We looked into three questions from the passage regarding the call of the twelve disciples.

First, how he chose them.  It was through prayer.  He spent the whole night praying listening and discerning God’s will.

Second, why he chose them.  He chose the twelve because his strategy of building the Kingdom of God throughout the world was not through growing a crowd but through making disciples who make disciples.  His strategy was multiplication (meaning making disciples who make disciples), not addition. His strategy was focused on relational discipleship.

Third, who he chose as the twelve. He chose Simon the Zealot, a radical and violent revolutionary against Rome, and Matthew, a tax collector who collaborated with the Romans.  If a Zealot and a tax collector can be on the same team, certainly Democrats and Republicans should also be able to be a part of the same church.  In order to do so, we must learn to love one another by learning to listen to one another, respect one another, and sometimes, disagree graciously with one another.  As 1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “even if we can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge [even if we are right about our political perspective], but do not have love, I am nothing.”

Jesus also chose Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.  This shows us that he chooses broken people to develop by teaching and loving them.   Jesus never discriminated against Judas.  Jesus called him a friend, let him kiss him, gave him the Lord’s supper, and washed his feet.  Jesus loved Judas.  But, Judas is not the only person who was messed up.  All of the disciples displayed lack of understanding, were possessive, had selfish ambition, were jealous, and ultimately, betrayed Jesus. They were all messed up.  Jesus was willing to go all-in on all of his disciples, even Judas, even at the risk of their failure.  If Jesus was willing to all-in on Judas, would he not go all-in on you?