The Twelve

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Mark 3:13–19
+
The Twelve
            We all have fantasized at one point or another about what we would have done if we had been alive during Jesus’ day. Would we have followed Him? Would we have left everything that we knew, everything that was safe, to be close to Jesus of Nazareth? Of course, we all believe we would. We would like to think that had we been there, our names would have been numbered amongst the twelve. The truth is that we are like the twelve disciples in more ways than we would like to admit. Like Peter, we too often speak before we think, and we act in brash ways that are not helpful. Like James and Jonh, we are concerned about our place in the group. About the honor, we think we deserve. Like Judas, we too often sell out our Lord for the false idols of our day, fame, fortune, and power. But thankfully, just like the twelve, we have also been called by Christ into His family. Through the water and the Word, we have been grafted into the True Vine, and His blood has washed us clean. Would we have been number amongst the twelve, been part of that inner circle? We can’t know. But what we do know is that we are part of an even bigger group. Through faith, we have been made sons of God and heirs to His kingdom. And that is where we want to be.