Call of the Twelve

Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. (NASB) John 17:5-6

Jesus and the Father talked about the men that He would choose to become His apostles - The Twelve. John 15:16 and 17:5-6 tell us that Jesus selected The Twelve and so did the Father. They did it together. God selected the apostles!

The selection process was not a guessing game or an attempt to make the best choice. God already knew what would happen in the future with these men. They did not have the problem that we have today in selecting leadership in a church. They knew these men. They knew their passions, thoughts, blunders, sins, and their hearts. God knew everything that would occur in the future. What else did Jesus and the Father talk about? Since we are not told, we can only guess. Why did it take all night? Again, we do not know. But their discussion must have included a discussion about these future apostles.

Purpose for the Selection. When morning came, Jesus called some of His disciples up onto the mountain. He did not ask all of them to meet with Him.

And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. (NASB) Mark 3:13

Out of the great crowd of people, there was a smaller group of men who had proven to be faithful followers of Jesus. These are the men He called up to the top of the hill. Then both Mark and Luke tell us that there was an even smaller group of men whom Jesus chose to be His twelve disciples. Luke calls these men the twelve “apostles.”

And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles . . . (NASB) Luke 6:13

And only Mark tells us why Jesus appointed them.

And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons. (NASB) Mark 3:14-15

They were selected for three reasons. The first reason is that Jesus wanted a group of men who would be close to Him. That is, He wanted some friends. Jesus did not just choose friends who would always be loyal to Him. He did not pick friends who would not challenge Him. He picked friends who did not completely believe in Him yet. He picked them because He was investing Himself into them.

This is a great lesson for us. Friendships should not be just for our benefit. We should invest ourselves into the lives of our friends. Friendships should be opportunities to give our selves away. Here are some reminders from Proverbs: