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Jesus chose 12 ordinary guys to become his inner circle, to walk with him during his ministry on earth, to personally pour into for the purposes of preparing them to continue his mission. Have you ever really thought about who those 12 were? Like why them? Who were they before they met Jesus and who did they become with Jesus.

They each have a story, and in their stories we will likely find ourselves – our abilities, our passions, along with our flaw and our weaknesses – and maybe we will see how we too have been chosen intentionally. Maybe as we study these 12 chosen men we will discover the real ways Jesus uses ordinary people for his divine works, his miraculous power, and his eternal purposes.

Today, we begin our study of the 12 disciples. A disciple is the student of a teacher. One who follows, studies and learns. In this time, all great teachers had a smaller inner circle of their best students. The custom was for a student who truly wanted to grow and learn more, to come to their teacher and request approval to become their disciple. The teacher would only accept the best students as his disciples. Only the smartest, brightest, highest potential students were ever brought into the inner circle to receive such personal investment and instruction. It was essentially the Ivy League college of it’s day. The application process was brutal. Being accepted as a teacher’s disciple was a big deal.

But, Jesus did it different. Jesus chose his disciples himself. There were no applications for the position, no selection process that included the highest grades, best families, or hardest working. He wasn’t looking for the standouts by earthly standards – Jesus was looking for something else in his chosen 12 disciples. What was it he was looking for? What was heaven’s standout quality that made Jesus say, “Yes, that one.”

Luke 6: 12-16:

“One day … Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all his disciples (there were likely hundreds of followers at this point) and chose twelve of them to be apostles. (Apostles are disciples who are sent out on a mission. Apostle literally means ‘sent one’.) Here are there names:

Simon (whom he named Peter)
Andrew (Peter’s brother)
James
John
Philip
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
James (son of Alphaeus)
Simon (who was called the zealot)
Judas (son of James)
Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him)

That was the Team Jesus lineup. Put on the jersey, boys, and get yourselves on the field! You’re getting ready to see the impossible and be part of it!

What we will find with each of these 12 men’s stories is they were mostly all ordinary and common. In a lineup of men Jesus could have found at this time, these were not the standouts others would have chosen. But for each one, Jesus said – YOU, come follow me. And for each one of these 12, THEY DID.

Maybe that was heaven’s standout quality – their willingness to follow. They were available and when called by Jesus, they took the next step.

Really, what if that’s all he’s still looking for today? Are you willing to follow him? Are you available – or are you busy? He’s been calling – have you been qualifying every prompting, reasoning it out, considering it for a later more convenient time, dismissing yourself from a very simple next step of obedience?

As we study their stories, we find they were imperfect men who didn’t understand, didn’t always get it right, and struggled to remain faithful at times. SO WHY WOULD JESUS NEED THEM? Why would he need anyone?

Think about that – couldn’t Jesus complete his mission on his own? Couldn’t he do all the miracles himself? Couldn’t he go all the places on his own? Couldn’t he have given himself more time to reach more people and completely eliminate the need for these flawed humans to be part of his work? Really, couldn’t he have just appeared in all the places at once, showed up with a booming voices that reached the ends of the earth, and made it impossible for anyone to ignore? Did Jesus really NEED disciples?

No, but he WANTED them. Jesus wanted a circle of people. He wanted others to share the journey with. We never once see Jesus eating alone. He didn’t need them, but he wanted them.

The same is still true today. Jesus doesn’t need me, but he wants me. He doesn’t need you, but he wants you. His work will get done with or without you. You either say yes and get to go on this journey with Jesus and be part of some really cool earth some and some really important eternal stuff – or you don’t. You’ll either be too busy, or you’ll make yourself available to do some Jesus stuff. You’ll either follow him, or you’ll dismiss yourself, that’s up to you. Jesus wants you, but he doesn’t need you. Take the pressure off Sis, it’s an invitation to relationship – and that relationship will change your whole world!

Jesus wanted a relational community. He wanted people around him. He wanted others to share joys with. He wanted to be at the table and have the seats filled. He wanted to share everything the Father had given him with others. And he did. That’s what his disciples received. It was an invitation to belong. An invitation to learn. An invitation to grow. An invitation to be filled. An invitation to become so much more.

And these 12 disciples were in Jesus-school. Personal, hands-on, earth training for heavenly purposes. What were the heavenly purposes? They were here to continue building the Church Jesus started. Not the building of a temple, but the building of a people – HIS PEOPLE. His chosen people he wanted to save. The disciples were getting their earth training in things that would far outlive them. They would be charged with sharing the news of Jesus.

Now think about this – Jesus didn’t have a social media account. There were no livestreams of his crucifixion. No Ring doorbells to secretly document his resurrected body walking the streets. No documentaries being filmed. There wasn’t even a 6:00 news broadcast to share the story. If the story was going to get out, it would require people writing it down and carrying it on foot from village to village, then getting on boats and sailing to distant shores.

And here’s the really wild thing …. IT WORKED! The mission of these 12 chosen disciples of Jesus was to get the word out, tell the world who Jesus was, what they saw and what they learned. To write it down in a way that would outlive them. And here we are, 2000 years later, and we got the message! The stories survived and they’re in our hands today! We know about Jesus, and we know about him because a few very ordinary men who were willing to step out and follow Jesus dared to believe they were part of something bigger than their own lives.

AND THEY WERE – they were part of something so big it’s now changing your life. The purpose of the disciples is being fulfilled right now – we’re still talking about it! That was the whole point.

Bravo to the 12 ordinary fellas with regular jobs who gave their lives (literally) to make sure the news got out about who Jesus really was, what he really said, what he really did, and what he really offers still today!

Did you know, Revelation tells us their names are written on the foundations of Heaven? Like for real – Jesus is the cornerstone, then there are these 12 guys who weren’t the smartest, weren’t from special families, and certainly weren’t perfect, and their names are forever on those foundations of the future city awaiting us beyond this life. Guys who once doubted, feared and failed – but God transformed them and used them to build something eternal.

So for you who doubt – you who fear – you who have failed – God wants to transform you too! And then he wants to use you in the continued eternal work of building something radically good. Heaven has your name on it and there’s a purpose for you to fulfill.

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