Disciples, apostles, ? called by Christ

Luke 6:12-38 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

¹⁷ Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. ¹⁹ And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.

²⁰ And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. ²² Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. ²³ Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. ²⁴ But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. ²⁵ Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ³¹Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. ³² If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

If you ask most people how many disciples Jesus had they would answer twelve. Some would even be able to name the twelve: Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Today’s text says:  It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles. Jesus had countless numbers of disciples. Scripture refers to crowds and multitudes. In today’s text it says: Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place; and there was a large crowd of His disciples, and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured. What differentiates an apostle and a disciple? A disciple is a follower of Christ. The word disciple means disciplined one. So to be a disciple is more than just to be a follower just to be near someone or something, as people today are followers of celebrities, musical groups or sports teams. It is more than being a faithful fan. Being a disciple means being a follower of Jesus teaching as well as of the things He did. The text says: and a great throng of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases.

How many are truly disciples of Christ? How many will follow the teachings of Christ, even the hard and difficult ones. How many will follow Him, even when there is discipline involved? In John 6, Jesus taught a message that was difficult for many to understand, the result was that they said:  “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”  Verse 66 says:  As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. In the same way, some today will walk away and no longer follow Jesus because of the harder teachings and discipline. Others will pick and choose the parts of Jesus and His teaching that they will follow. They create doctrines based on their own preferences. They are like fair-weather fans, they will follow closely when all is good, but will not stand by for the difficult things. These words of Jesus were to all of His disciples, not just those who followed Him most closely:  “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”  If we would be His disciples, we cannot choose some of these. We must be those who follow all of Jesus teaching, even that which are difficult.

An apostle is more than just a follower. An apostle is also one who is sent to carry the message of the one they follow. They are called commissioned and sent out to not only follow Jesus, but to carry His message and continue His work. It is true then that not everyone is called or commissioned to be an apostle, to preach or to go out and evangelize. All are called to be disciples, but not all are called apostles. Ephesians 4:11-16 says:  He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.  1 Corinthians 12:27-31 says:  Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts.    Not all are called apostles, but everyone who believes, everyone who is a true follower of Christ has been given spiritual gifts that they are to use for the sake of the body of Christ and as a witness of Christ’s love, compassion, grace and power to the world.

Just as Jesus chose the twelve, He has also chosen each one of us. If we would follow Him we cannot choose to follow anything less than all that He is and all that He says. Then, as He says, if we:  “Give, it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit for all that You have done and for all that You have called me. Most of all thank You for calling me redeemed. I choose to follow You in all that You say, in all that I do. Holy Spirit, guide me as I freely give of what has been given to me, for Your purpose and Your glory.  Amen.