Monday November 04
God Can Use You Too!
Luke 6:12-16
12 Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: 14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; 15 Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.
In Luke 6:12, Jesus spent the whole night in prayer, for He was about to call His 12 Apostles from among the many disciples who were following Him. You might ask what is the difference between a disciple of Jesus and an Apostle? A disciple is a learner, one who “disciplines” him or herself to follow Jesus as an apprentice. In the New Testament an Apostle is a chosen messenger sent with a special commission. Jesus had many disciples (see Luke 10:1) but only twelve handpicked Apostles. It is here in Luke 6:14-16 that Luke gives us their names.
The names of the Apostles are also given in Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:16-19; and Acts 1:13. Acts, of course only names 11 of them and leaves out Judas Iscariot because he has committed suicide. In all the lists, Peter is named first and, except in Acts 1:13, Judas is named last. The Judas in Acts 1:13 is Judas the brother (more likely "the son") of James, who is also called Thaddeus in Mark 3:18. It was not unusual for one man to have two or more names.
Simon received the name Peter (stone) when Andrew brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-42). Bartholomew is the same as Nathanael (John 1:45-49). The other Simon in the group was nicknamed "Zelotes," which can mean one of two things. It may mean that he belonged to a group of fanatical Jewish patriots known as "the Zealots," whose purpose was to deliver Israel from the tyranny of Rome. They used every means at hand, including terror and assassination, to accomplish their purposes. Or, perhaps the word Zelotes translates from the Hebrew word qanna which means "jealous for God, zealous for God's honor." (It is transliterated in Matt. 10:4 as "Simon the Canaanite" [qanna].) Whether Simon was known for his zeal to honor God, or his membership in a subversive organization, we cannot be sure. It is possibly both.
Nor are we sure of the origin of the word Iscariot that is attached to Judas the traitor. It probably means "man [ish in Hebrew] of Kerioth," a town in southern Judah (Josh. 15:25). Some connect it with the Aramaic word seqar which means "falsehood." Thus, "Judas the false one." The geographical explanation is probably right
What an interesting group of men! They illustrate what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, and they are an encouragement to us today. After all, if God could use them, can He not use us? Perhaps seven of them were fishermen (see John 21:1-3), one was a tax collector, and the other four are anonymous as far as their vocations are concerned. They were ordinary men; their personalities were different; yet Jesus called them to be with Him, to learn from Him, and to go out to represent Him (Mark 3:14).
Please take the time to click on the following link and go to my Pastor Mike Impact Ministries website and read some very interesting, detailed observations on these 12 men taken from John Phillip’s commentary on Luke. https://www.pmiministries.org/post/special-notes-on-the-disciples-of-jesus
Why 12 Apostles? Because there were twelve tribes in Israel, and Jesus was forming the nucleus for a new nation (see Matt. 21:43; 1 Peter 2:9). The first Christians were Jews because the Gospel came "to the Jew first" (Acts 13:46; Rom. 1:16). Later, the Gentiles were added to the church through the witness of the scattered Jewish believers (Acts 11:19) and the ministry of Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. In the church, there is no difference between Jew and Gentile because we are "all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
It is significant that after Jesus called His 12 Apostles, and before He preached this great sermon, He took time to heal many needy people. This was a demonstration of both His power and His compassion. It was also a reminder to His newly appointed assistants that their job was to share His love and power with a needy world. It is estimated that there were 300 million people in the world in Jesus' day, while there are over 8 billion today, four fifths of them in the less-developed nations. What a challenge to the church!
One of the greatest callings that you can respond to in life, is “to be on mission with Jesus” to share the Good News of salvation through His Cross with the lost and needy world around us!
Yes, God can use you too!
God bless!
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