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Posted on 04/07/2012 1:05:35 AM PDT by U-238
Most amazing about the twelve disciples is that Jesus selected them at all. Who are the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ? They were just ordinary men with an extra ordinary calling. Among them were fishermen, a hated tax collector and an impulsive political zealot. Jesus Christ deliberately passed over those who were aristocratic and influential. He chose men from the lower class of society.
God chooses the humble, the lowly, the meek and the weak so that there’ll never be any question about their source of power. As their lives changed, the world changed as a result.
The twelve disciples were trained by the master (Jesus) and entered their ministries as apostles. They started the church and played a pivotal role as leaders as the church grew. They also became the channel through which the New Testament would be given.
(Excerpt) Read more at gotquestions.org ...
Christians regard the apostles as the connection between the living Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, and the Christian church that developed after Jesus ascended to heaven. The apostles were witnesses to Jesus’ life, recipients of Jesus’ teachings, witnesses to appearances of the resurrected Jesus, and recipients of the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. They were authorities on what Jesus taught, intended, and desired. Many Christian churches today base the authority of religious leaders on their supposed connections to the original apostles.
http://www.whatscatholic.com/the_apostles.html
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Matthew 4:19
Come, Lord Jesus.
Classifying apostles tend to be difficult. After the death and resurrection of Christ, there were more than 12. The 11 apostles chose Matthias to replace Judas. In Gal 1:9 we read that James "the Lord's brother" was an apostle. This James should not be confused with James, the son of Zebedee who was also an apostle. So that would be at least thirteen.
Let's not forget the Apostle Paul, who gave us about 80% of the New Testament. Technically, he never saw our Lord Jesus when He walked on earth for 33 years. Although some in the church did not accept him to be an apostle (1 Cor 9:2) most did (certainly Peter who accepted Paul's writings 2 Pet 3:15). And in at least two to three different places we read about people passing themselves off as "false" apostles. This, of course, infers they weren't disguising themselves as one of the twelve but as another apostle. So there must have been far more apostles than we're aware of as the church would accept some as apostles and others as not.
There are indications that not all the apostles were poor or without influence (although all of them sacrificed everything in the end). Peter had a wife and a house. It is believed that John (and thus James) were influential among the higher circles of the Jews since John was "well know" to the high priest. Thus his family must have been well connected. It was John who was admitted entrance into the court of the high priest. It was John and his connections who got Peter into the court where Peter denied Christ. (John 18) Paul, of course, was well off being a Roman citizen and receiving a high education.
In the end, in Revelation 21:14 we read that there are 12 apostles who are the foundation of the church. My guess is they mean Paul, not Matthias.
I have long believed that the Apostles jumped the gun by choosing Mathias as the replacement for Judas. I do believe that the Lord intended Paul to be the replacement. I wonder, too, if it is Paul’s name that will be on one of the twelve foundation stones of the city, rather than Mathias’s.
Who ARE the twelve apostles? Revelation 21:14 mentions that there will be statues or figures of them in heaven, but which ones will there be? Assuming Judas is out, then you have Paul and Mattias both named #12. Mattias was chosen by the other 11 apostles (Acts 1:23-26), and Paul just named himself as one....
Judas was the democrat... theres always got to be a sneaky parasite..
Was probably a Union member too if they had them then...
Maybe you missed this part...
Acts Chapter 9
1: But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2: and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3: Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. 4: And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5: And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; 6: but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7: The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.
8: Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9: And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank. 10: Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11: And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, 12: and he has seen a man named Anani'as come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13: But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; 14: and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name." 15: But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16: for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
17: So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came, has sent me that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18: And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized, 19: and took food and was strengthened. For several days he was with the disciples at Damascus.
20: And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, "He is the Son of God."
21: And all who heard him were amazed, and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called on this name? And he has come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests."
I wonder how they all lived? I mean did the apostles provide money, food, etc?
Jesus had many disciples. Twelve of them were called apostles.
The apostles didn’t start the church. They were clueless along with the rest of the 120 - all praying......
God birthed (not started) the church by sovereignly pouring out the Holy Spirit on those who believed, filling them, guiding them, speaking through them.
The sudden, spontaneous, and wholly unexpected explosion of the church was totally outside the apostles plans, abilities, wisdom or power. In no time there were over 8,000 (not including women and children) in Jerusalem - far more than 12 men could lead, direct, or manage. As they met house-to-house (Acts 2:42), what resulted was far beyond what the 12 could lead. Repeatedly Acts tells us that the early believers were filled with and led by the Holy Spirit. Something rarely seen today, as most believer’s (sadly) only know how to follow and be led by men.
I believe that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was also a holy rebuke to their fleshly attempt to “start” something by using a fleshly method of choosing Judas successor, selecting a man never mentioned again in scripture. Paul’s calling and selection was an additional rebuke to their trying to choose another apostle.
The Peter involved in selecting Mathias was the old Peter and was totally changed when filled with the Holy Spirit, and finally became truly one God could use and speak through.
Sorry, Paul didn’t write 80% of the NT. Luke, in just his Gospel and Acts, wrote almost as much - volume-wise - if not more - than Paul.
Do some research and you can get the actual percentages.....
Apostleship is a spiritual gift only given by God.
The other 11 Apostles taking a vote, then praying to God to choose either one person or another to be manifest by their casting lots was simply praying to God to bless their idolatry.
Paul was the 12th Apostle, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
It might also be noted that even Paul didn’t always grasp His appointment. As a Pharisee, he frequently believed his charge was to return to Jerusalem and witness to Israel. As he proceeded by his volition, he frequently found himself redirected by Divine Providence back towards Rome.
God doesn’t need us acting independently of His Will to accomplish His Plan. By remaining in fellowship with Him, His Plan works beautifully.
“Jesus Christ deliberately passed over those who were aristocratic and influential. He chose men from the lower class of society.”
Oh, balderdash! There was no aristocracy then, comparable to the great land-owners in later Europe. The Bible says that Jesus himself was of the ”lineage and house of David,” which is deemed something special, and as close to aristocracy as you could get. His father was in our tradition a “carpenter,” although the Greek word means “builder,” which probably put him in the upper ranks of tradesmen. Jesus was able to spend years in the synagogue, apparently in traditional study. The poorest people could not do that.
Jesus visited in the homes of people who were apparently quite wealthy. The fishermen he attracted were not poor men, by the standards of the day. They abandoned their nets and boats and other expensive gear to follow Jesus, but they were not poor.
I think that it is a mistake to try to fit Jesus into the notions of economic class which saturate modern thinking. He blessed the poor in spirit (those free of arrogance), not merely the poor in an economic sense.
The parables are full of descriptions of the economy of the day, often with paradoxical examples to make a point, but there is no attack on the generally accepted customs of the time, including the economic arrangements. So much for Jesus the “revolutionary.”
Jesus said explicitly that his kingdom was not material. There is good evidence now that Jesus favored the older Jewish traditions, and was opposed by the established clerics of Jerusalem, who came from the tradition of the returnees from Bablyon.
It is interesting that Jesus was criticized for paying attention to lowly people and even sinners (such as tax-collectors — nothing new, eh?). The criticisms came from some of his upper class followers. For Jesus, class did not matter, and that was the lesson. So why is much made of this now?
All through the short ministry of Jesus, and in the parables and other teachings, I detect a sense or urgency, and a wish to teach the people a lasting message. Jesus knew, or at least sensed, that his hour was coming. It was all building to what we celebrate in Holy Week.
I recently read Colin J. Humphreys’s “The Mystery of the Last Supper.” (Don’t let the title put you off! This is a serious book, not like the DaVinci Code nonsense.)
Humphreys appears to have solved the chronological problems in the history of Holy Week. Everything fits rather well under his simple but elegant explanation. He also mentions that the most modern astronomical calculations, possible with modern computer technology which was not available until recently, show that there was, indeed, an eclipse of the sun visible in Jerusalem at the time following Jesus’s death on the cross, in accordance with the descriptions in there Bible.
I find this an amazing confirmation of the scriptural accounts. There are many stories in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament, that are tales to make a point, or illustrate a truth. But the Easter story I believe is Truth, and historical fact, as well as a junction and focal point of all history.
Happy Easter!
I have always thought the most amazing thing a bout the disciples were their deaths or torture in one case. Not a single one denied Christ when the time came that they could have saved themselves by changing their story about Jesus. 12 men and not a single one saving himself by recanting.
Could you be stoned, crucified or boiled in oil by crowds of people screaming at you to changed your tune and not change your story if it was a lie to begin with?
These men lived and saw something so amazing that they stood true when the time to take a stand came.
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:
Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of general interest.
Not accurate. He chose folks from the middle class and upper middle class. He didn't choose beggars and other poor. He chose small business men. Think Rotary Club, not homeless shelter.
Peter denied Jesus three times to save his skin.
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