Jesus used personal calls to get the disciples to become his followers. The men that Jesus called reacted immediately to their call, but it would be unlikely that they would leave everything to follow someone they knew nothing about. The lakeside in Galilee would have been familiar territory to Jesus so it is probable that these people already knew him as their reaction was immediate. They must have also greatly believed in what Jesus was saying.
The people Jesus chose, came from Galilee and the surrounding areas, and were not particularly good, religious or highly educated they were just simple down to earth people. Jesus probably believed that ordinary people would listen more to other ordinary people than to highly intellectual types which would just baffle them.
I think Jesus chose Simon the Zealot because he belonged to a revolutionary group whose aim was to get rid of the Romans, and so I think Simon was chose because Jesus saw loyalty in this man and if he was loyal to his cause Jesus was sure that he would be loyal to him.
Jesus made his twelve disciples into his apostles so they can go out and preach his word. He called them to build up his Kingdom on earth which he compared to a mustard seed.
‘ “What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?” asked Jesus. “What parable shall we use to explain it?” It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground. After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants.” (Mk 4.30-32)
The disciples of Jesus were expected to make lots of different sacrifices and for many different reasons. A sacrifice is when you give up something or commit to a certain challenge, for example in Lent when all Christians are expected to give at least one thing up for the duration just as Jesus lasted forty days and forty nights in the desert, resisting the temptations of the devil. Mostly as a result of someone’s sacrifice someone else benefits, just imagine if your friend was really upset one time when you were planning to go out, if you stayed with her and help sort out her problems you would be sacrificing your going out and in return your friend would benefit from someone to help them through a difficult time.
The first disciples were expected to sacrifice really difficult things in order to become the first missionaries. They were expected to leave their beloved families, which they
were responsible for, behind. Jesus probably requested the families be left behind because they were seen as being a distraction and the road ahead was very dangerous. The disciples might also have left their families because they needed to give themselves to others one hundred percent and through dedication to their job. This way the families would not be put at risk.
James and John left their father Zebedee behind. This was unusual as the father would have passed down the family business to his sons but instead they got up and left him, the business and the hired workers. However, the father must have felt that his sons saw something important in being a missionary otherwise they would not have left as quickly as they did.
We are only sure that out of all the early disciples Peter had a wife because in Mark’s Gospel a mother-in-law is mentioned and so Peter would have left her behind.
‘ Simon’ s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, ’ (Mk 1.30)
Jesus was willing to leave his family and so he would expect the same from his followers. Jesus was not being indifferent to family life he merely did not want the lives of the missionaries to be compromised.
When his own family came looking for him he said;
‘ “ Whoever does what God wants him to do is my brother, my sister, my mother.” ’ (Mk 3.35)
Another very important sacrifice that the disciples were expected to make was to give up their possessions as these were seen, by Jesus, as unnecessary and take away from the true purpose of being a Christian. When Jesus sent out his disciples on their mission of faith he expected them to live a life of poverty.
‘ “Don’t take anything with you on your journey except a stick- no bread, no beggar’s bag, no money in your pockets. Wear sandals, but don’t carry an extra shirt. ” ’ (Mk 6.8-9)
Jesus wanted his disciples to travel light and so their equipment was to be the simplest. Their lack of possessions would make their dependence upon God even greater. This is still true today, take Poland for example they are one of the most impoverished countries in the world and yet a great amount of Christian priests are Polish.
Christianity is about sharing, loving and giving, not being selfish. In the service of God the disciples must not be burdened with their possessions which could hinder their work
of preaching the Gospel. To preach the Gospel you have to be free to go were need be and this means nothing should hold you back.
Since the disciples were not meant to take any money, food, extra clothing or a begging bowl they were meant to survive by sharing with other people. Jesus told his disciples to stay in a house were they were welcome, until they left that place and if they came to a town were they were not welcome, they were to leave it and shake the dust off their feet in warning.
‘ “ leave and shake the dust off your feet. That will be a warning to them! ” ’ (Mk 6.11-12)
I should expect that this would have been very difficult as they were to be wandering preacher’s with no reliable source of the basic necessities. Also the disciples would come across many stubborn people who would not listen to the Word of God and make the disciples mission very difficult.
I think that Jesus probably allowed his disciples sandals and a stick because they would be travelling around a lot and there feet would get dusty and dirty. Also the disciples would be out in the wild and so subjected to wild animals which probably means the stick was for self defence. These were practical things which were essential to their survival. The disciples were probably allowed to travel in two’s because they would be travelling through hostile territory and could be attacked by various people.
When the Rich man asked Jesus what he had to do to receive eternal life. Jesus said;
‘ “ You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.’ (Mk 10.21-22)
The Rich man reacted in this way because he did not want to give up his riches as he was more attached to them than anything else.
After this Jesus turned to his disciples and said;
‘ “ My children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is much harder for a richer person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” ’ (Mk 10.24-25)
Jesus meant that it would be difficult for rich people to get into heaven because of their selfishness just like it would be difficult for a camel going through a narrow passageway.
I think when Levi left all his money it was major sacrifice because he gave up all his wealth to become a missionary and lead a life of insecurity.
Levi may have also sacrificed his job because he would rather have nothing and be loved rather than have everything and be hated. The other disciples also left there jobs and this would have been very hard as it was there livelihood.
The disciples were sent out by Jesus on a journey of faith which would have been both rewarding and challenging but required total commitment. To go an a mission they would have needed a genuinely strong belief if they were to be successful in converting people.
Every community has some type of leadership, and the Christian Church is no different the leaders of the Christian Church are priests and bishops etc. Jesus chose his twelve apostles as his personal messengers, preachers and after Jesus had resurrected these apostles were to become the new leaders of the Christian community. The apostles shared Jesus’ ministry of healing and casting out devils, turning people to the light of the Lord.
‘ So they went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins. They drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people and healed them. ’ (Mk 6.12-13)
The tasks of the disciples were various. First and foremost, the apostles were to preach to as many people as possible and therefore the Kingdom of God would grow.
‘ “Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to the whole human race.” ’ (Mk 16.15)
Preaching is the component of the apostolic ministry in which truth is received by others. The disciples were to preach repentance. They were to spread the ‘Good News’ about the Kingdom of God, a new Kingdom which was to be based on such values as love,peace, justice and most of all equality. On top of this their overall goal was to tell people about how to enter God’s Kingdom. They had to pass on the gift of faith to Jews, Gentiles (non-jews), believers and non-believers. The job of the disciples was to change these peoples ways of life, especially those who were sinners. Jesus clearly expressed that the disciples were not to force their views, opinions and ways on anybody. By doing this they would build up a reign of God on earth and so evil would be soon conquered.
Jesus gave them the authority to drive out devils, the powers of exorcism.
‘ “Believers will be given the power to perform miracles: they will drive out demons” ’ (Mk 16.17)
