XLI.
After Prayer Jesus Selects Twelve Apostles.
(Near Capernaum.)
A Matt. X. 2–4; B Mark III. 13–19;
C Luke VI. 12–16.
c 12 And it came to pass in these days, that he went out
into the mountain b 13 And he goeth up
into the mountain, c to pray; and he continued all night
in prayer to God. [It was a momentous occasion. He was about to choose
those to whom he was to entrust the planting, organizing, and training of that
church which was to be the purchase of his own blood. Jesus used such important
crises, not as occasions for anxiety and worry, but as fitting times to seek
and obtain the Father's grace and blessing.] 13 And when it was day, he
called his disciples: b and calleth unto him whom he
himself would; and they went unto him. c and he chose
from them twelve [We can not think that the number twelve was adopted
carelessly. It unquestionably had reference to the twelve tribes of Israel,
over whom the apostles were to be tribal judges or viceroys (Luke xxii. 30), and we find the tribes and
apostles associated together in the structure of the New Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 12–14). Moreover, Paul seems
to regard the twelve as ministers to the twelve tribes, or to the circumcision,
rather than as ministers to the Gentiles or the world in general (Gal. ii. 7–9). See also Jas. i. 1; I. Pet. i. 1. The tribal reference was
doubtless preserved to indicate that the church would be God's new Israel]
, b 14 And he appointed twelve, that they might
be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 and
to have authority to cast out demons: c whom also he
named apostles [The word apostle means “one sent.” Its meaning
was kindred to the word ambassador
221(
II. Cor. v. 20), the messenger whom a king sent to foreign powers,
and also to our modern word missionary, which also means “one
sent.” Christ himself was an apostle (Heb.
iii. 1), and so sent them (John xx.
21). The word apostle is translated “messenger” at
II. Cor. viii. 23 and Phil. ii. 25. The
apostles were to be with Jesus, that they might be taught by his words, and
that they might become teachers of that word and witnesses as to the life and
actions of Jesus. A necessary condition, therefore, to their apostleship was
this seeing of Jesus and the consequent ability to testify as to his actions,
especially as to his resurrection (Acts i. 8, 21; I.
Cor. ix. 1; xxii. 14, 15). They could therefore have no successors.
All the apostles were from Galilee save Judas Iscariot]:
a 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are
these
44
MATT. X. 2–4.
MARK III. 16–19.
LUKE VI. 14–16.
ACTS I. 13.
1
Simon, called Peter,
Simon, surnamed Peter;
Simon, named Peter,
Peter
2
and Andrew his brother;
and James the son of Zebedee,
and Andrew his brother,
and John
3
James the son of Zebedee,
and John the brother of James;
and James
and James
4
and James his brother;
and Andrew,
and John,
and Andrew,
5
Philip,
and Philip,
and Philip
Philip
6
and Bartholomew;
and Bartholomew,
and Bartholomew,
and Thomas,
7
Thomas,
and Matthew,
and Matthew
Bartholomew
8
and Matthew the publican;
and Thomas,
and Thomas,
and Matthew,
9
James the son of Alphæus,
and James the son of Alphæus,
and James the son of Alphæus
James the son of Alphæus,
10
and Thaddæus;
and Thaddæus
and Simon called the Zealot,
and Simon the Zealot
11
Simon the Cananæan,
and Simon the Cananæan,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas the son of James.
12
and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
[Mark and Luke give the names
of the apostles at the time when they were chosen, but Matthew gives them at
the time when they were sent out]: The first, Simon, who is called
Peter, c whom he also named { b
surnamed} Peter [For the surnaming of Simon, see John i. 41, 42. Peter, by reason of his early prominence, is
named first in the four lists. His natural gifts gave him a personal but not an
ecclesiastical pre-eminence over his fellows. As a reward for his being first
to confess Christ, he was honored by being permitted to first use the keys of
the kingdom of heaven; i. e., to preach the first gospel sermon both to
the Jews and Gentiles. But after these two sermons the right of preaching to
the Jews and Gentiles became common to all alike. That Peter had supremacy or
authority over his brethren is nowhere stated by Christ, or claimed by Peter,
or owned by the rest of the twelve. On
223the contrary, the statement
of Jesus places the apostles upon a level (Matt.
xxiii. 8–11). See also Matt.
xviii. 18; xix. 27, 28; xx. 25–27; John xx. 21; Acts i. 8. And
Peter himself claims no more than an equal position with other officers in the
church (I. Pet. v. 1, 4), and the
apostles in the subsequent history of the church acted with perfect
independence. Paul withstood Peter to his face and (if we may judge by the
order of naming which is made so much of in the apostolic lists), he ranks
Peter as second in importance to James, the Lord's brother (Gal. ii. 11–14, 9). See also Acts xii. 17; xxi. 18. Again, James, in summing
up the decree which was to be sent to the church at Antioch, gave no precedence
to Peter, who was then present, but said, “Brethren, hearken unto me . .
. my judgment is”—words which would be invaluable to those who
advocate the supremacy of Peter, if only it had been Peter who spoke them. So
much for the supremacy of Peter, which, even if it could be established, would
still leave the papacy without a good title to its honors, for it would still
have to prove that it was heir to the rights and honors of Peter, which is
something it has never yet done. The papal claim rests not upon facts, but upon
a threefold assumption: 1. That Peter had supreme authority. 2. That he was the
first bishop of Rome. 3. That the peculiar powers and privileges of Peter (if
he had any) passed at the time of his death from his own person, to which they
belonged, to the chair or office which he vacated]; a
and Andrew his brother; James the son
of Zebedee, and John his brother; { b the
brother of James;} and them he surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder
[This selection of brothers suggests that the bonds of nature may strengthen
those of grace. Why James and John were called sons of thunder is not stated,
but it was probably because of their stormy and destructive temper (Luke ix. 51–56; Mark ix. 38). The vigor
of the two brothers is apparent, for it marked James as a fit object for
Herod's spleen (Acts xii. 2), and it
sustained John to extreme old age, for Epiphanius says
224that he
died at Ephesus at the age of ninety-four, but Jerome places his age at a
hundred. No change is noted in the nature of James during the brief time which
he survived his Lord. But the gracious and loving character of the aged John
showed the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. But even to the last this son
of thunder muttered in portentous strains against Diotrephes (III. John 9, 10), and his denunciations of sins
and sinners is very forceful, including such epithets as “liar,”
“antichrist,” “deceiver,” “children of the
devil” (I. John i. 6; ii. 4, 22; iii. 15; II.
John 3–11). It is also worthy of note that except in this
verse in Mark, which applies the name “Son of thunder” to John,
neither the word “thunder,” nor any of its derivatives is found
anywhere in the New Testament save in the writings of John, by whom it and its
derivatives are used eleven times, a fact which causes Bengel to remark,
“A son of thunder is a fit person for hearing voices of thunder.”]
a 3 Philip, and Bartholomew [as noted on page
111, Bartholomew is usually identified with the man whom John calls Nathanael,
in which case his full name would be Nathanael Bar Tolmai]; Thomas,
and Matthew the publican [Thomas is also called Didymus, the first being
the Aramaic and the second the Greek word for twin. Matthew calls himself the
publican. None of the others apply that term of reproach to him. Matthew
doubtless assumes it in remembrance of the riches of Christ's grace toward
loving him while he was yet a sinner. Exposing the sin of his own past life, he
is silent as to the past lives of the others, not even noting that the first
four were humble “fishermen”]; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
{ c Judas
the son of James,} [Matthew's father was also named
Alphæus, but it was another Alphæus. This was a very common name.
In its Hebrew form it may be pronounced Alphi or Clephi. In its Arimæan
form it is Chalphai. So in the New Testament we sometimes find it
Alphæus, and again Cleopas, or Clopas. The apostle James is thought by
some to be our Lord's brother, and by others to be his cousin;
225but
he is probably neither.55
Matt. xxvii. 56.
Mary Magdalene
and Mary the mother of James and John,
and mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Mark xv. 40.
Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses,
and Salome.
John xix. 25.
his mother
and Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas,
the sister of Jesus' mother.
This apostle was also called James the Less (Mark xv. 40); probably because he was younger than the son of
Zebedee. He must not be confounded with James the Lord's brother, who, though
called an apostle by Paul, was not one of the twelve apostles (nor was
Barnabas—Acts xiv. 14). James the
Lord's brother is mentioned at Matt. xiii. 55; I.
Cor. xv. 5–7; Gal. i. 19; ii. 9, 12; Acts xv. 6–9 and xxi.
18.
226He wrote the epistle which bears his name, and his
brother Jude (who also must not be confounded with Judas Thaddæus, the
apostle) wrote the epistle which bears his name. We do not know the James who
was the father of Judas, and of Judas himself we know very little. He seems to
have been known at first by his name Thaddæus, possibly to distinguish
him from Iscariot, but later (for Luke and John wrote later than Matthew and
Mark) by the name Judas—John xiv.
22.] a 4 Simon the Cananaean,
c who was called the Zealot [Cananæan means the same as
zealot. It comes from the Hebrew word kana, which means zealous. The Zealots
were a sect or order of men much like our modern “Regulators,” or
“Black Caps.” They were zealous for the Jewish law, and citing
Phinehas (Num. xxv. 7, 8) and Elijah
(I. Kings xviii. 40) as their
examples, they took justice in their own hands and punished offenders much
after the manner lynchers. It is thought that they derived their name from the
dying charge of the Asmonæan Mattathias when he said, “Be ye
zealous for the law, and give your lives for the covenant of your
fathers” (I. Macc. ii. 50). Whatever they were at first, it is certain
that their later course was marked by frightful excesses, and they are charged
with having been the human instrument which brought about the destruction of
Jerusalem. See Josephus, Wars, IV., iii. 9, v. 1–4; vi. 3; VII., viii. 1.
Simon is the least known of all the apostles, being nowhere individually
mentioned outside the catalogues], a and Judas
Iscariot, c who became a traitor; a
who also betrayed him. [Judas is named last in all the three lists, and
the same note of infamy attaches to him in each case. He is omitted from the
list in Acts, for he was then dead. As he was treasurer of the apostolic group,
he was probably chosen for office because of his executive ability. He was
called Iscariot from his native city Kerioth, which pertained to
Judah—Josh. xv. 25.]
227
This book has been accessed more than 142858 times since June 1, 2005.
