                    We think he is the James described in Mk 15:40 as literally, “James the little”.  We’re not sure if this label means he was younger than the other James, or smaller, but that’s really all we know about him. 

          10.          Thaddaeus

                    Luke calls him Judas, son of James, but it could be that because of the negative associations with the name Judas, Mark didn’t like to call him that.  We don’t know any more about him than that. 

          11.          Simon the Zealot

                    This label indicates not just that this Simon was zealous for his faith, but that before Jesus called him, he belonged to the political group known as the Zealots.  They were a band of violent nationalists who were willing to commit murder and assassinations in order to get rid of the Romans. 

          12.          Judas Iscariot

                    who betrayed him.  Judas is mentioned last in all three lists of the apostles, and always with this descriptive phrase, that he had betrayed Jesus. 

          So there’s the group:  twelve unlikely men.  One had a big mouth that he shot off at inappropriate times; two were power-hungry and had anger management problems; at least four were fishermen.  One was a violent political revolutionary; one was a hated tax collector, seen as a traitor to the Jewish cause.  One doubted that Jesus could be any good because He came from the nondescript town of Nazareth; another doubted that Jesus could rise from the dead.   One denied Jesus in order to save his own neck, and one betrayed Jesus to make a few coins. The rest were so mediocre we know almost nothing about them.  They were all slow to believe in Jesus, slow to grasp who He was.  None of them were scholars, or people of high position or influence.  Peter was a natural leader, but he wasn’t leading anything at the time Jesus called him.  None of them were famous, or important, or even high-achieving people.   If you had to pick twelve people to change the world, are these the people you would pick? 

III.      An Intentional Pattern  1 Cor. 1:26-29,31;  2 Cor 4:7

          But Jesus did pick them.  And that is so encouraging; because He has also picked you and me.  We’re no great shakes, either, are we?  We are pretty average people.  We have our personality quirks and eccentricities.  We fail to live up to what we believe.  We fail to do the things we say we will.  We have flaws and weaknesses.  And yet…and yet, God has chosen us, and He does use us to accomplish His great purposes in the world.

          The selection of the apostles was not a fluke; it was an intentional pattern by God.  Paul wrote to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 1:26-29,31, “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… [31] Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” 

          This has always been God’s way, and it is really contrary to our human ways of thinking.  We like to point to Christians who are professional athletes, or influential in government or business, or who have become famous in some way, as a way of saying, Look, Christians are important, powerful people.  We’re not the dregs of society like everybody tries to say. 

          We will sometimes point to a person who has tremendous leadership abilities, or influence with people, and we’ll say, “He/she would make a tremendous Christian.”  That is exactly the opposite of the way God sees it.  He does choose some who are famous or influential, but look at how Paul describes the Christians in the church at Corinth:  generally speaking, they were not wise, not influential, not of noble birth, but rather, foolish, weak, lowly, and despised.  Wow! Great, huh?  I bet you can’t wait to join a group like that!  But in many ways, it’s a description of the twelve apostles and of most of the people God has chosen through the ages.  If you look at the Church throughout history, there have been far more ordinary people than stars. 

          We may never choose people like that to be on our team, but God knows what He is doing.  He has a purpose in this pattern that we see in Scripture and in history, and here it is: 2 Cor. 4:7, “But we have this treasure (the gospel) in jars of clay (weak human nature) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”  God is going to accomplish His great purpose to bring people from every ethnic group on earth to the Savior, and He is going to do it through jars of clay, clay pots, so that everyone will know that the power to do that is from God, and not from us. 

          We want to be winners, and we want to be part of a group of winners, but God chooses losers so that He will get the glory in the end. 

          Here’s another slant on that same point.  When Jesus chose the Twelve to be His official representatives—preachers of the gospel who would carry both His message and His authority—He didn't choose a single rabbi or teacher of the Law or Pharisee or priest. Not one of the men He chose came from the religious establishment. The choosing of the twelve apostles reflected Jesus’ earlier statement that new wine required new wineskins.  The old traditions and structures of Judaism could not contain the new wine of the Gospel, which is why the Lord didn't choose one recognized religious leader. Instead, He chose men who we today would call “laymen.”  This word comes from the Greek laos, meaning the people—not the leaders, not the intelligentsia, not the exceptional ones who rise to the top of whatever scale you are measuring, but the ordinary people.  Those are the ones Jesus chose, and those are the ones Jesus is still choosing today. 

          But Jesus is not choosing people who will remain average and ordinary.  He intends to take ordinary people and do extraordinary things through them.  Because His focus is on their potential, not their past.

IV.     A Focus on Potential

          The biblical record is really thin when it comes to the activities of the apostles after the resurrection.  We know that they were leaders in the church that formed there in Jerusalem, and that they sent representatives to check out stories of what God was doing among the Samaritans.  They held a major council to decide if Paul had overstepped the bounds of orthodoxy by not requiring the Gentiles to be circumcised, so the apostles were feeling the responsibility to insure sound teaching.  And they established the deacons to do the administrative part of the ministry so they could spend more time in the Word and prayer. There’s not a lot more about them than that.  And the many traditions and stories about their subsequent activities are often not very reliable, so we are really left without much concrete information about them.

          But what we do know is that the church they founded and led turned Jerusalem upside down, and when the Christians were persecuted there, they spread out all over the Mediterranean region, and in the space of about 300 years, Christianity had moved from being the persecuted minority “cult” to the official religion of the Roman Empire.  Certainly, we have to give the major credit for that to the power of the Holy Spirit working through those early believers, out-loving their neighbors and gossiping the Gospel wherever they went.  But we also have to recognize the role that the original leaders played in laying the foundation right.  The Church, Paul said, was built on the foundation of the apostles and the Old Testament prophets, and the apostles got the church started right. 

          When Jesus called those men to Himself that day, He wasn’t looking at their past achievements, or even their skills.  He was looking at their hearts.  He saw what they could become, because they were pliable, and because they were committed to Him.  Dwight L. Moody is reported to have said, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man who is fully committed to Him.”  Actually, I think we have seen that—in the apostles Jesus chose. 

          When Jesus chose you to be on His team,  what do you think He saw?  What potential was He hoping to tap?  What in your heart, and your love for Him, and your commitment did He see?  What kind of clay did He see you were?  How soft and pliable and teachable are you? 

          And does He have all that you are?  Have you given Him all that He saw in you at the first? Or have you held something back from Him?  Do you sing to Him, “Have your own way, Lord, have your own way.  You are the Potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me after Your will, while I am waiting, yielded and still”?   You will never reach your full potential, you will never become all that Jesus wants to make of you, until you are fully committed to Him.  Give Him your heart; give Him yourself. 

          There is one other phrase in this text that we should note. 

V.          Chosen to “Be With” Him   Mark 3:14; Acts 4:13

          Mark 3:14, “He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.”   We tend to focus on the activity, on the task they were called to do—that He might send them out to preach.  But note what comes first—and this always comes first:  “that they might be with Him.”  It is the relationship with Jesus that precedes and prepares us for ministry.  John Maxwell said something that has made a profound impression on me: “The breadth of a person’s ministry is a function of their gifts, but the depth of their ministry is a function of their piety.”  Do you want to have a broad, famous, popular ministry, that may only be a quarter of  an inch deep?  Or do you want a ministry and influence that goes deep into people’s hearts and lives, and leave the breadth and scope of it to the Lord?  We see this all the time in the church today—men and women who have books and seminars and TV shows and who are asked to speak at conferences and conventions all over the country and the world—but who are then later discovered to have been only a quarter of an inch deep in Jesus. 

          The first priority for a minister of Christ is to be “with Him.”  When Peter and John were arrested, the religious authorities saw their courage and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men… and they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).  Whatever you do, do not neglect this deep, personal, intimate relationship with Him.  Take time to be holy.  Spend much time in secret with Jesus.  The world may never see that, but God will see it, and He will then cause your influence with others to go deep into their souls.