The Twelve - The Gospels

In this Bible Story, Jesus calls the twelve disciples. They are not chosen because of their skills or accomplishments, wisdom or prowess. Jesus chooses a ragtag group of misfits and outcasts. Through them, the kingdom of God spreads across the entire world. This story is inspired by Matthew 10:1-4, 16, 28-32, 37-39; Matthew 12:9-15; Mark 3:14-19; Luke 6:6-16. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is Matthew 10:1 from the King James Version.

Episode 184: As another Sabbath approached, Jesus went into the synagogue to worship. As He entered He saw a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees were eager to catch Him in a trap on the Sabbath, but Jesus knew this and would not be stopped from doing good to a man in need. After this, Jesus and His followers went over to a mountain where He spoke words of encouragement to them and chose twelve of them to become His disciples. These twelve men would follow Him everywhere and learn what it truly meant to live a life that is honorable to God.

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Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max Bard

Producer: Ben Gammon

Hosted by: Pastor Jack Graham

Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And when he had called unto him
his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits,
to cast them out and to heal all manner of
sickness and all manner of disease. Matthew ten one, God,
I thank you that when you choose people for greatness,

(00:24):
you don't choose the people who look the part, but
you choose those whose hearts are pure and whose willingness
shouts louder than any shortcomings they may have. Jesus, because
you chose twelve of the most unlikeliest of characters and personalities,
I will not look for perfection when choosing those who

(00:46):
run alongside me, but I will look for people whose
hearts are pure and who have a genuine willingness to
pursue the things of God. Through twelve disciples, you the
world right side up, Jesus, and through my relationships and friendships,

(01:07):
I know that we will make a lasting impact in Jesus' name. Amen,
thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for
an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible in
a year dot Com The Twelve.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
In our last story, Jesus witnessed one of the greatest
acts a friend can do. A few men cut a
hole in a roof just to get their paralyzed friend
down to Jesus. They went to great lengths to see
their friend healed, and their faith was rewarded. Now we
see the call of Jesus being given to twelve rag

(01:54):
tag misfits. Jesus would choose his followers not based on skill,
or he would choose the weak of this world to
change the world. This is the heart of God inspired
by the Gospels.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Hello, I'm pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of the
Bible in a year. Thank you for joining us. Last time,
we heard about some amazing friends who went to extraordinary
links to help their paralyzed friends get the healing he needed.
They got him to Jesus, and Jesus did the rest.
Jesus saw their faith and not only healed the man,

(02:30):
but forgave the man of his sins as well, which
was most important. It was an act that shocked and
offended religious leaders, as Jesus was claiming now that he
has the authority that only God has the authority to forgive.
We also heard how Jesus once again stirred the anger
of the Pharisees. When he called Matthew, a tax collector,

(02:52):
a hated, despised tax collector, to be one of his disciples.
Jesus made it abundantly clear to them, and he had
come to heal the sick and to help the sinner,
not the righteous or the self righteous. Today we'll hear
how Jesus ultimately assembles his group of twelve disciples. None
of these men were obvious choices. But as we'll discover,

(03:14):
this was God's plan all along, to show and to
share his glory with the world through people like you
and me, common ordinary people who will do extraordinary things
in the power of Christ. So let's listen now to
the reading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
It was the Sabbath, and Jesus entered the synagogue to worship.
The sabbath was a time for contemplation and relaxation. It
was established by God for the purpose of pausing work
to rest in him. Some of his critics were in
attendance as well, waiting for any cause to rebuke him.
As Jesus entered, he saw a man with a withered hand.

(03:53):
The Pharisees watched Jesus closely as he approached the man.
They were waiting for him to heal him. They were
waiting for him to break the Sabbath law and work.
Jesus knew their hearts. They had completely missed the point.
He took the man with the withered hand and looked
at the Pharisees. Tell me, Jesus said, is it lawful

(04:15):
to do good on the Sabbath? If there is someone
in need, should we let them pass? What if their
life is in danger, should we let them die? The
men were silent, for Jesus was revealing their legalistic hearts.
They didn't care about people. They only cared about looking righteous.
Stretch out your hand, Jesus said to the man, and

(04:37):
in that moment, the man's hand was restored. Everyone marveled
and rejoiced, but the Pharisees left and gathered together, seeking
for an opportunity to destroy him. Jesus took some of
his followers to a mountain. A great crowd followed them
and remained at the bottom of the hills. Jesus looked
out at them. His heart ached for them. They were

(04:59):
like sheep without a shepherd. The wind blew at the
top of the mountain. Jesus's eyes began to water. Do
not pray for the harvest, Jesus said, He gestured to
the people below, for there is a great harvest before us.
Pray for the laborers, for the harvest is plentiful, but
the laborers are few. With those words, Jesus appointed twelve

(05:23):
men to be his apostles, chosen men that would follow
Jesus everywhere. These men were not chosen for their knowledge, status,
or accomplishments. They were chosen for their hearts, their weakness,
and their willingness. He chose Peter, who was once called Simon.
He chose James and John, the sons of Zebedee. He

(05:44):
nicknamed them sons of Thunder for their fire and enthusiasm.
He chose Andrew, Philip and Bartholomew the silent and humble servants.
He chose Matthew the tax collector, and Thomas the Skeptic.
He chose Names and Judas the Zealate. One of the
most unique men he chose was Simon the Zealot. He

(06:05):
was one of the notorious dagger Men, a league of
assassins trying to overthrow Roman rule. However, Simon renounced his
old ways for the sake of following Christ. Finally, he
chose Judas as Scariot, the man who would betray him.
He chose him and loved him, despite knowing who he
would become. This was the heart of Christ. Jesus's first

(06:28):
call to the disciples was for them to be with him.
They would sit by the camp fire, sharing stories and hopes.
They would know Jesus as a friend and king. Out
of that relationship, Jesus would send them out to preach, heal,
and cast out demons in his name. The disciples were
empowered by Jesus, and their strength grew day by day.

(06:50):
Whoever desires to come after me must first pick up
his cross and follow me. Jesus said, whoever holds his
life too dear to lay it down will lose his life. However,
whoever loses his life for my sake will truly find it.
For what does it profit a man if he gains
the world's possessions but loses his own soul. Jesus called

(07:11):
his disciples to something higher, not religious repetition or vain practices.
He called them to lay down their lives, money, and
convenience so that others may thrive. Jesus would model this
call himself. He would sacrifice everything so that people could
be renewed.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
In today's passage we read about another healing and another
confrontation with the religious establishment. Jesus enters the synagogue on
the Sabbath, and seeing a man with a withered hand,
Jesus took pity on him. He was merciful. This was
an opportunity to show the Pharisees how far they had
veered off the heart of the law, that they no

(07:53):
longer cared about people. To them, the constraints of the
law were about total control and power and for them
to earn in God's favor by good works. They added
on to the commandments of God their own laws. So
when the law commanded rest on the Sabbath, these people
took this to the extreme, meaning they could just overlook

(08:14):
people's great needs because it was the Sabbath day. Jesus
saw this as an opportunity to correct this very wrong thinking,
so he asked them what was lawful on the Sabbath?
Was it lawful to do good or evil? To save
a life or destroy it? The answer is obvious, isn't it.
And to drive home this point, Jesus told the man

(08:35):
to stretch out his shriveled hand, and immediately the hand
was healed completely. Even today, we must not allow the
rules and restrictions of religion to move us away from
the heart of God. We are missing the point. We're
missing the Lord. If we put the law above Jesus himself.

(08:56):
Jesus is teaching us that our righteousness is in him,
and the only way that we can live a righteous
life is from the heart outward, from the inside out.
It is at this point that many of the Pharisees
began to plot against Jesus, looking for a way to
get rid of him. Next we heard about Jesus calling

(09:17):
his disciples, twelve of them, to a mountain to speak
directly to them, away from the crowds. It was common
for rabbis or teachers in those days to handpick disciples,
men to whom they'd passed down wisdom and guidance, and
this was the model Jesus was following as he chose
these men, these disciples. But when a teacher selected his disciples,

(09:39):
it would typically be the best and the brightest, the
most promising young students. But that's not exactly what Jesus did. Though.
He saw the potential and the promise in each man
he chose. Yet he picked some unlikely candidates, and he
gathered a group that was far from homogeneous. He had
fishermen and tradesmen, collector who was seen as a traitor

(10:01):
to Israel, and a Jewish revolutionary, a nationalist who fought
against the Roman government. He even called a man whom
he knew would one day betray him to his death.
Jesus was not looking to the attributes the world viewed
as strength. He picked men whose hearts he could shape,
men who would follow him with humility and desire to serve.

(10:22):
He chose the weak and even the uneducated, so that
when they would one day be great for the Kingdom
of God, there would be no question that it was
God's power, the power of Jesus, working through them. Just
as God chose the lowly shepherds to be the first
to hear of the Saviour's birth and to proclaim his
arrival into the world, Jesus was choosing the unlikely, even

(10:44):
some of the outcasts of society, to take his message
of the Gospel, the good News, to the world. This
should be a great encouragement to all of us, because
when God chooses us, he enables us to do what
He's called us to do. Just as Christ told them
these men there is a cost to following him. In
Matthew sixteen twenty four and twenty five we read these words. Then,

(11:07):
Jesus said to his disciples, whoever wants to be my
disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will
lose it, but whoever loses their life from Me will
find it. To follow Jesus is not something that is
casual or cheap, but it is demanding and commanding. We

(11:28):
are called to pick up the cross and at any price,
to be paid. At any cost, we are to follow Jesus.
But there is great reward for all who put their
faith and trust in the Lord. And we know when
we follow Jesus through it all, that one day we
will be rewarded in his presence. Dear God, we thank
you that you choose the weak and lowly of us

(11:50):
in this world to accomplish your purposes. Help us to
be willing, help us to be humble, ready to give
ourselves at any price to follow you, because we know
the promise of eternal life lays within us. And before
us in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to
Today's Bible in a year. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.

(12:12):
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(12:33):
that you may know Christ and grow in him. God
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