From John Phillips Commentary on Luke 6
A fixed law of Jesus was never to act in independence of His Father. The original sin in the Garden of Eden was the sin of acting in independence of God. Luke begins this section by showing us the dependence of the Lord upon His Father: "And it came to pass... that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God" (6:12). He was about to make a momentous decision, one that would affect the future of the world, but first He must spend time talking it over with God. Luke emphasizes here the essential humanity of the Lord Jesus. Consequently, he emphasizes the Lord's habits of prayer. All too often we make decisions and blunder into distressing situations simply because we fail to pray earnestly enough about them. Jesus never made that mistake.
The Lord not only was dependent on the faithfulness of His Father but also was about to become dependent on the faithfulness of His friends. No wonder He felt the need for a full night of prayer. "And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles" (6:13). He had numerous followers at this time, but He needed a dozen men to be set apart for intensive training, men to whom He could entrust His ministry when He was gone. The decisions He was about to make called for great spiritual discernment. The character, capacity, and commitment of each disciple had to be weighed.
Most of the Master's men are little more than mere names to us, but the Lord knew them through and through—doubting Thomas, devoted John, diligent Matthew, devious Judas, dependable Andrew, daring Peter, discerning Nathaniel. It is likely that Luke had met them all, except for Judas, and that he knew about their homes and families, where they lived, what they did, and where they went. The same restraint, however, was upon him, as it was on the other Evangelists, to be sparing of details. The focus is always on the Master, not His men or His miracles. Luke lists them all but mostly without comment (6:14-16).
The Bible includes four such listings of the apostles (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13). All of the lists arrange the apostles in three groups of four, and all of them head each of the three groups with the same apostle. The first group is headed by Peter, the second by Philip, and the third by James, the son of Alphaeus. Moreover, the men in each group are always the same, although sometimes the order varies within the group. An apostle from one group is never listed in another group. The leading apostle in each group likely supervised the others in his group. If so, then Peter took care of Andrew, James, and John; Philip was responsible for Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas; and James, the son of Alphaeus, was leader over Simon Zelotes and the two men named Judas. Of the three companies, the first group stood closest in proximity to Jesus.
With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all of the apostles were Galileans. The first five men were neighbors, all hailing from Bethsaida on the Lake of Galilee. Two of the apostles (Philip and Andrew) had Greek names. Galilee abounded in Gentiles, which was one reason the sophisticated Judeans and the people of Jerusalem sneered at "Galilee of the Gentiles." Both Matthew's and Luke's listings suggest that the apostles were paired. Indeed, the Lord did sometimes send them out in pairs. Doubtless, the Lord's nightlong prayer vigil was occupied in discussing with His Father just who should be linked with whom.
Thus, when the Lord talked to His Father about Peter, He also talked about Andrew, Peter's brother, who had brought blustery, bombastic Peter to Jesus. The Lord instantly recognized both the strengths and the weaknesses of Andrew's brother and gave him a surname—Cephas (Peter). The two made an ideal pair.
Then there was another natural pair of brothers, both among the very first of the Lord's disciples—James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Their mother was a sister of Mary, the Lord's mother, so this pair of apostles were the Lord's natural cousins. They were a fiery pair. The Lord nicknamed them "Boanerges—sons of thunder." James was the first apostle to be martyred. John outlived them all. With Peter, this pair formed an informal "inner circle" whom Jesus chose on three occasions for special revelations of His greatness, glory, and grief.
The next pair also seemed to fit naturally together—Philip and Bartholomew. The name Bartholomew (Bar-Tolmai) means "son of Tolmai." It was a surname—his other name was Nathanael, or, to use his full name, Nathanael Bartholomew. The Lord seems to have been on particularly friendly terms with Philip. He sought him out especially and invited him to become a disciple. Philip had an inquiring mind. He, in turn, brought his friend Nathanael to Jesus. Nathanael was both skeptical and guileless. He dismissed his doubts instantly, however, when he met the Lord and owned Him to be both the Son of God and the King of Israel. They were another ideal couple.
The next pair, Matthew and Thomas, probably called for longer pondering and prayer. Matthew's talents were obvious. He was an energetic, educated businessman. He made friends easily among his own class. Public opinion would not move him much because before coming to Christ he had been a detested tax collector, a political and social renegade. Perhaps that is why he was paired with Thomas, a cautious man who was plagued by doubts. Yet, he was both brave and resolute, a man who could be trusted to do his duty and who truly loved the Lord.
Four more men still had to be paired. We know little about three of them, so we can only guess why Christ coupled them as He did. We can be sure, however, that He made no mistakes. He associated James, the son of Alphaeus, with Simon Zelotes. Some have identified this James with Cleopas, in which case he would have been "James the Less," son of Cleopas and Mary, and thus another cousin of Jesus.
Simon Zelotes (sometimes called Simon the Canaanite) was indeed a brand plucked from the burning. The Zealots were a band of fanatics, willing to embrace any deed of violence as long as it contributed to Jewish national independence. He had much to unlearn when he espoused the cause of Christ. Possibly, something in the character of James the Less had a mellowing effect on Simon. Doubtless, too, James needed something of the fiery messianic zeal of Simon.
That left: the Lord with two men named Judas. How He must have agonized before His Father about Judas Iscariot. He knew all about him, of course. He was the only Judean in the group. He came from Kerioth near the northern border of Judea. Jesus knew what covetousness and treachery lurked in this man's heart. The Lord was able to purify the others of the alloy of selfishness, worldliness, and materialism, but not Judas. He deliberately put Judas in a place of trust as the treasurer. It did not help; nothing helped.
And who was this other Judas whom the Lord put alongside Iscariot? He is sometimes called "the brother of James," also "Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus." Lebbaeus comes from a Hebrew word for the heart (Thaddaeus has a similar meaning). The two words suggest that something about this man was especially loving, devoted, and tender about this man. If anyone could love Judas Iscariot, Judas called Lebbaeus Thaddaeus could. But it must have been a burden just the same. After the treachery of Judas Iscariot, the very name Judas must have been indeed a heavy cross to carry.
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