Luke 6:12-19
Luke 6:12-19
In this passage, Jesus prays all night in preparation for choosing the twelve disciples. This is arguably one of the most important moments of His earthly ministry. Eleven of these men, plus Matthias and Paul, would spread the Gospel across much of the known world, found and lead the Church, and be used by God in miraculous ways. Their commitment to the mission and the Holy Spirit empowering them is why we are here today. Obviously, this critical choice made by Jesus was a wise one.
A difficult question arose for me when reading this passage: why did He pick Judas when it’s also clear He knew he would be a traitor (John 6:70)?
Frankly, I don’t know exactly why He picked Judas. It could be because Judas would be the catalyst for the arrest and ultimate crucifixion, but the situation was headed in that direction anyway. It could be because a lesson was taught through it to the other apostles to pray against temptation, because Judas heard all of Christ’s teachings and was still led astray by his own sin. But I think what this brings up is another, maybe more difficult question: why did Jesus choose me?
We were trapped in our sin, just like Judas was. Ephesians 2:4-5a states, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ,”. When we come into a relationship with God through Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, he makes us completely new. We don’t have to be slaves to our sin anymore.
Reflect today on the grace and mercy God has displayed to us!
By: Kaitlin White
In this passage, Jesus prays all night in preparation for choosing the twelve disciples. This is arguably one of the most important moments of His earthly ministry. Eleven of these men, plus Matthias and Paul, would spread the Gospel across much of the known world, found and lead the Church, and be used by God in miraculous ways. Their commitment to the mission and the Holy Spirit empowering them is why we are here today. Obviously, this critical choice made by Jesus was a wise one.
A difficult question arose for me when reading this passage: why did He pick Judas when it’s also clear He knew he would be a traitor (John 6:70)?
Frankly, I don’t know exactly why He picked Judas. It could be because Judas would be the catalyst for the arrest and ultimate crucifixion, but the situation was headed in that direction anyway. It could be because a lesson was taught through it to the other apostles to pray against temptation, because Judas heard all of Christ’s teachings and was still led astray by his own sin. But I think what this brings up is another, maybe more difficult question: why did Jesus choose me?
We were trapped in our sin, just like Judas was. Ephesians 2:4-5a states, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ,”. When we come into a relationship with God through Jesus and surrender our lives to Him, he makes us completely new. We don’t have to be slaves to our sin anymore.
Reflect today on the grace and mercy God has displayed to us!
By: Kaitlin White
4 Comments
Excellent word Kaitlin
Great blog today! Enjoy reading Jumpstart everyday! That question had been on my mind: Why did Jesus choose Judas. Great answer to this "Why did Jesus choose me?" That brought it home for me! 🙂
Thanks Kaitlin! I have also often wondered why he chose Judas.
This passage also reminds me of CPC right now. We will be choosing our next Lead Pastor in the coming months. Jesus took time out to really pray over this important decision of selecting his apostles. Members of CPC should do the same and really pray to seek God's wisdom for this man he has already selected.
So many questions come from our limited human minds. When stumped by unanswerable questions I always remind myself, who is the clay to ask the potter what He is doing. Thanks for a great post, Kaitlin!