Day
11: Mark 3:13-19
Appointing the Twelve Apostles
Appointing the Twelve Apostles
Jesus selected twelve men to become the founding
fathers (apostles) of his kingdom. Eleven came from Galilee. Only one, Judas
Iscariot, came from Judea. The twelve were Simon Peter, the lead apostle, James
who was martyred in Acts12:2 and John the author of John’s gospel. Andrew was Peter’s brother, Philip from
Bethsaida was the one who tried to understand the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:8) and Bartholomew was probably the
same man as Nathanael introduced in John 1:45. Matthew was a tax collector and the
author of Matthew’s gospel, Thomas doubted the resurrection (John 20:25) and James was possibly the son of Mary one of
Jesus’ helpers in Mark 15:4. Thaddaeus
was also called Judas, Simon was one of the Zealots, a Jewish revolutionary
group violently opposed to the Roman occupation and Judas Iscariot, the only
one not from Galilee, was the one who betrayed Jesus.
Jesus selected them carefully after a night of
prayer (Luke 6:12) and we believe them all be the right choice even though one
betrayed him. It was common practice for a Jewish Rabbi to have followers and
these apostles would have the unique opportunity to be with Jesus 24/7 and to
find what he was really like without anything hidden.
How does the fact that these twelve men
spent day and night with Jesus for nearly three years increase your confidence
in the character of Jesus?
How will
this help you to follow Jesus when He calls you to do stretching and
difficult things?
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