A Careful Choice

Series on Luke

III The Initiation

C The Associates of His Ministry

1 The Call of the Apostles

Text: 6:12-16

Introduction

There is a difference between a disciple and an apostle. Often the 12 men who traveled with Jesus are called disciples. They were, but disciples is a term used to describe anyone who followed Jesus. The Apostles were a special class of disciples who were closer to Jesus and who became the foundation of the Christian Church as Paul writes in Ephesians 2:19-22, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Though there are some New Testament books written by non-apostles, the bulk of them are written by one of the 12 original apostles. The Old Testament prophets are mentioned as part of the foundation because a primary objective of the apostolic writings was to demonstrate that this Jesus was that Christ who had been prophesied in the Old Testament. The apostles are absolutely unique as part of the foundation. There are no modern apostles though many usurp the name. To be an apostle one was supposed to have accompanied Him during His earthly ministry as is made clear when a successor to Judas is chosen in Acts 1:21 and 22, 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, 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.” The apostle Paul was an exception, but Jesus did appear to him on the Damascus Road, so he did meet the risen Christ. We simply do not know what previous contact Paul might have had with Jesus’ ministry. On the one hand, Paul seems to acknowledge the authority of the original apostles and met with them and abode by their decisions, although he was instrumental in leading their decisions. On the other hand some allege that although the procedure that Peter followed indicates that Matthias was a reasonable choice from their point of view, it’s not clear from Acts 1:12-26 that the Lord actually prompted the disciples to fill the vacancy in their ranks. On the contrary, it seems obvious that Paul was His choice. Matthias was never mentioned again by any of the Disciples, and none of them gave any objection to Paul’s description of himself as an Apostle chosen by God. We simply do not know the answer to this question. The title “apostle” could be used in a more general sense of “sent one,” and Paul’s use of the term does not change the original choice of 12. In our text we discover that the choice that Jesus makes here was difficult, designed and discriminating.

I A Difficult Choice

We read in verse 12, One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. As the commentator, Geldenhuys, reminds us we need to pray more. If the sinless perfect Son of God spent all the night hours in prayer and communion with His Father before making this momentous decision, how much more urgently necessary is it that we should pray in our decisions. The decision was momentous because humanly speaking the whole future of His Church depended on the choices made by Him. The choice must be in perfect accord with His Father’s will. Again and again in the gospel of Luke we are reminded that Jesus sought places of isolation and silence in order to pray. Though Jesus was God, He was also man, and as a man he worshiped. Prayer is worship. Have you ever heard anyone complain about long prayers in worship. Have you ever felt that the prayer was never going to end. That tells us a lot about our worship and our prayer lives. Sometimes prayer has been called the life breath of the Christian. Though it is true, it is also a little misleading because it makes it seem as if prayer is as natural as breathing. The fact is that prayer is difficult and requires discipline and concentration. However, when we have difficult choices and challenges, doing the difficult work of prayer will ease the way ahead. As the rest of His ministry reveals, Jesus was confident that He had made the right decision.

II A Designed Choice

In verses 13-16 the choice is made, When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot. All of the lists of the apostles may not match perfectly, but the reason is that some of them have different names. They are the same men. Bartholomew is a patronymic name and refers to Nathaniel. Judas, son of James is also called Thaddeus, and Matthew is sometimes called Levi. Peter is always placed first in every list because he was the recognized leader among the apostles. However the most important thing about this list is the number chosen. There are 12. This is not an arbitrary number. Ancient Israel, the people of God was made up of 12 tribes, the sons of Jacob. His chosen people refused to accept Him as their promised redeemer, and rejected His claim to the Messiahship. As John tells us in the first chapter of his gospel, He came unto His own and His own received Him not. Thus a new people of God must be called into being out of the faithful remnant among the Jews. The 12 apostles are the New Testament counterpart to the 12 tribes of Israel, and they are to be the nucleus of a new congregation. That congregation is to replace the old, and New Testament authors consistently identify those who are born anew and follow Jesus as the true children of Abraham. Thus when Paul writes about Israel in Romans 9:4-8, he says, Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. And so Paul writes to the Gentile Galatian Christians in 3:26-29, You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Thus we have in Jesus’ designed choice a new Israel.

III A Discriminating Choice

Now we should take note of the fact that in every list of the apostles, not only is Peter listed first, but Judas is listed last. In our text we have 4 ominous words at the conclusion of he list. When Judas Iscariot is named we read, who became a traitor. It is incomprehensible, yea, paradoxical to our human minds that Judas, who would subsequently betray Jesus should be chosen according to God’s will. This is what makes it a discriminating choice. In the wise counsel of the Triune God a traitor has been intentionally numbered among the 12. It is not difficult to ascertain why this is the case. Jesus has come to die for sinners. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In ages past His destiny has been determined. Yet, He will not bring this to pass without someone to betray Him into the hands of His enemies and murderers. It was prophesied, and as we know Jesus went about fulfilling all that was written about Him in Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. One reason He did this was so that people would know that He was the true Messiah. Peter speak of this prophecy in Acts 1:15-20, In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ”‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ”‘May another take his place of leadership.’ Jesus made this choice deliberately. We know from the New Testament that Jesus set His face like a flint to go to the cross. Nothing could stop Him. He deliberately challenged His opposition so they would plot against Him. He sweat, as it were, drops of blood in the Garden facing the prospect, and when it happened he surrendered up His life of His own will on the cross. He had said in John 10:17 and 18, The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” Thus we stand amazed at Jesus’ deliberate choice of the traitor to be one of the original 12, but as we know from the rest of the New Testament, he was replaced. It reminds us of Jesus great love for us.