The Twelve Apostles

The Twelve Apostles
Luke 6:12-16

¹² Now during those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray; and he spent the night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Simon, who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ and Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Who Chose Who and Why?

Very early in his ministry, Jesus decided to gather disciples around himself.  Many chose to follow him in those early days; men and women, young and old, people from the Galilee and from Judea. But Jesus chose from those who followed him, twelve to be his constant companions and co-workers.

But just in case the disciples are confused, Jesus reminds the twelve just before his crucifixion, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.”   We suspect Jesus did not just say on the day he chose his apostles, “eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch an apostle by the toe”.

So the questions must be discussed, why did they choose each other? Why did the 12 choose him, and more importantly, why did he choose them?  Read further if you are interested, in the postings “The Twelve Apostles”