Read Mark 3:13-18 [Passage printed at end of blog]
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. [Mark 3: 13 NIV]
Jesus needs to have a group who will be responsible for spreading the word that He is the Messiah, the chosen One of God. He chooses 12 men specifically for that purpose. Our postmodern, egalitarian society would challenge the male domination of this group. There were women who played an important role in the formation of the early church but they are not part of this group of 12. The choice of the number 12 probably relates to the fact that there were twelve tribes of Israel. They played an important role in the Old Testament history of the nation of Israel which was founded by these twelve sons of Jacob (Israel). So these 12 men are used by God to establish the New Covenant and the church. The Bible does not provide any suggestion that the role of apostles should continue throughout the centuries. They played a unique role in the first century in spreading the word of the Messiah to the nation of Israel firstly and then to the wider world. Here is a quotation from my old commentary on the impact of these 12 men.
What a vast amount of benefit these few men have conferred on the world! The names of a few Jewish fishermen are known and loved by millions all over the globe, while the names of many kings and rich men are lost and forgotten.
Ryle, J. C.. Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of Mark: A Commentary [Updated] (p. 32). Aneko Press. Kindle Edition.
I would like to draw attention to the act of calling these men. Notice that Jesus is away from the crowd when he makes this important call. He goes up on a mountainside. Notice, too, the divine sovereignty on display in Jesus actions. Jesus exercises his kingly right to choose his 'apostles.' And what is more interesting, they all responded to His call. "He called to him those he wanted, and they came to him." [Mark 3:13 NIV]
We might find Jesus choice of men surprising. He chose a number of fishermen who were most likely uneducated and were engaged in a rough, manual occupation. He chose Matthew the tax collector (Richard Bauckham suggests that Matthew who wrote the Gospel and Levi, the tax collector, were two different people). Jesus chose Peter (Simon) who had a very impulsive personality. Peter tended to speak without thinking. He acted first before his brain was in gear. He denied Jesus at the most critical time in the life of Jesus. Even more surprisingly, Jesus called Judas Iscariot who ended up committing suicide after betraying his master for a bag of silver coins.
J.C. Ryle makes the point that these men, with the exception of Judas, were already followers of Jesus and we have on record when Peter and Andrew, James and John, and Matthew and Philip were called to follow Jesus. Ryle is critical of those who have 'gone into the ministry' still unconverted. At one time, it was a fashionable occupation for sons of the gentry to enter the church and they could earn a respectable living. It was landowners who had the right to appoint ministers in many cases and this led to a major dispute in the Church of Scotland and the establishment of a breakaway Free Church of Scotland. I want to emphasise that ministers are now chosen by the elders in each congregation. There have been notable cases where ministers were appointed and then came to faith much later. That was the case for the founder of the Keswick Convention - Canon Thomas Dundas Harford-Battersby. I have heard anecdotally of other cases. It is important to begin the Christian pathway with the new birth. Only a converted child of God can truly serve the Lord in any capacity.
These 12 apostles were called to preach and to tell others the message of the good news of Jesus Christ. They played an important role in the New Testament and they were eyewitnesses of the events of Jesus life and were influential in the writing of the New Testament. Peter, for example, was the eyewitness who provided John Mark with the detail in his second Gospel. Judas is the exception but the others were around when the Gospels were written and they could themselves testify to the accuracy and veracity (truthfulness) of the events described in the Gospels. Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, was not one of these twelve apostles but he referred to himself as 'one abnormally born.' The role of the 12 apostles as eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is emphasised in this wonderful passage from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. I have highlighted the words the twelve (referring to this group of 12 apostles)m and then the word apostles. Paul includes himself as an eyewitness as he had an encounter with the risen Jesus.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
[1 Corinthians 15:3-8]
This was an important appointment because they were acquainted with the public ministry of Jesus prior to his death but they were also eyewitnesses of his death and resurrection and they survived long enough to testify to others that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who had risen from the dead.
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. [Mark 3:13-18 NIV]
Photo from The Chosen. Permission kindly granted.
The Twelve were the first group and set apart as special among all the other apostles, of which there were many even in Jesus life time - 72, 500 an apostle was anyone in the faith who either saw Jesus before his death or after his Resurrection. There could even have been way more than 500, as crowds followed him to Jerusalem, but we cannot be sure of the exact number.