The Deity’s Dozen
Luke 6:12-16
1. The prayer before Jesus’ decision
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. Luke 6:12 (ESV)
Luke reveals that both Jesus and, following His example, the early church prayed before major decisions. (Acts 6:6; 13:2-3; 14:23).
2. The implementation of Jesus’ decision
13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Luke 6:13-16 (ESV)
The number twelve is reflective and parallel to the twelve tribes of Israel.
An apostle is someone who is commissioned to carry a message or to perform an official duty on someone else’s behalf. (Philip Ryken)
3. The results of Jesus’ decision
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (ESV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22 (ESV)