Choosing The Twelve
Luke 6:12-16
March 18, 2018
If you’ve been with us over the last several weeks then you are aware of
The friction that has been building between Jesus and the Pharisees.
They have been challenging Him quite frequently as of late
And each time His wisdom proves to be more than they can handle.
In reality, the last couple of times they have challenged Him, they have actually been made to look foolish.
• Jesus, in effect, compared them to foolish men who would tear a patch
out of a new garment to patch a hole on an old one.
• He compared them to a foolish person who poured old wine into new
wineskins.
• Because they were mourning when they should’ve been celebrating.
• Then He exposed their lack of discernment regarding the Sabbath.
• They couldn’t answer why God allowed David to eat that
consecrated bread.
• They couldn’t recognize the Lord of the Sabbath.
• They had no heart for compassion and the healing of a crippled
man.
Jesus hasn’t just won the debates, He has overwhelmingly won them.
Every time the Pharisees go up against Him, they don’t just look wrong,
They look foolish, and petty, and even wicked.
They walk away with a tremendous amount of egg on their faces.
And of course that explains the statement
Luke makes in verse 11 of this chapter.
Luke 6:11 “But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.”
This is the first reference to the hostility
That is building toward Jesus from the religious elite.
That revelation also helps to pave the way
For the section we are about to enter.
The remainder of chapter 6 can be categorized as
The selection and training of the twelve.
And in light of the growing hostility toward Him, it certainly makes sense.
• Jesus has known from the beginning what is coming.
• He knows of the hatred towards Him.
• He knows that a little over a year He will be crucified.
His plan is to select 12 men
To carry His message to the world after His departure.
• He is going to dwell with them.
• He is going to teach them.
• He is going to be a living example for them.
• He is going to prepare them for their ministries.
And that is what Luke introduces here.
Let’s break this text down into three points.
#1 THE PRAYER
Luke 6:12
Here again we find that priority of Jesus, to always seek His Father’s will.
There is no doubt to anyone who watched His life exactly who He was serving.
Jesus did what pleased the Father.
And this submissive attitude is never seen anywhere more clearly than in His prayer life.
• Was there ever a man who might have had the ability to handle a situation on
His own?
• Was there ever a man who might have had the power to take on a problem on
His own?
• Was there ever a man who was so spiritual that He might be able to discern a
dilemma without help from above?
If there ever was a man like that, it most certainly would have been Jesus,
And yet we find Him as committed to prayer as any we have ever seen.
It is a testimony to His humility and to His submission.
For honestly prayerlessness only reveals arrogance and defiance in us.
We don’t find this attitude in Christ.
HERE WE FIND HIM PRAYING AGAIN.
And this time “He spent the whole night in prayer to God.”
Trying to guess the content of His prayer is futile and pointless,
But because of the context surrounding this verse we might very well understand that it had a great deal to do with the selection of His disciples.
One thing is certain, Jesus was not concerned about
Picking the people who would seem to be the most effective.
Jesus’ one concern was in picking the people
Whom the Father had chosen.
And make no mistake the Father had His selection.
We remember Jesus’ prayer in John 17
John 17:6-8 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. “Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me.”
And that is who Jesus is after.
Today, far too many times in the church, people are selected either by their worldly successes or the worldly compatibility.
• We think bankers make the best treasurers
• We think managers make the best deacons
• We think movie stars make the best evangelists
• We think talented people make the best singers
• We think the best speakers make the best preachers
When in reality none of those things are God’s criteria.
God does not pick the most obvious man.
God picks the man whom He desires to use.
From His perspective they are all useless.
Don’t we remember:
Romans 3:12 “ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
We like to pick whom we think is the most qualified,
God doesn’t see that any of us are.
But in spite of our weakness,
He picks those whom He may use for His glory.
And Jesus is here on this day simply seeking to find out who that is.
So Jesus spends the night in prayer to find them.
Incidentally the disciples certainly learned from His example,
• For after Judas betrayed the Lord and killed himself,
• We find the church given the task of replacing him.
Acts 1:21-26 “Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us — beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us — one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.”
They learned that from the Lord.
Don’t pick the obvious candidate, pick the one whom God has chosen.
It really is that simple.
And so we see Jesus in prayer.
#2 THE PLAN
Luke 6:13
Here we begin to find out what these men would be selected for.
“He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles;”
The first reference to “His disciples” would have been a large group of people.
• This was the group that was following Him everywhere, listening to Him preach and partaking in His miracles.
• No doubt it was this large group that was eating in the field on the Sabbath that drew the scorn of the Pharisees.
But of this group, God had a plan to choose 12.
Twelve men who would become “apostles”
An apostle is most simply revealed as “a messenger, or an ambassador, or a representative”
But they were also a messenger “with full authority”
It would be seen most similarly today as one with Power Of Attorney.
These men weren’t just being called to be eye-witnesses,
Though they most certainly were.
These men were being called to be the official spokesmen
As the authoritative voice regarding
The person and work and message of Jesus.
• Jesus would be crucified in less than 2 years and would soon after that ascend into heaven.
• And one can only imagine the discrepancies and distortions that would follow after He would be gone.
• To fix that and to preserve the exact message regarding who He was and what He taught Jesus would appoint these “apostles”.
• They would be the officially certified messengers of His gospel.
• They would be the final authority to end all debate regarding who Jesus was.
• They would be the final authority regarding what Jesus taught.
And to validate their message
Jesus would even entrust these men with the power to work miracles
To validate their office of apostleship and to authenticate their message.
And from the standpoint of the church,
And the church’s establishment, and the church’s doctrine,
THE PRESENCE OF THE APOSTLES IS HUGE!
Ephesians 2:20 “[The church has] been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”
We know them as the ones who received divine revelation.
Ephesians 3:4-5 “By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;”
The apostles were those who were given divine revelation
To make known to us the very word of God.
Which explains passages like:
Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
These men were God’s voice to the church.
And to validate that message and their office, they were given the ability to work miracles which were called the signs of apostleship.
2 Corinthians 12:12 “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.”
Romans 15:18-19 “For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.”
Hebrews 2:3-4 “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.”
In this light it is also understood why we DO NOT HOLD that
The miraculous gifts are still present today.
DON’T GET ME WRONG, that does not mean that God does not supernaturally work in our world, obviously He does.
• God heals
• God delivers
• God provides
• God protects
• And God still does those things in supernatural fashion
But the presence of men who have the ability to perform miraculous healings at will or to work other types of miracles at will is no longer.
That was unique to the apostles whom Jesus appointed
And it was unique in order to validate their authority to speak the truth
About Jesus and the gospel message.
That truth is now handed down to us in the New Testament
We no longer need men with miraculous ability to validate their message.
We stand on the apostle’s authority.
We stand on the authority of the New Testament they left behind.
For a better understanding of this authority, you can look to John 20.
John 20:21-23 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
• This DOES NOT indicate that the apostles could forgive or condemn people at
their choosing.
• What it indicated is men who had the authority to declare rather or not a
person was forgiven, or had been forgiven.
Peter did this with Simon the Magician
Acts 8:20-23 “But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
They could make authoritative judgments
Regarding a person’s spiritual condition.
Incidentally, we now also declare people forgiven or still in sin,
But not based upon our own judgments.
We stand on the apostle’s authority here as well.
• When a person believes in Jesus Christ we tell them on the authority of the New Testament, they are forgiven.
• When a person rejects Jesus Christ we tell them on the authority of the New Testament that they face judgment.
But the apostles would have this authority first.
So I think you can see that this is NO SMALL RESPONSIBILITY
That these men would be given.
Jesus is about to entrust men
• With more power than any normal man should
• With His reputation
• And with His message.
You’d certainly want to get this selection right.
And those whom He will select will not only receive great responsibility, but ALSO GREAT HONOR.
These 12 will have their names engraved on the foundation stones of heaven.
Revelation 21:14 “And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
These 12 will be the new leaders of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Luke 22:29-30 “and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
These 12 will be called “the holy apostles” and will be examples of holy living to the church.
1 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.”
1 Corinthians 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”
This is a monumental task and an important selection.
And one could only imagine
Where Jesus might look to find these extraordinary men.
Also important to note is the SOVEREIGN PRINCIPLE seen in this verse.
“He called His disciples”
“[He] chose twelve of them”
“He also named as apostles”
We are reminded of the statement Jesus will later make in the upper room:
John 15:16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”
And again
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”
• There were no apostle tryouts held here on this day.
• There was no application process to fill out.
• There were no references submitted.
In short, Jesus was not picking the way we might pick.
He wasn’t looking for “the best of the best of the best”
There was no earthly criteria that distinguished them.
This was all a matter of the sovereign prerogative of God.
God was picking these men as best suited Him.
Well, that’s what makes the next 3 verses so amazing.
#3 THE PICK
Luke 6:14-16
We spend all that time talking about
What a sacred and important job it was to be an apostle.
And FRANKLY it then leaves us a little stunned when we see the list of men that were actually selected.
• No great athletes
• No famous celebrities
• No successful businessmen
• No powerful politicians
• No decorated soldiers
• No charismatic religious leaders
• No priests
Instead He selects a handful of Galileans, a few fisherman,
A recovering tax collector, a closet terrorist,
And a hypocritical traitor.
I don’t think there was another person in the world
Who would have settled on that list.
These are the men whom Jesus will entrust with full authority and power
To set the world straight regarding who He is and what He taught.
And I just don’t think you can overlook the fact that
NONE OF THESE MEN SEEM QUALIFIED IN THE LEAST.
What I want to do is just point out some of the familiar and obvious facts about these men to further illustrate my point.
I would say at this point, however, that there has already been a much better job of this done by John MacArthur in his sermon series “The Master’s Men”, where he will give you a full character sketch of each of these men.
https://www.gty.org/library/topical-series-library/79/the-masters-men
But, for our sake this morning, let me simply bring to your mind some of the massive faults that we are already aware of regarding this list.
I think the first place to start would be with the OBVIOUS PERSONALITY FLAWS of these men.
CONSIDER “PETER”
• He’s been called “the disciple with the foot-shaped mouth.”
• My dad used to say that “Peter was always broadcasting when he should have been tuning in.”
I think we all remember that infamous day
When Jesus announced His upcoming death in Jerusalem.
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
That’s about as severe as it gets.
• Peter actually had the audacity to try and talk Jesus out of the cross, for which Jesus actually called him Satan.
I’m no expert in apostle selection,
But I’d think you’d want to stay away from those that Satan uses.
Or who could forget the famous scene with Peter in the upper room?
Matthew 26:33 “But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
Famous last words right!
“Lord I don’t know about all these other cowards in this room, but I’ll tell You one thing, nothing can make me fall away.”
He should have added, “unless a servant girl tells everyone I’m Your follower and then I’m out of here.”
We all remember that monumental failure of Peter.
Peter was impulsive, loud, overconfident,
And as such prone to failure and blunder.
• Do we have to talk about him trying to walk on water only to sink?
• Do we have to talk about him trying to take the guy’s head off in the garden?
Peter was going to talk too much, listen too little, make rash decisions,
And make his mistakes full speed ahead.
But the Lord picked him.
• In fact the Lord picked him as the leader.
• Matthew’s gospel calls him “the first”. Not first chronologically chosen (he wasn’t) but first in the scope of leadership.
Of the twelve, every time you see them listed, Peter is always listed first.
The Lord made this guy the leader.
CONSIDER “JAMES AND JOHN”
Affectionately referred to as “the sons of thunder”
• Yes it is true that John will become known as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”
• And it is true that John will have a great deal to write about concerning love of the brethren in his epistles.
But could I just point out that
Neither James nor John started out that way.
Who can forget the day they saw someone else baptizing?
Mark 9:38-39 “John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.”
Who can forget the day the Samaritans wouldn’t let them lodge?
Luke 9:51-56 “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 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?” But He turned and rebuked them, [and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.”
Hot headed – Quick Tempered
• You’d like to think that the men you’ll entrust the gospel to would at least understand that the goal is to save men not kill them.
CONSIDER “THOMAS”
Often referred to as “doubting Thomas” but that’s really not accurate.
He should be referred to as Thomas the pessimist.
Thomas never thought anything was going to work.
He was always convinced it was going to go badly.
John 11:14-16 “So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
There is optimism isn’t it?
John 14:3-5 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. “And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
And even after Jesus rises:
John 20:24-25 “But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”
I’m not sure that’s the type of “negative energy”
You’d want to bring into the group of 12.
Of course we could talk about “PHILIP”
Philip was a Greek name indicating he was probably a Hellenistic Jew
Philip was the analytical one of the group.
• He was the beaver,
• Always planning,
• Always calculating but very rarely seeing through eyes of faith.
When Jesus tells the disciples to feed the 5,000
Philip responds:
John 6:7 “Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.”
Philip had already done the math, and he knew it couldn’t be done.
When Jesus in the upper room speaks of His departure, it is Philip who needs some tangible evidence.
John 14:8-9 “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Philip was strong on calculations but slow on faith or discernment.
We already know that “MATTHEW” was a tax collector.
Even if his reputation wasn’t already shot, can you really trust a man who so recently had such an affinity for the world?
Or how about “SIMON WHO WAS CALLED THE ZEALOT”?
The Zealots were a group of Jewish terrorists
Whose goal was to overthrow Rome.
They would carry short daggers under their coats
In order to stab a Centurion in a crowd undetected.
• Is that really the kind of guy you’re going to entrust the message of salvation with?
• Do you really want to give supernatural power to a guy like Simon?
And that’s not even to mention the villain of the group “JUDAS ISCARIOT, WHO BECAME A TRAITOR.”
And that’s just a few of the personality deficiencies in that group.
But even when we consider THEIR COLLECTIVE WORK.
• How many times did Jesus reference their lack of faith?
• We hear it continually, “Oh ye of little faith”
During the storm:
Matthew 8:25-26 “And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.”
When Peter sank:
Matthew 14:31 “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 16:8 “But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread?”
How many times did He reference their lack of understanding?
Matthew 15:17 “Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?”
Matthew 16:11 “How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
How many times did He reference their lack of power?
Matthew 17:15-20 “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. “I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.” And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
Does anyone else remember how many times they got in arguments about which one was the greatest?
Luke 9:46 “An argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest.”
Or how about these two?
Matthew 20:20-21 “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.”
And as if all of that was not enough,
We all know what these great men are going to do
When the going gets tough.
They’re all going to flee! (And Jesus knew it)
Mark 14:50 “And they all left Him and fled.”
This just isn’t a group I think we’d start with.
BUT THIS IS WHO THE LORD PICKS
WHY?
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”
2 Corinthians 4:6-7 “For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;”
The Lord picks these types of people
Because through these types He can easier glorify Himself.
Furthermore it bears testimony once again to the fact that
Jesus is the Savior of the beggar, the guilty, and the blind.
He doesn’t just save them and discard them.
He saves them and uses them.
And I can’t speak for you, but I can tell you that
• It gives me great comfort to know that the Lord uses overconfident loud-mouthed impulsive cowards like Peter.
• It gives me hope to know the Lord uses judgmental, harsh, intolerant and competitive men like James and John.
• It encourages me that the Lord uses pessimistic, skeptical, and cynical men like Thomas.
• It encourages me that the Lord uses analytical, slow to believe, sight based, and slow discerning men like Philip.
• It encourages me that men with a past like that of a tax collector or terrorist can still be used in the Lord’s service.
BECAUSE I CAN IDENTIFY WITH A LOT OF THOSE FAILURES.
And if you can’t identify with them, come talk to me after the service
And I’ll tell you which ones you identify with!
WHAT WE LEARN HERE IS THAT
When Luke speaks of Jesus as the Savior or Redeemer of men,
That salvation reaches beyond simply rescuing them from hell.
JESUS DOESN’T JUST SAVE THEIR LIFE,
HE SALVAGES THEIR LIFE, HE REDEEMS THEIR LIFE.
They are a glorious picture of His full salvation.
The simple application is to understand that He can do the same for you,
Even if you think yourself unusable.
The next time you think the Lord can’t use you just ask yourself
If you would have thought the disciples were usable?
