John 17:6-8 (NIV)
“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
This core group of followers, only eleven men at this time, were given to Jesus for the specific task of propagating God’s kingdom around the world. Jesus had many other followers, both men and women, but these eleven were specifically selected by the Father (Luke 6:12-16) to be His inner circle, and to be His apostles, those who would be sent out from Him (the root meaning of “apostle”) to spread the good news of the kingdom.
They were a diverse lot. Some were professional men, like Matthew the tax collector. Some were laborers or business owners. And one was even a zealot. The thing they had in common, the thing that united them, was that they had all left everything behind to follow Jesus (Luke 18:28).
Into the hearts and minds of these men Jesus had poured the knowledge of the kingdom of God, what it is and how it works. And upon His departure, these eleven would be filled with the Holy Spirit and tasked with making disciples of all nations. They would have to teach all that Jesus had taught them to all those who received Him by faith, starting with those who had already chosen to follow Him, who had received some of His teachings, and who would make up the bulk of the 120 that gathered at Pentecost (Acts 1:15).
Even though these eleven men had only been able to assimilate a small portion of all that Jesus had taught them, He knew that they had believed as much as they could understand at the moment, and that they would believe the rest as the Holy Spirit continue to teach them.
Father, it is helpful to realize that these apostles, who we so look up to, didn’t start out as spiritual superstars. Instead, they were simply men who were completely devoted to Jesus, and who relied on the Holy Spirit to help them learn all they would need to know and to empower them to do all that they were called on to do. And all that, from the devotion to the empowerment and insight that the Holy Spirit gives, is available to us just as it was to them. Help us, Lord, to give ourselves entirely to You, to be used by You to grow Your kingdom, so that we can glorify You just as they did. Amen.
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