Daily Devotional for Tuesday, January 13

Twelve Apostles Chosen

“And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles,” Luke 6:13.

When I was a child in Sunday school, we would often memorize different lists from the Bible. I remember memorizing the twelve tribes of Israel. We learned the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-11). And of course, one list we could all recite as children was the names of Jesus’s twelve apostles.

There is Simon Peter, and his brother Andrew. There are the brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who Jesus later refers to as the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). There is Phillip and Bartholemew (who is possibly referred to as Nathanael in the Gospel of John). You probably remember Matthew and Thomas. There was James the son of Alphaeus. Many people think Judas (also named as Lebbaeus Thaddeus in Matthew 10:3) was his brother, because Luke records Judas as “the brother of James” (Luke 6:16). Continuing the list, you might remember Simon Zelotes (the Zealot) because he is the second Simon on this list. The final apostle listed in Luke’s record is Judas Iscariot. Of all the apostles, he might be the easiest to remember, because he betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ. Luke even identifies him as “the traitor” (verse 16).

Each of these men played a key role as followers in Jesus’s earthly ministry. Some wrote books of the Bible (Matthew, John and Peter), while some had some great recorded theological interactions with the Lord. Philip asked Jesus to show them the Father (John 14:8). Thomas exclaimed “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28). Peter called Jesus “the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (Matthew 16:16).

CONSIDERATION

We cannot be apostles, but we should be followers of Jesus in all we do.

Chris Floyd