Jesus came and made His public appearance in the first
century. When He was born, just a handful of people recognized and paid their
attention to the Incarnated God. At the age of thirty Jesus began the Messianic
ministry on earth, being baptized by John and being tempted by the devil in the
wilderness.
Jesus set the tone of His earthly ministry to the preaching
of the kingdom of God, saying “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” Restoring
the kingdom in the hearts of people was the reason of coming of the Messiah in
the likeness of man for mankind is lost, blinded, and fallen in darkness.
The Son of Man was compassionate and merciful to the lost
and confused humanity that He healed the sick and drove out demons. He opened
the eyes of the blind, healed the lame and the paralyzed, made the leprosy
clean, and raised the dead. He fed five thousands with five loaves and two
fish, calmed down the wind and tempest by the word, and walked on the water.
Immediately, He became so popular and the whole nation and
its neighboring countries were amazed and stirred up at the manifestation and
demonstration of the divine power in their midst.
However, the stubborn and wanton resistance was also
brooding gradually by the Pharisees and the scribes because Jesus healed a man
with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath and claimed that He was the Son of God
who had authority to forgive sins. The murderous intention was ever growing
against Christ Jesus in the minds of religious leaders of the nation.
Jesus Called His Disciples
According to the Synoptic Gospels, by this time Jesus
officially called the twelve disciples and designated them apostles. It was
about the second year of His earthly Messianic ministry.
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray,
and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples
to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom
he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of
James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.” (Luke 6:12-16)
Jesus says in a parable that new wine must be poured into
new wineskins (Luke 5:38). It reminds that all the people of Israel who were
freed from the hands of Pharaoh and crossed the Red Sea had perished in the
wilderness except two men, Joshua and Caleb. Only the new generation under the
leadership of Joshua entered into the promised land of Canaan.
Who the Disciples Were
Who were the twelve disciples? They were just ordinary plain
vanilla people, mostly fishermen in the Sea of Galilee. They were young,
passionate like the Zealot, eagerly waiting for the Promised One, and wanting
and seeking the truth in life. Just like the rest of us, they had families and
relatives of their own and were struggling to survive under the heavy hand of
Romans and King Herod.
Why the Disciples Were Chosen
Why were the twelve disciples chosen? It’s done by the divine
plan of God. The Lord spent the whole night praying to the Father God, says
Luke. They were the remnant and the elect chosen by the Father even before the
time began. There are no other reasons than that.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and
sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also
justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)
God knows what is inside mankind. There is no value in the
fallen man to God. No matter how they achieve in the eyes of man, they are
nothing to God.
For What the Disciples Were Called
For what were the twelve disciples called? They were called
to deliver the good tidings of the kingdom of heaven to the whole world,
starting from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Tyre and Sidon, and to the ends of the
earth, healing the wound and heart-broken by various diseases and impure
spirits.
How the Disciples Could Do the Work of Christ
How could they accomplish this daunting task of evangelizing
the lost and confused world? How could they convince the fallen race to believe
in the gospel of the blessed God who is invisible?
Of course, it’s not by the might and skills of their flesh
and blood. That’s not true either for Abraham, Moses, King David, the twelve
disciples, and all the elect in Christ Jesus. No one can dare to try to convert
the heart of man. It is impossible with man but everything possible with God. He
can break in the stubborn and blind mind and heart of man.
God never commands His children to obey Him without
providing them appropriate power and strength to do. God demands us to obey Him
perfectly and blamelessly as He is holy. At the same time, He offers the perfect
provision for us to be able to carry out our perfect obedience. That provision
is Jesus Christ.
God knows us more than what we know about us. He knows that
we cannot keep the commandments of God with flesh and blood. So, God has
imparted the Holy Spirit to the children of light who received the Lord Jesus
Christ as Lord. The real power stronger than the hydrogen bomb has been
implanted within the children of God.
Those who are the poor in spirit are the blessed for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven (Luke 6:20). The poor in spirit are those who do not
rely on their flesh and blood but on Christ Jesus alone. Those who are poor in
spirit know they have nothing to depend on but God alone. To them, Jesus Christ
the Lord is everything from the beginning to the end.
Our God is pleased to reveal the truth of heaven to little
children because they learn and receive the truth honestly and completely
without second thought.
“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little
children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
Christ Could Do Nothing by Himself
Our Lord Jesus Christ made known clearly and plainly that He
could do nothing by Himself. What He heard from the Father spoke and what He
saw what the Father doing He did. Although He received all power in heaven and
on earth, He obeyed the Father even to the point of death.
“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does
the Son also does.” (John 5:19)
Adam was the pattern of fallen race. Jesus Christ came to
the earth as the pattern of man whom God intended man to be before the creation
of the world. So, what our Lord Jesus was, so are we in Him.
“I can do all this
through him who gives me strength,” says Apostle Paul (Philippians 4:13). That
is, we can do nothing with our own merits but do everything in Him and through
Him.
Christ is the power for us to love one another. He is the
strength to forgive one another. He is the lone resource even to love our
enemies. God loved us first when we were still sinners. We were once enemies of
God, but by His grace we have been delivered through the love of Christ Jesus
who shed His blood in our place.
Is it not exciting and anticipating to live in and with
Christ Jesus whose resource never goes dry like rivers of living water?
Goal of Calling, Loving our Enemies
God is love and He loved us first even when we were still
sinners. He demonstrated His love for us to do the same thing to others. Jesus
gave His disciples a new command, saying “A new command I give you: Love one
another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
Even pagans do love those who love them, says Jesus. The disciples
of Jesus are called to love one another who are different in many ways and
difficult to get along with at times. Our Lord Jesus says,
“But to you who are
listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those
who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28)
It’s so radical and revolutionary that it seems impossible
to obey. It is not possible with man, but all things are possible with God.
Jesus gives this commandment to the disciples who have been made clean and
regenerated by the word of truth. With flesh and blood it is impossible but
with the Spirit all things are possible.
The old self died to sin, so we are no longer under the law
but under grace. We have been made alive in the faith of our Lord Christ Jesus.
So, our ego is no longer central, but Christ lives in us. “I have been
crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I
now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
We cannot love anyone even our families, husband and wife,
parents and children, not to mention mother-in-law. But God loves all people
regardless of status, race, class, or age not because they deserve or of their own
merits but because He is love.
God loves to give us eternal life. God is ever giving and
pouring out love unto those who accept it and respond with the obedience of
faith. So, first receive the love of God which overflows from within and disseminate
it to others, families, neighbors, and strangers.
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