Page 18 - In His Image

“When morning came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also
designated apostles."

(Luke 6:13)

The text suggests to me that His disciples were encamped nearby. This was outside
of town in a remote place. Those who were His serious followers came everywhere
with Him.

Notice the distinction Jesus makes between disciples and apostles. Jesus has many
disciples, but He only selects twelve to be designated apostles. We see later that
Jesus appoints 70 others for a preaching mission (Luke 10). It is important that we
see that the apostles are being selected from a considerably larger group of
followers.

While "disciple" means "learner, pupil, devoted follower," the word "apostle" means
something different. Our English word "apostle" is a transliteration of the Greek
word apostolos, "ambassador, delegate, messenger," from the verb apostello, to
send away or out." These men are designated apostles because they are given a
particular commission or set of orders. "The Great Commission" was given first to
the apostles, and then, by extension, to the Church they established. Often the
New Testament refers to these twelve apostles as "the disciples," but there is a
distinction we need to keep in mind: disciples are learners and followers; apostles
are disciples who have been given a particular “commission.”
Something else crosses my spirit as I meditate on this event. Jesus absolutely knew
the criticality of what was to take place, so He spent ALL night in prayer seeking
His Father's perfect will! This was not an easy decision to make. Why? Because all
of those He was to choose from were already considered His disciples. He makes
that emphatically clear in Luke 6:13

"And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself;"

All had spent time with Him, were taught by Him and were trusted by Him. But in
that larger group there existed a smaller group. God clearly does not have
favorites, but I do believe He has "intimates." Those who pressed harder, gave up
more, died to self-ambition to be more like Him. He had to be right about these
future leaders for He knew the end! They didn't, but He did. He knew His time
here was short. He would return to the Father before long, but first He had to
prepare a select group to be the recipients of His ordination. These had to have
the hunger to KNOW Him and the One who sent Him!

In His Image 10