The Twelve
W. F. Bishop. Mark 3:13-21 And he goes up into a mountain, and calls to him whom he would: and they came to him.… 1. The sons of Jacob were twelve. The princes of the children of Israel were twelve. The fountains of Elim were twelve. The stones in Aaron's breastplate were twelve. The loaves of shewbread were twelve. The spies sent by Moses into Canaan were twelve. The stones of the altar were twelve, The stones taken out of Jordan were twelve. The oxen which supported the brazen Laver in the temple were twelve. The stars on the crown of the woman in the Apocalypse are twelve. The foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem are twelve. The gates of the celestial city are twelve. The twelve tribes of Israel were the beginning of the Old Testament Church: the twelve apostles were the beginning of the New Testament Church, Hence both these numbers joined together describe the four and twenty elders, representing the entire Church in glory. 2. We have four lists of the apostles: in Matthew, in Mark, in Luke, and in the Acts. The order in which the names are given is not the same in all. It has been suggested that in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke they are enrolled chronologically in the order of their calling: whereas in Mark and in Acts the matter of personal influence is made the ground of that order which places Peter always first and Judas always last. I. WHAT WERE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TWELVE AS A BODY. 1. They were men of good health. Mr. Talmage says: "Christ did not want twelve invalids hanging about Him, complaining all the time how badly they felt. He leaves the delicate students at Jerusalem and Rome for their mothers and aunts to take care of, and goes down to the seashore, and out of the toughest material makes an apostleship. The ministry need more corporeal vigour than any other class. Fine minds and good intentions are important, but there must be physical force to back them. The intellectual mill wheel may be well built and the grist good, but there must be enough flood in the mill race to turn the one and to grind the other." And, yet, how many invalids in the pulpit have been stars of the first magnitude? Witness Robert Hall, McCheyne, and Robertson of Brighton, England. 2. They were men without power. They had no social or political rank. 3. They were laymen. This also is significant. Men of ecclesiastical or philosophical influence, who are committed to the support of a certain system of truth, are not free from prejudice. In the seventeenth century William Harvey discovered the circulation of the blood — a fact which no sane man disputes. And yet no physician forty years of age in that day accepted Harvey's discovery. So great is the power of prejudice! These laymen, chosen by Christ, were unshackled ecclesiastically and philosophically. It appears unfortunate that Martin Luther was an ecclesiastic. His work had been more thorough, but for certain Church shackles which even his great soul was unable to shake off. Witness the Lutheran Creed and the present condition of Germany. 4. They were simple men. Now, Mohammed, for example, was not a simple man. He was a dissembler. Jesus of Nazareth calls no man common or unclean. AEsop was a slave. Protagoras was a porter. Terence was a slave. Horace was the son of a slave. Among the poets, Gay was apprentice to a draper and Prior was a tavern boy. Pope was the son of a draper, Keats of a livery stable keeper, and Chatterton of a sexton. Ben Jonson worked for his bread as a bricklayer. II. WHY DID THE LORD CHOOSE APOSTLES? 1. In order to crowd into a brief public ministry as much work as possible. His public ministry was so brief, that but for the cooperation of the twelve He could not have spoken all the words of wisdom or done all the acts of mercy which crowned and crowded that eventful life. In the great religious movement of the last century in England, John Wesley evinced a sagacity superior to that of either Whitefield or his brother Charles, in securing co-workers and doing in general the work of an organizer. All great teachers have done the same. Witness Socrates, Peter the Hermit, Luther, Loyola, and Savonarola, of Florence. 2. In order to provide testimony after His death. The apostles were to bear public witness of all they saw and heard whilst remaining with Him. Christianity then is historic, and is a system of doctrines resting upon facts. 3. In order to establish a body of men who should bear the public seal of the Church, viz,: Miracles. 4. To shield, by miraculous power, feeble Churches. (W. F. Bishop.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. WEB: He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.