Twelve Apostles Selected After A Night Of Prayer Series

Note the difference between the disciples and apostles. The disciples were a large group that was called by Him. The twelve apostles were chosen by Him from among the disciples. He commissioned the twelve to preach and He gave them the power to heal diseases and to cast out demons.

And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house. (Mark 3:17-19)

Verses 17-19 give the names of the apostles. I would like to give you some trivia about a few of them. There were four fishermen and two pairs of brothers; Peter and Andrew, and James and John. James was slain by Herod. The one called James the Less was not Jesus’ brother. Simon Zelotes was a member of the insurrectionary party who were eager for revolt against Rome. These men were diverse types of individuals which foreshadowed His appeal to men of all conditions and circumstances.

-Luke-

Some of the disciples were introduced to Jesus, while He was in Jerusalem. He did not call them at that time. Later, walking by the Sea of Galilee, He called them to follow Him. They did for a brief period, but returned to fishing. Then He called them again and the Bible tells us, “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” (Luke 5:11) Now out of an unspecified number of disciples He chooses twelve to be His apostles.

And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. (Luke 6:12-16)

Jesus prayed all night before choosing the twelve men to be His apostles. One was a traitor, and one would deny Him. On the night that He was arrested, they all ran and hid. However, all but Judas repented. The important thing to see here is that God’s men are always chosen. With the appointment of the twelve, He turned from debate with the Pharisees to teaching those that had been receptive to His announcement of the Kingdom.

Paul gives the three criteria for an apostle in 1 Corinthians. In chapter 9 and verse 1, he wrote, “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?” And in chapter 15 and verse 8, He wrote, “And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” There were three requirements. First, it must be a man. Second, they had to accompany Jesus and the other disciples during Jesus’ ministry. Third, they had to be a witness to His resurrection. Also it says in Acts 9:15, “And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,)”. And it says in Galatians 1:15-16, “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, “To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:” Paul is saying that the apostles were given a commission. They were witnesses and leaders chosen by God, just as God had chosen the twelve tribes of Israel.