25: Jesus Completes His Organization

Major Text: Luke 6:12-13; Mark 3:14-16

Harmony Texts:

Mark 3:13-19      Luke 6:12-16

Outline:

1. Jesus Prays for Wisdom               Luke 6:12-13
2. Jesus Defines the Position           Mark 3:14-15
3. Jesus Chooses His Men               Mark 3:16

Context/Discussion/Comments:

Some companies fill their top positions from within their ranks.  To do so, they must make wise decisions in picking people for increasing responsibility.  If a company picks an executive from outside the ranks, two things are immediately missing.  One is their lack of understanding concerning the company’s culture and structure as to how things can be accomplished.  The other is personal loyalty.  Structure and culture may need changing but it can’t be done successfully overnight.  It takes time, patience, and persistence.  Loyalty is personal.  To be loyal, one must be concerned with the future, not the present.  Without understanding and without loyalty, one can not achieve unity.  Without unity, one fails.  Unity is necessary for success and it is built on understanding and loyalty.  So personnel decisions are the most critical decisions one makes in business, charitable organizations, and the Church.

About one year has passed since Jesus began His public ministry.  At least the first six mentioned in this passage were disciples of John the Baptist who transferred their allegiance from John to Jesus based on John’s recommendation.  At least four of these have been personally called by Jesus earlier. No doubt more than these people considered themselves disciples of Jesus.  In that culture all rabbis had their followers/disciples.  This passage tells of Jesus choosing twelve special full time disciples.  All were Galileans except Judas Iscariot, a Judean.

Jesus goes up on a mountainside to pray.  My guess is that He always went to the same place to pray.  He considered it His private office.  Here He determines who to call and what their duties will be.  He calls them apostles who were to be with Jesus full time in training and for the purpose of preaching and casting out demons.  I believe Jesus had a pool of people from which to choose.  After praying He picked these twelve as His disciples.  He could have called them out of those around Him or He could have called them personally one by one.  I believe the latter.  I believe through His prayer that these twelve were called to meet Him in His prayer closet on the mountain.  Their duties were explained and Jesus’ call to them was accepted.

Lessons/Applications:

1. We who believe in Him are His disciples. But some are singled out for special/specific
   training and duty. Seek, believe, learn and wait. Be ready for your "special
   assigned duty".
2. You can volunteer but you must be chosen. To be chosen, you must be known.
   To be known, you must have served. Get experience and have success in the
   minor jobs in order to be chosen for a major job. Not being chosen for special
   assignment does not mean you are not valued or important to the success of
   the endeavor. Patiently await your opportunity.
3. Seek the Lord’s counsel before making decisions. It is especially important
   for making strategic decisions.
4. Seek the Lord’s counsel when defining a ministry’s structure.
5. Seek the Lord’s counsel when choosing people to fill positions. It is important
   to know them; how they perform when under fire.
6. Attitudes are as important as aptitude. A good attitude can make up for
   a weaker aptitude. Look also for matching interests and objectives. Regardless
   of one’s experience, you must plan to spend time training. Trainability is
   an important attribute.
7. Do not fear a career change. It has the potential to provided adventure.

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