And He went up on the mountain and called to [Him] those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the [son] of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the [son] of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

-Mark 3:13-19 (NKJV)

We have already met a few of the fellows who are called out on this list. We know that they are ordinary men. They are diverse. Their backgrounds are fishing, collecting taxes, and who knows what else. Yet, here these twelve are set aside to walk and talk with Jesus and to learn from him personally. He will invest in them and then send them out to heal the sick and to preach! They will do what he has been doing! They will go forth with this kingdom message! I think one of the applications of this passage is that God uses ordinary people like you and me.

I think we should notice that some who were gathered there weren’t called up to be part of the twelve. What a tough day this must have been for them. I wonder how many hopefuls weren’t selected. We know that there are many more who followed Jesus as “disciples” but aren’t part of the twelve. We know of at least two guys who were with them all the time even through the point of the resurrection (Acts 1:21-23), but they weren’t chosen at this time. We might be tempted to look at what the Lord is doing in someone else’s life and imagine that we deserve the same opportunities. But such things are not for us to decide. We must each individually seek God’s will. At the end of the day he knows what we can handle and he allows and places people in the right place at the right time.

Finally, There may have been some who suspected that Judas was a scoundrel from the beginning, and in some sense their suspicions would have been right, but it wasn’t for them to decide if he got to be a disciple. It was Jesus decision to make and he made it. For the disciples who worked with Judas day in and day out, I’m sure they saw things in him in hindsight that they didn’t see at the moment. But we should not suppose that he didn’t belong at that moment to the twelve. God often uses hard or wrong personalities to shape us in good and pleasant ways. One of the things the twelve noticed is how Jesus dealt with the traitor.

Father, We love you and want to grow in knowledge of you and your word. Lord it is you who calls us to follow you and to deeper discipleship. It is you who equips those you call. It is your will we should seek in our lives. In ways big our small our desire is to simply be used for you in your kingdom for your purpose and your glory. Please guide us in your will and direction for us. In Jesus Name, Amen.