The Selecting of the Apostles (Luke 6:12-19)

We are familiar with great gatherings in which a leader addresses a large audience. Often those who have been chosen by him to help him in his mission will be placed near him in prominent positions. The audience will then hear an address from the leader and as they listen to him they will also observe his chosen helpers standing or sitting near to him. Something similar, but in reality far more important in its significance, took place on the occasion when Jesus selected his apostles. He was there as the Leader, the apostles were there as his agents, and the crowd were there listening to Jesus as he outlined various features of his kingdom.

The preparation

Luke informs us that Jesus spent the night in prayer before he publicly identified those who would be apostles. In his Gospel, Luke mentions that Jesus was praying at his baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration. Other Gospels mention other occasions when Jesus prayed. Perhaps we are surprised to see references to prayer in the life of Jesus. After all, he is divine, so why does he need to pray?

One answer to that question is that he is also a human. He became one at his incarnation when he was conceived in the womb of Mary. When he was a child he would have been taught to pray, perhaps by his mother. As he grew older, he would have learned to pray in a different way. Yet we can say several things about his praying.

First, he was always delighted to pray. With him, praying to God was never a chore. Second, he would have been diligent in his praying. It would have been a daily practice for him, to set aside time for prayer, and he always found time to pray. Third, his prayers would have been pure in that there would be no defects in them. He never included a wrong expression in his prayers and he never had to include confession of sin in his prayers. Fourth, his prayers were full of feeling – he would have put his whole heart into them. Often in his recorded prayers, he uses an adjective in front of the word ‘Father’, or he uses the little word ‘O’ as in ‘O Father’. Fifth, his prayers would have been expressions of love to God and man since those prayers were part of his obedience to God’s law expressed in the Ten Commandments. Sixth, he was always heard when he prayed, which was what he said when he prayed at the tomb of Lazarus. Seventh, he prayed for his disciples, and for some of them personally, as he did for Peter on the night he denied the Saviour. Eighth, he loved to pray in solitude (Luke 5:16). Ninth, it looks as if he prayed audibly, because on one occasion, after he had prayed, his disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1). Tenth, he used verses from the Psalms in some of his recorded prayers on the cross.

So Jesus prayed because he was a man, and it is a feature of holiness to pray. Jesus was perfectly holy, so therefore he was a man of prayer. Yet we also have to remember that sometimes he prayed in an official capacity as the Mediator. His role as Mediator when he was here on earth included him making preparations for the kingdom that he would set up after his death, resurrection and ascension. And it is obvious that the occasion described here was connected to that kingdom, because the apostles would have a large role to fulfil within it.

We can see something of the importance with which Jesus regarded this occasion by the fact that he preceded it with a night of prayer. It is likely that he spent many nights in prayer, but this is the only occasion in the Gospels where we are told that he spent an entire night in prayer. We can assume that his prayers were connected to the time he would spend with them before he died and also how they would serve him in the years after he had returned to heaven. But they would know that he had prayed for them before he selected them. 

The selection

An obvious detail mentioned by Luke is that Jesus chose them in the presence of witnesses. Perhaps he did this to ensure that no one afterwards could say about them that Jesus had not chosen them. If that was the case, then we can see the care that Jesus took in ensuring that they would be known as his special servants.

It may be the case that Luke mentions the order in which they were chosen on this occasion. Or maybe he is mentioning them in the order with which they had come to follow him. We are not told how the last five came to be his followers, but we are told elsewhere about how the first seven came to follow him as their Master.

He gave to them a special name, that of apostles. We are so used to that title that we may not give much thought to what it signified. The word literally means messenger, which implies a sender and a recipient. An apostle is someone who delivers another’s message to those the sender wanted to hear it. This means that an apostle did not make up his own message, but had to be faithful to the One who sent him.

Who were to be the recipients of the message of Jesus? We can answer this question by saying that basically there would be two groups of recipients. One we call the unconverted and the other we can call the converted. So the apostles would always have both types of listener in mind as they went delivering the message of Jesus.

The messages of the apostles

What was the messages that they would bring to those two groups? As far as the unconverted were concerned, the message to be brought to them was the gospel. The word ‘gospel’ means good news, so if the message conveyed to people does not contain good news it is not the message that Jesus wanted his apostles to convey. So we, who are the successors of the apostles, need to find out what it means to pass on the message of the gospel.

We don’t pass on the gospel if all we do is point out the sins of people to them. Nor do we spread the gospel if all we tell them is that they are going to hell. And we are not speaking about the gospel if only describe the blessings of heaven. The gospel is the message that tells sinners how they can be saved from going to a lost eternity. Of course, we need to tell people that they are sinners, because otherwise why would they need a Saviour? The gospel means telling people that they will be forgiven by God if they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus. We can see from the Book of Acts that the apostles did this. They told the gospel simply, personally and wooingly.  

Then there were the messages that they were to instruct the converted about once they had responded to the gospel. We find what they had to say in this regard when we read the various writings of the New Testament. Of course, there are many ways of outlining or summarising the message that the apostles and their colleagues communicated to the converted. For the present, I want to point out five aspects of their message that was there when they were alive and is still required from all those who come into the church of Jesus.

First, they have to hold tight to the doctrines that the apostles taught. We hold on to things that are precious to us. Second, they said that the religion of the converted involves the heart, that it is a religion of love. Third, they informed the converted that God hears and answers prayer. Fourth, they stressed to the converted the necessity of a holy life, which basically means becoming like Jesus. Fifth, they comforted the converted by pointing out to them the certain hope they had about the future because of Jesus and the incredible activities he would engage in when he returned.

The apostles

What comes into our minds as we read the list of names mentioned by Luke? One of them became the traitor, and he is a sad person to observe. But what about the others? What can we say about them? Here are some suggestions. They were ordinary men – some were fishermen, one was a taxman, one was a former Zealot, and we don’t know about the others. They were imperfect men – Peter was impetuous, James and John were a bit wild (Jesus did call them the sons of thunder), Thomas could see everything in a negative way, and no doubt the others had their failings. They were ignorant men before Jesus began to teach them and they were slow learners after he engaged in teaching them. Did he not have to say to Philip, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?’ (John 14:9).

Yet what did they become? After all, they are described in Ephesians as the foundation of the church. They became faithful men – all but John would die a martyr’s death. They became the friends of Jesus, as he said to them in John 15:15: ‘No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.’ They became honoured men – millions of people down the centuries and throughout the world today love and respect them for what they did. And it all flowed and flows from the amazing night of prayer that Jesus offered on their behalf before he selected them to be his apostles.

Preached on 21st August 2016