Twelve Ordinary Men
Matthew 10: 2-5

How many of you can name the twelve apostles?
Some are familiar, and others are not remembered.
The average church member cannot name more than one-half of the twelve.
Some mistakenly include Mark and Luke.

Many churchgoers have wrong ideas about the twelve.
A group of tourists in Europe gazed at the stained glass windows of a lovely church.
Each window displayed the portrait of of a different apostle.
Noting halos around their heads, their angelic expressions, and beautiful smiles,
someone remarked, "What saints the apostles must have been!"
But this is a misconception.

Ordinary Men

The disciples were ordinary men.
They were real people, faltering mortals who lived on second Avenue in some Galilean town.
They weren't old men.
They were young -- probably in their twenties.
Perhaps, John was in his late teens, and Peter was near 30.
They came from the lower or middle classes, earning their livelihood by ordinary occupations.
They were all Jews.

They were imperfect men.
The Gospels picture the apostles as men with imperfections and weaknesses.

Here are some examples:
They became afraid in a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee.
In Gethsemane they fell asleep when they had been especially asked to watch and pray.
They were indignant at Mary's annointing Jesus with costly perfume -- maybe because
they were envious of her wealth. (Matthew 26: 8)
They suffered lapses of memory like all of us.
Once after crossing the Sea of Galilee -- they discovered they had forgotten to bring bread.
(Matthew 16: 5)
Jesus rebuked the disciples for their unbelief when He was casting out demons
from a possessed child.
On another occasion two of their number wanted to incinerate a town. (Luke 9:54)

They entertained false conceptions.
They thought a man's blindness was caused by sin, either his or his parents'.
They were slow to grasp their Master's teaching, "Fools and slow of heart" was an epithet
that frequently fitted them.
They mistakenly tried to prevent mothers from bringing their children to Jesus for His blessing.
Arrogantly all of them boasted that they would never deny Jesus, and would even die for Him.
But at His arrest, they all forsook Him and fled.

Yet, these are the men whose weaknesses and failures were transformed by the Master
into strengths that made them collectively the foundation of the Church. (Ephesians 2: 20)
To accomplish His mission Jesus entrusted this great task to these simple, sincere,
rustic, but enthusiastic, energetic followers.

Their example should inspire hope in us.
If the Lord can use a group of men, not exceptionally talented, nor unusually sainted,
then all of us can become useful in His service.
Though we cannot preach like Peter, nor write like Matthew, nor witness like Andrew,
there's a place in the church for all of us despite our faults and frailties.

Many apparent failures turned out to be eminently successful.
The teachers of Thomas Edison told his parents that their son was too stupid
to learn anything.

A 21-year-old youth, working in a dry goods store, was judged by his employers unfit
to meet the public. His name was F. W. Woolworth.

Walt Disney was fired by a newspaper because he "had no good ideas."
When he took his drawings to a famous editor, he was told that he had no real talent.

Robert Browning submitted a volume of poems to a famous London editor who,
after reviewing them, wrote across the front, "Froth, nonsense, trash."

The apostles in their early days seemed like a nondescript group headed for oblivion,
but because of their association with Jesus ultimately turned the world upside down.

They Were Transformed.

Look at these disciples through the sermon of Peter Marshall, "Disciples in Clay."
"Peter stood there smelling of fish, uncouth and uncultured, impulsive and impetuous.
Andrew, James, and John also reeked of fish oil, and the lack refinement.
Philip appeared indecisive
Thomas radiated cynicism.
Matthew was considered a traitor to his country.
Zealot Simon was a dangerous revolutionary.
Judas was a thief."

No one would have labeled this group "most likely to succeed."
It is likely that even some of the disciples would not chosen each other to be members of the group.

They Were Teachable.

To get across His message to mankind required pliable, childlike, unpretentious followers.
Jesus didn't choose know-it-all scholars, millionaires, or socialites for they likely
wouldn't be humble enough.
Though slow to learn, they had to be willing to learn.
If filled with their own knowledge, they would have no room for His wisdom.
So, He chose men humble enough to be teachable.

A high school senior, desperately wanting admission to a certain university,
wrote on her application, "I'm not a leader, but I think I'm a good follower."

The admissions officer replied, "Applications for our freshman class indicate
that there are 599 leaders coming to the college next fall to fill 600 openings.
We feel that the college is required to admit one follower.
Please be advised that you were application is accepted."

How wise it was that not all the apostles were dynamic leaders.

They Were Trained.

The Master brought many influences to bear on the twelve in order to mold them into the men
He wanted them to be.
This curious assortment of followers could easily have each developed an inferiority complex.
But after three years of His constant company, they were transformed men ready
to carry out their assignments.

One aspect of Jesus' training was to give the apostles a vision of their potential.
He let them know He understood their individual weaknesses, then held before them
what they could become.

At His first meeting with Simon Peter, He dramatically called him what he was not -- a "rock."
Simon knew the Lord had pinpointed an area of weakness in his life, his impulsiveness
and instability.
But Simon also received hope through his new name, for it indicated what he could and
would become through divine power.

When Jesus called James and John, "sons of thunder," He was letting them know
that He was aware of their fears, and their fiery intolerance.
He was also indirectly promising them improvement in that sphere of need.

Not only did Jesus arouse expectation of character transformation,
and not only did He exercise much patience with these slow learners,
but He used many other methods of training.
He taught by example as they watched Him deal with sinners.
They heard Him pray so effectively that they asked, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke in 11: 1)
They observed His love for the poor and needy.
They lived in His presence for three continuous years of concentrated schooling.
They heard His matchless words, saw His amazing miracles, observed His unerring
words of warning.

He was the Master Teacher, using questions to lead them on to discovery of truth.
He illustrated remote truth by near-at-hand objects like sheep, the leaves, vines,
branches, candles, shepherds, sparrows, wheat, tares, nets, fish, leaven, bread, and seed.
He saturated His teaching with stories.

Major topics of His teaching included the nature of the kingdom, prayer, true righteousness,
His own Person and claims, the cross and resurrection, humility and related virtues.
self-sacrifice, the dangers of Pharisaism, and...

They Were Changed.

People could not live in the presence of Jesus for three years and remain unchanged.
Simon made major strides in his character transformation from clay to rock.
John, who on one occasion wanted to incinerate a city, became the apostle of love.
The rabble-rousing of Simon the Zealot was channeled into enthusiasm for the gospel.

A sculptor who had just carved a magnificent horse was asked the secret behind his work of art:
"I just chipped away anything that didn't look like a horse." He replied.

The Lord Jesus kept dealing with anything in the apostles that didn't resemble godliness.
When their exceptional training was anointed with the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,
this ordinary, fearful, unlearned group was transformed into a revitalized, united, godly band
of flaming and courageous evangelists.

Tradition says the apostles divided the known world into zones of influence and responsibility
among themselves for the purpose of evangelizing the world.
They were evangelists -- winning and organizing bodies of believers wherever they went.

Tradition tells us how they gave their lives.
Peter, crucified at Rome, head downward.
James, beheaded at Jerusalem.
John, plunged into a boiling cauldron during persecution under Emperor Domitian,
from which he was miraculously saved, later to be banished to the Isle of Patmos
(where he wrote the Book of Revelation), from which he was returned to Ephesus
where he died a natural death.

Andrew, crucified at Patras, Greece on an X-shaped cross.
Philip, hanged, crucified or stone in Asia Minor.
Bartholomew, flayed alive and beheaded in Armenia.
Matthew, slain with a sword in Ethiopia.
Thomas had his body run through with a lance in India.

James the Less, thrown from a tower in Jerusalem, stoned and clubbed, from which
he recovered, then later he was sawed into pieces.
Judas (Thaddaeus/Lebbaeus) shot to death with arrows in Mesopotamia.
Simon the Zealot, fatally attacked by a mob near the Persian Gulf.
Of course, Judas Iscariot, a suicide.

An old legend imagines Jesus arriving in heaven right after the ascension, welcomed
by all the angels.
Then the angel Gabriel asks Jesus, "You suffered much, dying for the sins of mankind.
Does everyone down on earth know it?"

"Oh, no," replied the Saviour, "just a handful of folks in Jerusalem and Galilee know about it."

"Well, Master," continued Gabriel, "what is your plan for everyone to know of your great love?"

The Master replies, "I asked all my apostles the carry the message into all the world.
I told them to tell others, who will in turn tell others until the last person in the farthest corner
has heard the story."

Gabriel's face clouds, for he spots a flaw in the plan.
"What if after a while Peter forgets and goes back to his fishing on Galilee, also James and John
and Andrew.
Suppose Matthew returned to his tax booth in Capernaum, and all the others lose their zeal
and just doesn't tell others. What then?"

After a pause comes the calm voice of the Lord Jesus, "Gabriel, I have no other plan."

The Great Commission has not yet been fulfilled.
It has not been practiced by most who profess to be Christians.
The words of Jesus still weigh heavily on us today.
"As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John 20:21)

Sermon adapted by Dr. Harold L. White