Jesus’ “Crew”

“And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”  Matthew 10:7-8

Jesus selected twelve men to be His “crew”, to go with Him as He taught and performed miracles, and to learn from Him because they would be the ones who would carry the gospel message after He had returned to His Father in heaven.  Peter was quite the character, you know, the kind that speaks and acts before he thinks.  That character flaw would get him in trouble from time to time, but there was this one time when he really messed up, and if it hadn’t been for the love and forgiveness of Jesus, Peter might not have recovered.  Thankfully, Jesus is Lord over mess-ups.  Next we have James and John, brothers and fishermen.  I think they were a little more mature and level-headed than Peter.  They were also very eager to follow Jesus–He called, they answered.  These three, Peter, James, and John were privileged to go with Jesus upon the mount of transfiguration where they saw Jesus in His magnificent glory and heard God’s voice (Matthew 17:1-8).  John gave himself a special title, “the disciple that Jesus loved” (John 13:23) in his writings.  Jesus loved all His disciples, but He and John had a special bond, so special, in fact, that Jesus chose John to care for Mary, Jesus’ mother, when He was gone.  While we all have loved ones, there are always those to whom we are closer than others.

Peter’s brother, Andrew, was also a disciple.  Actually, it was Andrew who introduced Peter to Jesus (John 1:35-42).  Then there was Philip who brought Nathaniel to Jesus.  Philip was the one who was a little skeptical about feeding thousands of people with a tiny amount of food (John 6:1-7), but he had not yet come to realize just how powerful Jesus was.  Nathaniel was also called Bartholomew.  He had a skeptical streak also.  When told that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, Nathaniel, aware of the bad reputation exhibited by some of Nazareth’s inhabitants, asked “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?”  Philip said, “Come and see” (John 1:43-46).  Nathaniel did and became a believer.  Thomas, the disciple, has a nickname by which he is known to us, and one of which I am sure he would not be particularly glad–“doubting Thomas”.  After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas was not with the other disciples the first time Jesus appeared to them.  When they told him that Jesus had come to see them, he did not believe them.  He wanted tangible proof.  He was there the next time Jesus came to them, and one look at the Savior, and every doubt was washed away (John 20:24-29).

Matthew, the disciple who penned the gospel of the same name, was a tax collector, a Jew employed by the Roman government.  Tax collectors were hated by the Jews much like American’s disdain for the IRS.  However, Jesus saw his potential as a disciple and also as one who would accurately record Jesus’ ministry and mission for future generations (Matthew 9:9).  Matthew was also called Levi.  There was another disciple named James, believed to be one of Jesus’ first cousins.  He was also known as “James the less”.  He is a lesser-known disciple for nothing is written about him other than his name mentioned a few times in scripture, but this does not indicate that he was not important to Jesus.  Likewise the disciple known as Judas Labbaeus Thaddaeus.  It is believed that he wrote the New Testament book of Jude.  The eleventh disciple was Simon, the Canaanite, or as Luke calls him, Simon Zelotes, indicating Simon belonged to a group of zealots who were very zealous of the law and very much against Roman rule (Luke 6:15).  I think Simon today would belong to those in our nation who are very zealous about the Constitution, the rule of law, and limited government.

The last disciple named was Judas Iscariot, probably the second best known disciple after Peter by the secular world.  He wasn’t known for kindness and goodness; no, quite the opposite.  He was the one who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16).  As I looked at this group of twelve men, I noticed they all had different personalities.  None of them, as best I know, were wealthy.  They all appeared to come from working-class families.  None of them graduated from schools of higher learning.  Like the Marines, Jesus was looking for a “few good men”, men He could mold and teach, men with tender hearts who could represent Him well.  Jesus knew their capabilities and potential.  He even knew that Judas Iscariot would betray Him, but Jesus chose him anyway.  You see, God’s plan had to proceed, and Judas was part of that plan which would require one with an evil heart to be included in Jesus’ inner circle.  Judas had many opportunities to repent, and Jesus would have forgiven him if he had done so.  God’s plan would have continued by another route.  However, Judas gave in to the evil temptation of monetary gain, forfeiting his own soul and being condemned to eternal hell.

Before Jesus sent His disciples out as His ambassadors, He gave them power to cast out demons and heal the sick.  He instructed them as to whom they were to approach, what to preach, and to depend on the Father for their needs.  He also warned them about the dangers that lay ahead.  He told them to put Him first and to teach others also to put Him first in their lives.  He cautioned that to love their kinfolks more than Him made them unworthy of Him.  He went on to encourage them by saying that even the smallest kind deed done in His name would be rewarded (Matthew 10:1-42).  Everything that Jesus said to His disciples before sending them out on mission with the exceptions of casting out demons and healing the sick, also applies to all who believe on Him and seek to do His will.  We have no power or authority to cast out a demon or heal a sick person, but we can pray to the One who can heal them.  We, like the disciples, have different personalities, abilities, and potential, and with God’s help, we can be effective in sharing the gospel and leading folks to Christ.  There is nothing really more important than that.