Sermon: He Chose Twelve (Luke 6:12-19)

He Chose Twelve
Sunday, May 17^th, 2026
Seventh Sunday of Easter
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Luke 6:12–19

Prayer

O Father, we thank You for the gracious calling, equipping, and sending of the apostles. Teach us in our day to imitate their faith, and to make know to all where true healing and virtue alone may be found, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.

Introduction

Well, a couple weeks ago we looked at two parables from Jesus. Do you remember those two parables? They are the parable of the garments and the parable of the wineskins.

• Jesus says in Luke 5:36-39, No man puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.
• Do you remember what those parables mean? We said that they are a description of how hard it is for people to change, especially when they have been accustomed to doing things that way for so long. We like our routines, you have your “comfort zone,” your familiar habits.
  • If you drink coffee every day, you probably have a certain way you like it, and other ways you don’t.
• So this is human nature, especially as we get older. We become more resistant to change, more stuck in our ways, and more hesitant to try out new things. We don’t have the taste for it.And that can be good or bad depending on the habit, but when it comes to following Jesus, the principle is that you must always be willing to go where he goes. You must always be willing to change in the ways that He is calling you to change.
  • You see, Jesus refuses to let you stay the same on this side of the resurrection. There are seasons where he wants to prune you so he can make you more fruitful in the next season. Jesus wants to cut off that dead wood in your life, that diseased growth that might infect others, he wants to root it out while its small. Jesus desires to purify you in various furnaces of affliction, through different difficulties and degrees of heat, not because He enjoys inflicting pain upon you, but because He loves you and wants to make you more glorious than you presently are!
    • And oh, how often we are tempted to say, “No more glory please, Don’t love me that much! Don’t love me like you loved your blameless servant Job!”
  • This is the adventure and struggle, of following Jesus. He just will not leave you alone. God is always calling you further up and further in to Him. You conquer one vice or sin, and discover there are three new ones for you to overcome. You start out knowing basically nothing about Jesus, but then you grow in knowledge, but then knowledge puffs up and so you have to learn humility. You humble yourself, and then God exalts you, and then you have to choose to humble yourself over and over again.
  • Repentance and faith, repentance and faith. This is the Christian life: God takes you from one degree of glory to the next, but always with some sacrifice/death in between.
    • The glorious God wants glorious image bearers. And so He breaks you and remakes you better than before. There is always something new and better that God wants you to grow up into, and so to resist that change is to rebel against maturity, to question the wisdom of the Potter, it is to resist the Holy Spirit.
• Recall also from two weeks ago we said that the Holy Spirit is the new wine, the new garment that Jesus gives to the disciples at Pentecost.
  • In fact, Luke’s gospel culminates with a prophesy about the giving of this new wine and new garment. Jesus says in Luke 24:49 (his last words in this gospel), And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
  • And then if you turn a few pages to Acts 2, Jesus pours out that promise of The Spirit like new wine into new wineskins. He clothes them with a new garment, a power from on high, and they cast off the old.
• So Pentecost is when Jesus fulfills this parable of the new garment and new wine. And that means that from Luke chapter 5 all the way to Acts chapter 2, is Jesus preparing the disciples to receive that new wine, to put on that new garment so they can spread the good news.
• And so we see that God is patient, and God knows that we need time to adjust, time to prepare ourselves for where the Spirit is going to take us next, and so in our text this morning, what we have is really the beginning of that preparation.
• We could call this passage, The Divine Succession Plan. Jesus is going to ascend to heaven, and so how is the kingdom going to move forward when he is no longer physically present on earth?How does Jesus plan to rule the whole world, from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth?
  • That global dominion starts here. With twelve men, who at present have no idea what following Jesus is going to mean, or where following Jesus is going to take them. Unfortunately, only 11 will complete this course of training, one student will fail out. And so there is much for us to learn here from God’s Succession Plan as it moves from Christ to the Apostles.
  • And so with that in mind, let us divide our text into three sections according to Christ’s actions.

Outline of the Text

• In verse 12, Jesus Ascends the Mountain to Pray
• In verses 13-16, Jesus Selects Twelve Apostles
• In verses 17-19, Jesus Models the Gospel Ministry
  • So Jesus ascends to pray, he selects apostles, and he models the gospel ministry.

Verse 12 – Jesus Ascends the Mountain to Pray

¹²And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

• Why does Jesus pray all the night?
  • First recall that Jesus knows everything according to His divinity. Jesus has two natures, a human nature and a divine nature, and so when Jesus prays, His human mind and will is communing with His divine mind and will, which is also one together with the Father and the Spirit. So this is real prayer, real communion with God from Christ our Mediator, but it is written down to teach us something. So what is Jesus trying to teach us by this example of an all-night prayer vigil?
  • He is teaching us the gravity, necessity, and importance of prayer when it comes to selecting ministers.
    • Paul will say in 1 Timothy 5:22, Lay hands suddenly on no man. Meaning, go slow when it comes to ordaining elders in the church. Go to God first and consult with the Head of the Church at length, before you call a man to this work. Why?
    • Because as the shepherds go, so go the sheep. As the teacher is, so become the students. And we’ll see in the book of Acts that the apostles learned this lesson and made it their practice as well.
    • When they replace Judas, it says in Acts 1:24-26, And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
      • Notice that the apostles pray because they want to discern God’s choice about who Jesus is calling to be Judas’ replacement.
      • Ministers are called directly by Christ in the first instance, and then that heavenly calling is to be confirmed, ratified, discerned, and acknowledged through prayer by the existing ministers in the church (a presbytery). So Jesus calls, the church confirms, and prayer is the means by which we discover Heaven’s will.
    • We see the same thing in Acts 13 when it comes to sending already ordained ministers on some new missionary assignment.
      • Luke writes in Acts 13:2-4, As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
      • Notice again the different levels of divine and human causality. The Holy Spirit calls Barnabas and Saul, the church fasts and prays and lays on hands. The church sends them out, and yet it says, they are sent forth by the Holy Ghost. This is how God works in and through the church. We are to be co-operators, co-workers with Christ Jesus (συνεργοί, 1 Cor. 3:9), ever as the members of the body are subject to the Head.
• So Jesus is establishing here this future habit of the church to pray and pray fervently, at times with fasting, before calling or sending ministers. If Jesus did it, and the apostles did it, then we should do this as well. And indeed, this is the practice in our church and presbytery, and it shall continue to be so as long as we obey Christ’s example.
  • This is one of the reasons that we pray together every single Lord’s Day that God would, raise up new elders and deacons who are qualified and competent for this work. Because God is the one who calls and equips, and we want our prayers to be a means by which His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. And so we need to be praying that God would raise up and send out more laborers into His great harvest.
  • And so to you young men, my prayer is that God will call some of you to this good work. And that you begin now, while you are young, to ready yourself in the event that God does indeed call you to this labor. Practice obedience to your parents, teachers, and superiors. Practice love, patience, diligence, holding your tongue, being slow to speak and quick to listen. Pursue sexual purity, flee folly and vice. God uses means to call and equip His future ministers, so use that time well, especially in your youth.
• Summary: The decision to select ministers is so important, that Jesus dedicates the entire night to prayer before extending that apostolic invitation. And thus, we read in verse 13…

Verses 13 – Apostles From Amongst His Disciples

¹³And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

• First, notice that Jesus has a larger group of disciples from which he selects twelve.
  • In Luke 10:1-2 we are told, After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
  • So we are not told here exactly how large this initial pool of disciples was, it could have been 70 or more or less, but the thing Luke is highlighting here is this real distinction between discipleship and apostleship. Between following Jesus into His kingdom, and being commissioned by Him with governing authority.
  • Paul makes this explicit in 1 Corinthians 12:29 when he asks rhetorically, Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
• So Paul gets that real distinction between apostleship and other callings from Jesus himself. All believers receive some measure of Divine grace, and as it says in 1 Peter 4:10, As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
  • So there is call to discipleship that is universal, and there is a call to apostleship that is very particular and limited. Moreover, there is a call upon every one of you, to build up Christ’s body with whatever grace or graces He has given you. Some will have more gifts than others, and that is by God’s design. Your job is to discover those gifts, cultivate those gifts, and steward them for the health of the body.
• Now we see in this naming of the apostles, the diversity and unity that Jesus forges in His church. Consider this list of names in verses 14-16.

Verses 14-16

¹⁴Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

¹⁵Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes,

¹⁶And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.

• 1. First, you have Simon Peter. He is an impulsive, loud-mouthed fisherman. He is bold in his errors but he’s also bold in the truth. Jesus names him rock for good reason. At his worst he stumbles and falls hard (“get behind me Satan”), but at his best he is immoveable in his devotion and preaching of Christ. Peter will be THE preacher who takes centerstage at Pentecost calling the Jews to repent.
• 2. Then you have Peter’s brother Andrew. The name Andrew means manly/strong. He also is a fisherman, but one we are told little about.
• 3-4. Third and fourth, we have another set of brothers, who are also fishermen, James and John (Wrestler and Grace). Isn’t it interesting that Jesus calls two sets of natural brothers to a supernatural fraternity of apostleship?
  • There is a kind of mercy here in that Jesus does not separate them, or pick one to the exclusion of the other. There is also a redemption signified here, because in the Old Testament, brothers often did not get along. Cain killed Abel. Ishmael persecuted Isaac. Esau tried to kill Jacob. Jospeh’s brothers sold him into slavery, even Moses and Aaron had their rough patches in the wilderness. The whole history of Israel is a story of brotherly conflict that grows into tribal rivalries and at times into civil war.
  • And so Jesus is forming here, with this New Twelve of New Israel, a new bond of brotherhood, of fellowship, of joint-mission together. And that is what the new covenant church ought to be: a place where the natural family, natural brothers and sisters and siblings, are joined together in a supernatural bond of fellowship, worship, support, and mission.
  • All of these men are going to suffer immensely for the sake of Christ. James will be the first apostle to die (Acts 12:2). And John will be the last.
  • And so you can imagine what kind of friendships were formed between these men as they followed Jesus, as they were sent out two by two. They discovered what Proverbs 17:17 says, A friend loveth at all times, And a brother is born for adversity.
  • Saints, do you have brothers and sisters in the faith? Because we all will face adversity, and we all need a friend who will love us at all times.
  • Where can such faithful friends and brothers be found? They should be found amongst followers of Jesus.
    • Yes, we are going to be let down and let others down, we will stumble in our efforts to be good friends, to love at all times, to form these bonds. There will be Judas’s among us. But still, the effort is worth it. We want to be able to sing Psalm 133 having tasted the truth of it: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
    • There are few things sweeter than this!
• 5-6. Fifth and sixth we have Philip and Bartholomew.
  • We are told in John 1 that Philip was from the same city as Andrew and Peter and was likely a friend of theirs. Philip is the one who says to Nathanael (who some think is the same person as Bartholomew), “Come and see” (John 1:46). So Philip becomes know as one of those people who invites others to meet Jesus.
• 7-8. Seventh and eighth are Matthew and Thomas.
  • We learned about Matthew’s conversion a few weeks ago, when Jesus called him from his tax-collecting booth to follow him.
  • Thomas is well known from John’s gospel for doubting Christ’s resurrection.He’s the skeptic of the group who always wants to see and understands things before he believes and so must learn to do the opposite. “Believe in order that you may understand.” Thomas had to learn this lesson.
• 9-10. Ninth and tenth we have James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes.
  • We don’t know for sure who this James is, or whether he is the same person as James the less, or James the just, but we know this is a different James than the brother of John. Perhaps he is the James who presides at the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. Maybe he is the one who wrote the book of James, we don’t know for sure.
  • And then there is Simon called Zelotes, or Simon the Zealot. Some think he was formerly part of a Jewish nationalist group later known as the Zealots (they precipitated the war with Rome that led to Jerusalem’s destruction). But I think more likely it just refers to his zealous character, his personal zeal for God. Some of us are like this. We do everything to the max, to the extreme. We are zealots. Paul was one of these!
• 11-12. And then finally are the two Judas’s. The good Judas and the bad Judas. Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.
  • Judas the brother of James is most likely the apostle who wrote the book of Jude. And his brother James is probably James the Son of Alphaeus who I mentioned earlier. And if that’s the cast, then there are actually three pairs of brothers who Jesus names apostles. So half of the apostles are related by blood to another apostle.
  • And then there is Judas Iscariot, which Luke (writing after Matthew and Mark) expects his readers to have already heard about. Spoiler Alert, he’s the traitor.
• Now this prompts us to ask, Why did Jesus choose Judas? Why did the God-man, who knows all things, who can read people’s hearts and minds and discern our secret intentions, call Judas to be one of the twelve?
  • Well as with Jesus praying, this also was done for our example and instruction. To warn us and to console us. And so there are two main lessons we should learn from Jesus choosing Judas:
    • 1. The dignity of apostleship (or any other office in the church) does not guarantee or confer personal holiness. Put another way, a man’s outward gifts and calling are not the same thing as his inward piety and election.And so just being a pastor, or an elder, or a deacon, does not automatically make a man more godly than someone else. He ought to be qualified like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 require, but that does not guarantee he will remain qualified, as Judas, Demas, and many other former ministers fall away.
      • So the office is holy, the work is a good work and to be highly esteemed, but the men serving in those offices are still just men. And there are times when even some of those men, like Judas, are unconverted, thieves, liars, self-deceived, hardened in sin with a seared conscience, predators and wolves. One in twelve was the ratio of success for Jesus’ personal seminary. I wonder what it is amongst pastors today. How precious and I dare sat miraculous when a man starts well, continues well, and finishes his race well.
      • So that’s the first lesson, don’t mistake outward calling and office, with the effectual inward calling of saving grace. They are not the same. So adjust your expectations.
    • 2. The second lesson is that if this happened to Jesus of all people (to have an apostate minister among them), do not be surprised when this happens in the church today. Sometimes yes, the church is at fault. There was a failure of due process, or a failure to vet or uphold the qualifications for ministers, but sometimes it’s not. And so again, adjust your expectations for how messy the church is that Jesus runs. He chose Judas, as a permanent warning and as a consolation for us today.
      • By Judas, all ministers should be warned, that just because Jesus called us to the ministry, does not mean that we are saved, or that we might not later fall from this high calling. If you’ve been around the church for awhile, you probably know of pastors who have disqualified themselves. I know of more than I can count. And those examples are a sorrow and a warning to me. Let every man take heed lest he fall.
      • By Judas, also all members in the church should be warned and consoled, that just because a pastor proves to be false does not make Christianity false. The truth does not depend on men; it depends on God. The Bible itself says all men are liars, all men walk in a vain show, do not put your trust in princes, put your trust in the God-man, in the Lord Jesus Christ and his infallible Word revealed. And this should console you.
        • Just because a pastor falls from grace, does not mean everything he used to say and preach was wrong or untrue.
        • What does Paul say about ministers with sinful motives? He says in Philippians 1:15-18, Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.
      • So we must learn to rejoice whenever the gospel is preached, even if those men later prove to be false. If Jesus chose Judas, and Jesus is perfect, then we can trust God’s wisdom to shepherd us in spite of false men.
• This bring us to the conclusion of our passage, where Jesus models for the apostles what their ministry shall be.

Verses 17-19 – Jesus Models the Gospel Ministry

¹⁷And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases;

¹⁸And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed.

¹⁹And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.

• What does the gospel ministry consist of? We could summarize it this way: It is being with Jesus on the mountain, so you can give Jesus to the multitudes on the plain.
  • The apostles are first called up the mountain to be with Christ, so they can later come down with Him and stand next to Him as His grace, His power, healing, virtue, and knowledge flows from Him to the crowds below. The very next thing Jesus will do is preach His sermon on the plain.
• And so this is what the apostles shall one day do. Spend long nights on the mountain of prayer with Jesus. Go down to the crowds and preach Jesus. And while Jesus will no longer be physically present, He gives them His Holy Spirit and says to them, teach the nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
• And so this means that wherever the truth of Jesus is preached. His cross, His death, His saving power. There the voice of God is heard. In Revelation 14:6-7 it calls this message the everlasting gospel. John says, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
• May God cause this gospel to go forth and triumph in us, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.