Luke | Chapter 6 – Scripture Supply

Luke 6:1-5

“Lord of the Sabbath”

Introduction
1-2 The Sabbath a blessing or a burden?
3-4 Defending the disciples by David
5 Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath

Introduction

We have noted that with the increase of Jesus’ ministry that it naturally came with popularity as well as opposition. The opposition was led by those that were in spiritual authority as Jesus practiced what they believed God had entrusted them with very differently. One of those areas that was a constant source of irritant to the religious leaders was the way they kept the Sabbath compared with how Jesus kept it. And just as we noted last week in chapter 5:33-39 Jesus hadn’t come to patch-up Judaism He came to reveal what God had planned all along. This section deals with the Sabbath and requires the bible student to know a bit about the Sabbath.

First, the Sabbath was God’s idea: According to Nehemiah 9:13-14 as the prophet re-establishes the Sabbath to the those returning from the Babylonian exile, God established the Sabbath for the nation when Moses came down from Mount Sinai along with the ordinances and the Law.
Second, according to Exodus 20:8-11, 31:12-17 God set it apart as a sign between Him and the Nation.
Third, it was a sign of REST as that is what the word means, and its connection is with after the sixth day of creation according to Genesis 2:2-3 God Himself ceased from the work of creation.

Because of these things the religious leaders taught that Messiah couldn’t come until the nation kept the Sabbath perfectly, thus obeying the law with regards to the Sabbath was both personal and national. Christians need to understand the difference between Sunday and the Sabbath as the two are not the same thing.

The Sabbath is a reminder of the completion of the Old creation prior to the fall.
The Sabbath is Friday night after sunset through Saturday night sunset.
Sunday, or the Lord’s day, is a reminder of our Lord’s finished work in the “New Creation” according to 2 Corinth. 5:21, Eph. 2:10, 4:24.
The Sabbath speaks of REST AFTER WORK and relates to the law.
Sunday reminds us to REST BEFORE WORK as it relates to what Jesus has finished and we inherit because of grace.
Sunday is a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church according to Act chapter 2.

It is for these differences that the early church met on the first day of the week according to Acts 20:7. There were Jewish believers that continued to keep the Sabbath and sometimes this led to a division in which Paul addressed in Romans 14:1-15:13. In those verses Paul addressed this conflict by promoting liberty and unity, but he made it clear that observing special days had nothing to do with salvation.

At the start of chapter 6 Luke records two questions asked or implied by the Pharisees concerning religious life and its place in society that specifically focus on the Sabbath, verses 1-5 and verses 6-11. The Sabbath in the hands of religious leaders had 39 different categories known as the “Abhoth” which meant “fathers” then they added thousands of rules called the “Toldoth” which means “descendants”. The idea was how did our fathers practice the law and how do we interpret what our fathers meant. And the result of those two questions was then imposed upon the people which had caused it to no longer be a day of rest, instead it had become a day of restrictions. The Sabbath was God’s idea to restore a person, to give them a time of rest, recuperation; a day set aside where they would have time to reflect upon their relationship with Him! When observed as intended it was a joyous time of family, fellowship and feasting all with God at the center. The religious rulers had established thousands of interpretations of what constituted “work” and because of this had stolen the day of rest and transformed it into a day of restrictions and burdens to keep. For instance you could spit on a rock but not on the dirt as you would be making mud which was used for mortar, and this would constitute work. The law on the Sabbath was never meant to be full of burdens but rather blessings, they weren’t given as punishments, but for protection.

Vs. 1-2 The Sabbath a blessing or a burden?

Vs. 1-2 The 3rd charge against Jesus was aimed at His seeming inability to distinguish between the sacred and the secular. The plucking of wheat and breaking the hulls from the nut was not sinful but normal on any other day. What they took issue with was timing of this as they were engaged in doing so on a sacred day, the Sabbath. It was Pharisaical tradition not to pick grain of the Sabbath as Deuteronomy 23:25 doesn’t offer a prohibition against plucking grain on any day so long as you only picked and did not use a sickle.

Of the 39 different categories the Pharisees had classified work under, four of them centered on food “reaping, winnowing, threshing and preparing a meal” and as far as the action of the disciples were concerned in the Pharisees eyes they had broken all four. The ancient biblical languages of Greek and Hebrew are exact languages, and they offer a complete picture of the scene. Luke chose a Greek word for “said” in verse 2 that relates to the Pharisees conversation with Jesus that is in the “imperfect tense” which means continuing action. Luke is showing that these Pharisees kept on asking and badgering Jesus about the matter until He finally answered. So in their eyes as they observed the disciples reacting out of their hunger it would have been better for those boys to have growling stomachs than to have working hands. Matthew 12:1 records that the disciples had just begun to do this which indicates that the religious leaders were waiting for the opportunity to complain.

One of the truths that this passage reveals is that it provides some insight into how this group of disciples and followers of Jesus lived. They were traveling on the Sabbath and were close by grain fields, and the disciples started pulling off some of the grain and eating it because they were hungry. But why were they hungry? Because they were following the King who had said in Matthew 8:20 that “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Jesus’ ministry wasn’t rich and financially supported and instead was subsidized solely upon what the Heavenly Father provided, so Jesus fed His followers on that which was provided by the roadside. They were to be all about the Father’s business, and part of their training wasn’t how to fund raise it was instead to teach them that they were not to be concerned about what they were to eat. So when they got hungry, there was some grain close by, and they began to eat. I love the simplicity of the lives of this group. In Deut. 23:24-25 There were provisions made for travelers. They could pluck the heads of grain with their hands, but they could not use a sickle. So this was not theft; it was lawful.

Vs. 3-4 Defending the disciples by David

Vs. 3-4 Notice that there is no mention of Jesus doing this by the religious leaders, only His followers, yet their complaint is aimed at Jesus. Jesus had no problem with what they were doing, and He is proud to defend them. Is that not great to be doing something that others question you for, and the Lord defends you?

Jesus’ response as to why they were doing what was considered secular on a sacred day is very simple, “they were hungry”! As an illustration of this Jesus offers another story in their history in 1 Samuel chapter 22 verse 18. The area of Nob was where 85 priests plus women and children lived taking care of the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. “David”, Jesus said, “When he was hungry entered the tabernacle and ate the showbread.” (Jesus says that it was Abiathar the High Priest but in 1 Samuel chapter 21, Samuel records for us that the High priest was Abimelech. The critics will take this as a clear sign the Bible is full of contradictions as both can’t be right. Ah but according to 1 Samuel 22:20, 2 Samuel 8:17 and 1 Chron. 18:16 we are looking at father and son as Abimelech was the son of Abiathar and apparently both were involved in this decision to give the bread to David.) We are told that they have no “common bread” and only “holy bread” which tells us two very important things:

“Common bread” was bread that was brought into the tabernacle by way of the offerings and the fact that they have no “common bread” tells us that this was a spiritually lean time for the nation as well for David and his mighty men.

“Holy Bread” was the 12 loaves (one for each tribe) that was placed on the table of “showbread” on the right side of the tabernacle opposite the lampstand. It was to be kept fresh and was replaced once a week with hot bread and the old loaves were to be eaten by the priests. The words “Showbread” literally comes from the words meaning “bread of faces” and spoke of being in the Lord’s presence. The idea behind the showbread was that of being invited over to the Lord’s House for a meal in which He supplied everything necessary for continual fellowship. Upon eating this bread the priest was saying, “I love you Lord and I’m in your presence fellowshipping with You by that which you have supplied to sustain me!”

What is sacred according to Jesus is not TIME but PEOPLE! The Sabbath’s holiness is derived from its purpose, and its purpose is the wellbeing of mankind, of which ministering to their needs is part of its sacredness! The Sabbath therefore is to serve humanity, not humanity serving the Sabbath. Love is greater than law; relationships are greater than rituals.

In Matthew 12:5, Matthew records another part of Jesus point which comes from Num. 28:9-10, where the priests worked on the Sabbath. Jesus’ point was that if all work on the Sabbath was wrong, then how could they justify the priest’s work? Jesus then declares that He is greater than the temple. If the priests could break the law for the service in the temple, and it was surely serving the Lord, which is greater, then the temple would be ok.

Vs. 5 Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath

Vs. 5 In Matthew 12:7-8 Jesus quotes the Hosea 6:6. The prophet Hosea was telling Israel that what God looks at is mercy, not sacrifice. If a man brings a sacrifice and there is no mercy in his heart, then his sacrifice is an abomination. The Pharisees were more interested in the outward, where God is more interested in the inward. Then Jesus declares that he is greater than the Sabbath, the day of rest, for He gives rest to men’s souls.

In fact, that is what they were doing when they took a break to pluck the grain. The most sacred symbol of the nation was the Sabbath, and Jesus declares that they have missed the point of it, for it was about mercy, not sacrifice. It is about resting in Him, finding joy in being with the Lord. Folks, we are at rest only in as much as we are enjoying fellowship with Jesus. Christianity is not about what we do for the Lord. It is about enjoying Him and worshiping Him, for that is the sole basis of our service.

Mankind was created before the Sabbath; he was not to be either a slave or a victim of the laws concerning the Sabbath. The best way to use sacred things is to use them for the benefit of mankind. The showbread was never more sacred than it was that day when it went to hungry men. The Greek word for Lord is Kurios which in the Greek means, “He who a person or a thing belongs to, the owner”. In the Septuagint the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures it was the word chosen by the scribes to be the word used for Jehovah and as such it was meant to imply deity.

Thus Jesus is saying that He is the Creator who brought forth the Sabbath for the sake of mankind! They had accused Jesus and His disciples of being Sabbath breakers and Jesus says in essence, “I am the creator, and I created the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath and we aren’t breaking the Sabbath you are by altering its intent!”

Luke 6:6-11

“Stretching the Sabbath”

Introduction
6-7 Restored hands and weathered hearts
8-9 Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil?
10-11 Hating healing

Introduction

One of the chief sources of irritation to the religious leaders was the way Jesus kept the Sabbath compared with how they kept it. Luke records two questions asked or implied by the Pharisees concerning religious life and its place in society that specifically focus on the Sabbath, verses 1-5 which dealt with food and here in verses 6-11 which dealt with healing. As mentioned, when it came to food the Pharisaical tradition had 39 different categories the Pharisees had classified work under, four of them centered on food “reaping, winnowing, threshing and preparing a meal” and as far as the action of the disciples were concerned in the Pharisees eyes, they had broken all four. We take up the 2^nd part of the question about the sabbath here in verses 6-11.

Restored hands and weathered hearts

Vs. 6-7 Here we note a departure in the questioning of the religious leaders about the purpose of religion in society, they no longer use words to express their dissatisfaction at Jesus and His disciple’s departure from their rules and rituals. In Matthew 12:9 Matthew adds the words “their synagogue” and by that I suppose that it was the home synagogue of many of the religious leaders who were in attendance that Sabbath morning. It was no longer the house of God; it was now their synagogue.

How tragic when a church is no longer God’s house; instead, it becomes is so and so’s church. This is the inevitable outcome of every fellowship when they becomes more interested in their pastor or the church’s programs as they begin to identify more with the church than it does with the Head of the Church, Jesus. That is a sure indication that it is no longer Jesus’ church; it is theirs.

Luke the doctor turned historian tells us it was the man’s right hand and the Greek word for “withered” indicated that his condition was not a birth defect but an affliction due to either an accident or disease. The law regarding the Sabbath was very detailed as to what medical attention could be given, and it was only if the person’s life was in danger. If a person was bleeding, you could only cover the wound, but you could not put on anything that might help keep out infection, for that would be healing. A broken bone couldn’t be set, a sprain attended to by even placing it in cold water. You could only keep things from getting worse but could do nothing to make them get better. Clearly this man’s life was not in danger, he would have been no worse if left until another day and they saw him as a perfect case to entrap Jesus.

The word “watched” is in a tense that means a continuous action as they “kept watching Jesus, bent on finding fault with Him concerning the Sabbath”. They are not curious as to His opinions; they are not questioning to see what He thinks. No, they are looking to entrap and condemn as they have concluded that Jesus is their enemy. Indirectly by their entrapment they pay Jesus a great compliment as a man came into a synagogue with a withered hand and they were certain that Jesus would heal this man on the Sabbath.

Sometimes it is the testimony of the enemies of Jesus that seem to exercise more faith than His followers. I’m certain that they didn’t mean it as a compliment but none-the-less, they thought to themselves: “There is a man with a withered hand, and then there is Jesus, and they just know that Jesus is the type of person who is going to heal him.”

These “keepers of rules” had no doubt of either Jesus’ ability to heal or that he would choose to do so. Their prideful blindness could not see what they readily admitted by their entrapment, that before them was the Sabbath and their only concern was that He would violate their rules and upset their authority!

Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil?

Vs. 8-9 In Matthew 12:11-13, Matthew includes Jesus’ reply by stating that Jesus does so by asking two questions of which only Matthew records both.

11 Notice that Jesus implies ownership of the sheep. He says, “What man among you who HAS one sheep.” Simply put, they rescue the sheep because it is theirs. Now, in the context of this, Jesus is saying that mankind is His. He is their creator, and He cares for His sheep. The point Jesus is making is that He is far more than just Lord over the Sabbath; He is Lord over mankind as well. If fallen humanity would do so for a sheep that they own, how much more right is it for Jesus, who is Lord over all of mankind, to heal those who are His sheep?

12 Which is directly connected to what Jesus said but far more direct and the application would include everything that is beneficial to humanity. It is unlawful NOT to do good. Jesus doesn’t wait for their answer by actions affirming that doing good is never out of season.

He is the owner of mankind, and he has come to rescue them from the pit and set them free from the things that bind them; to not do so would be evil.

According to Luke’s account in verse 8 Jesus called the man with the withered hand forward so as all wouldn’t miss the priority of the day of rest.

In effect Jesus contrasted the intentions of His heart towards others compared to the intentions of the religious establishments heart towards others, (the others being himself) all on the Sabbath. The question paraphrased was, “You are concerned about the “day of rest”, whose heart is nearer the purpose of the Sabbath yours or mine? I want to do good to this man while you want to do evil to me, I want to save this man’s life, you want to take my life. Which best represents the intentions of the Sabbath?”

Hating healing

Vs. 10-11 To demonstrate His Lordship, He tells the man with the withered hand to stretch it forth. Though this isn’t a major point I find it interesting that Jesus asked the man with the one withered hand to stretch it forth and this of course indicates that it was his hand and not his entire arm. This man does just what Jesus tells him to do; his hand is made whole. How many times does the Lord tell us to stretch out our withered lives, and we tell Him we can’t? Won’t you just stretch forth your lives that He might touch them?

In the Pharisees’ zeal to maintain the Sabbath they had not only altered it, but they had also killed its benefits! Their silence angered our Lord. The hardness of their heart towards truth grieved Him that though they were clearly in the wrong with regard to the Sabbath, yet they still wouldn’t repent. These men were more motivated to maintain the practice of a lie that they could clearly see was evil and life taking than they were to embrace the truth that was good and life giving. Jesus always drove out evil; He would drive it out of a person or at very least He would drive it out in the open as he did with the Pharisees.

By words and action Jesus answered His own question: He had come to facilitate the CURE for what ails humanity and through that He created the reason for abiding and abounding joy. His presence enlarged the area of sacredness, and it encompassed the secular including all the self-imposed sanctions of religious leaders. He had come to save them; not to harm or kill them!

Luke 6:12-16

“Apprentices on a Mission”

Introduction
12-13 Characteristics of the called
14-16 He chose who?

Introduction

The passage we start tonight is a break from where we have been even though we are still in chapter six. We know this by Luke’s use of the phrase, “Now it came to pass in those days”. The question that Luke is getting the reader to ask is In what days? The answer to this questions sets the context of what follows. Those days of Jesus’ ministry were days that were filled with two opposing realities:

Days in which His popularity among the people was increasing
Days in which as we read in verse 11 that the religious leaders were increasing in rage and were discussing with the Herodians how they might destroy Jesus

This section examines this through the remainder of the 6^th chapter but does so in two sections marked by two different times of day as well as two different types of locations.

First, in verses 12-16 we read that in verse 16 that “Jesus went out to the mountains to pray and continued all night”. So the first was at night in the mountains.
Second, in verses 17-49 we read in verse 17 that, “He (Jesus) came down with them and stood on a level place”. And the second was during the day in the flat land.

Vs. 12-13 Characteristics of the called

Vs. 12 So in the days of growing popularity among the people and hostility among the religious elite Jesus did these two things at different times of the day and at different places. Our focus tonight is what took place at night on the mountain as Jesus elected after a night of communion with the Father 12 from among His many disciples that He would commission as His apostles. We know that there was a very large number of followers that the 12 were selected from as we are told in verse 17 that on the plain there was a “crowd of His disciples”.

What these verses give us is Jesus’ plan of carrying on His ministry. The whole history of the Church finds its beginning in these 5 little verses. In this sense everything that came from these 5 verses even to today is apostolic succession. What this informs us today is that every believer and follower of Jesus is involved in the work of Jesus’ continual ministry. No professing follower of Christ and member of His church can simply belong to Him apart from having a personal responsibility and calling to carry on His ministry into the world.

Another thing that we can see is found in Mark’s account and that is according to Mark 3:7 the choosing of the 12 disciples is placed next to how Jesus withdrew from the popularity of the multitudes.

Jesus withdrew from successful testimonies of pretentious crowds
He also withdrew from truthful titles given by demonic liars.
And as noted in Mark 3:6 Jesus withdrew from the plotting of His premature destruction by the combined efforts of the Pharisees and Herodians who could only agree upon Jesus’ destruction.
Instead at the selection of these 12 men we are given a methodology of selection and the facts are Jesus wanted ordinary men who by their words and works would demonstrate what will happen to a common person who spends time with Him.

Vs. 13 In the New Testament you will find three other lists of the names of the Twelve, Matthew 10:1-4, Mark 3:13-19, here in Luke 6:12-16 and the book of Acts 1:12-14 (minus Judas) which took place at the meeting in the upper room after the Ascension of Jesus from Mount Olivet. In each of these four lists Peter is named first, and Judas last except as I mentioned above in Acts where he isn’t mentioned at all. Only Luke tells us that Jesus gave the group the name of apostles.

The difference between a disciple and an apostle is:

A disciple is a person who learns by doing, today we might use the word apprentice.
An apostle is a person who is sent out on official service with a commission, and today we might use the word ambassador.

It is very significant that Christianity began with a group.

The Pharisaical approach was similarity and separation.
Jesus’ methodology was the exact opposite, diversity and inclusion.

Nothing better demonstrates this than the extremes of the men Jesus called: A revolutionary anti Roman zealot and a pro Roman tax collector both of which are part of the 12-man team. With this extreme diversity all 12 did possess two common traits:

They all had an unbreakable attraction to Jesus; they wanted to make Him their master!
They all had the courage to visibly align themselves with Him! No band of men ever risked more than these 12 with their allegiance to a radical peasant Galilean who was crashing headlong into religious leaders and being labeled as a rule breaking sinner.

These 12 had faults but one of them wasn’t a lack of love for their Master. They loved Jesus and weren’t afraid to tell the world that they did. Before giving us the cast of characters in verses 16-19 Mark 3:13-15 gives us three traits Jesus looked for in those He personally called to service!

Vs. 13 PERSONAL ENCOUNTER: People who wanted to be with Him for the right reasons: Jesus didn’t want a sales force or advocates who had received benefits! What He desired was men who from personal experience had chosen to be with Him. They weren’t trained to talk about Him, instead they were told of how their encounter was not temporary and superficial but everlasting. There is too much of Christianity today that has been scrubbed and sanitized from the raw truthful testimonies of transformed lives. Oh, it is polished and pointed, but sounds like an infomercial that gets the stains out without harming the fabric.

The outcome of this new sales force are converts who become members of a church that caters to their every whim and demand. Yes, we now have professional spokesmen, but it has been at the price of unlearned fishermen that had been with Jesus. And I am reminded that it was those unlearned fishermen that were chosen to change the world!

Vs. 14 PRACTICAL EVANGELISM: The selection was not based upon giftedness nor education. From beginning to end we have proof that Jesus deliberately chose to build His church with inferior material. That was by design to prove that it is only through and by Jesus that this organism we know as the Church has the power, position and the ability to perform what He has called us to.

Their appointment had a threefold tasks according to Mark 3:13-15

That they might be with Him. The highest priority was not in making a professional team but rather a relational team. This appointment was of men who more than anything else just wanted to be with and near Jesus. The job interview, (there wasn’t one) did not include a resume, past job experience, training, or education. None of these mattered to the Master, what mattered was would they unequivocally, without any direction or promises, obey the simplest of tasks, which by His own words was to be with Him. Why is this question never asked? It seems to me that far too often the church ends up with people who either want a position or a career path but not Jesus!

That He would send them out: Secondly the team needed to have settled who the Master was and who it wasn’t. The sending out was not based upon a catalog of desirable locations or situations in which a person could naturally choose what was the most appealing and beneficial to their life. The applicant must adapt the attitude that Peter would manifest when asked by Jesus to exercise a direction which Peter had far more experience outwardly than did Jesus, commercial fishing. When Peter heard Jesus’ orders to “cast the net upon the other side” Peter in his professional understanding explained that they had been out fishing all night but “nevertheless at Your word” he would cast the net as directed. There will be many times when our all-night fishing has not yielded the results that we thought we would have achieved for our effort, but our obedience is not leveled upon outcome but because our Master told us too!

To preach: Their primary task is to be His proclaimers! They weren’t called to be His entertainers! It was a very simple task: Speak what you have learned from Him. It didn’t require any talent or education, why even unlearned fishermen could be considered accomplished. There is a progressive order to this appointment that if not followed as laid out will cause a mess. People can have natural skills in communication, be comfortable in front of others. But if that person eyes the calling to preach and is allowed to do so without noting the above two items, the results will be an egotistical entertainer who is far more interested in being worshiped then having the Person they are to proclaim worshipped.

Vs. 15 POWER-FILLED EXPERIENCE: The final trait Jesus looked for were men who understood that they were only receivers or stewards of His blessing and power in order that they would be distributors of them. He gave them power; it was not their own and it was not to be used for their benefit or promotion. They were given something to say and something to do, then were sent out for that purpose with power to accomplish it. There ought to be an authenticity that manifests itself when a person who has been with Jesus is where they are supposed to be, doing what they are called to do. They were His ambassadors to make public proclamations with such authority as to make what they said obeyed and given delegated power that people were healed and demons fled.

Vs. 14-16 He chose who?

Vs. 14-16 Matthew Chapter 10 starts where 9:37-38 left off. Jesus had just spoken to the disciples and asked them to pray for laborers for the harvest. Then in Matthew 10:5 we see Jesus’s words to them in verse 5 as “He sent them out.” Matthew also records that prior to this calling of the 12 Jesus was up all night in prayer over who He would select. While some believe that this time in prayer was spent receiving direction and confirmation from the Father on who He would choose, men who would be most impactful and influential upon the world. I could also make the case looking at the cast of characters chosen that perhaps the prayer was to be kept from selecting those that seemed most outwardly a perfect fit. There are two surprises in Jesus’ selection mentioned in these verses: How many He selected and who He selected.

How many: When we factor in the extremely large numbers of people, the political, religious and economic situation that made up this time, 12 men seems like extreme under staffing. Why 12? Yes it’s a biblical number but I seriously doubt that Jesus selected 12 because He thought “Gee, that’s a biblical number!” No, Jesus selected 12 because that was about the max that He could pour Himself into and have quality time with each. Jesus’ method in the number of men He called indicates His confidence in the task at reaching the world. Jesus and any single one of them fully and wholly consecrated to Him was more than enough to change the world, 12 was over kill! Jesus didn’t launch this enterprise during our era which suggests to me that He didn’t need our technological advancements to reach the world. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that He hasn’t used mass media, technology, radio T.V., C.D’s etc. What I am saying is that those technological advancements are not essential nor indispensable as far as Jesus is concerned. What is essential and indispensable is Jesus in the life of those He calls.

Who He selected: These names appear in other places, usually in the same order: Peter first, Judas last, but what do we really know of these guys? Out of the 12, we know 5 of their occupations: 4 were fishermen, and one was a tax collector. As for the rest, we are not told. All except for Judas were from the wrong side of the country; (Galilee) Judas was most likely from the area of Judah. The first three mentioned Simon (Peter), James and John are all given special names as He “surnamed” them, giving them nicknames. This special designation indicates an inner circle of responsibility. They are the ones we see going on special details, called upon to accompany Jesus at specific opportunities as well as the ones Jesus tended to spend the most of His time with.

It appears that they were designated the leaders of the 12. In both Jesus’ selection of the 12 and the three within the 12 we see a consistent methodology by Jesus of investing in a select few to reach the many! Looking at Jesus’ nicknames of these three in the placement of them over the 12 seems to indicate Jesus’ assessment of what this group needed most: “A rock and two loud voices”! Personally having pastored for over 35 years I think a rock and two loud voices comes in pretty handy when dealing with sheep!

Peter: Here is a choice of a man that Jesus knew would deny that he ever knew Him. The acknowledged leader was a person who went from shifting sand to the Rock, which describes what he became after the Holy Spirit took control of him.

Andrew: His name comes from a Greek origin and was used to describe a person who was “manly”. He was the first to enquire about the Lord.

James: The surnames of both James and his brother John in Syrian is “Sons of thunder,” but in Hebrew is “Sons of tumult”. The name was laid upon these two for their “tumultuous zeal” which characterized both of them. Here is a choice of two brothers who had such tempers that they wanted to blow away or burn up people who didn’t comply. James would leave his mark not by being a loud voice but by being the first to lay down his life.

John: Who would remain until the end and was noted more for his actions of prayer and love than a loud voice.

Phillip: Is another Greek name that means fond of horses and in ancient Greek was used of a person who was a chariot driver. John 1:43 tells us that he was the third that Jesus called.

Bartholomew: Also known as Nathanael in whom we are told had no guile.

Matthew: Is a name that means a “gift of God”, he is the one known as Levi in chapter 5 verse 27, the tax collector and future gospel writer. As a tax collector he was most hated among his own people and financially had the most to lose.

Thomas: His name means “twin”, and we know him as the magnificent skeptic. Again a questionable choice as this fellow will deny you’re alive unlike Peter who denied he knew you.

James the son of Alphaeus: Also known as James the less. According to Mark 2:14 he may be the brother of Matthew as both are said to be the son of Alphaeus.

Simon called the Zealot also called the Canaanite: More properly the “Canaanaean” which is used to differentiate him from Peter by geographical location. Here was a choice of a man that had a complete make over from a revolutionary to a missionary, from a terrorist to tender hearted.

Judas the son of James also known as Thaddaeus: He is the other Judas mentioned in John 14:22 and Martin Luther called the “good Judas”. Him we shall hear speak in the upper room.

Judas Iscariot: His name is placed at the end of the list. Iscariot means “the man from Kerioth” which is a name of a town given in Joshua chapter 15 verse 25 as one of the last of the cities of Judah along the coast near Edom. What a tragic figure Judas is as here we note that he was given authority to cast out demons but in the end will be the one that Satan will enter.

I close with this and that is to remind us that Judas Iscariot was chosen by Jesus after a full night of prayer with the Father. In John 17:6 at the end of His earthly ministry Jesus prayed, “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.” These 12 men were the ones selected by Jesus after a night of prayer on the mountain with sweet fellowship with the Father. Now look at John 6:70 where Jesus says, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil.” Jesus didn’t say a demon he said a devil! Now go back and look again at Jesus final prayer of His earthly ministry in John 17:12 where Jesus prayed, “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept. And none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” The son of perdition is a phrase that suggests a total abandonment of character, one who is utterly lost and given over to evil. These are the facts concerning Judas Iscariot’s selection. Jesus chose Judas alongside His Father, among the 12 Jesus chose and included that dark and sinister traitor and that is all we are given. G Campbell Morgan writes that he doesn’t believe that Judas was a man in the ordinary sense of the word. He believes that he was a devil incarnate, created in history for the work of hell!