Why did Jesus choose 12 disciples?
Therefore he chose 12 for a particularly cultural reason. What is more significant, of course, is the diverse characters he chose – 2 beligerent teenage boys (James and John), a couple of fishermen (Peter and Andrew), one of whom tended to bluster and open his mouth before engaging his brain (Peter), a political activist (Simon the Zealot), a hated tax collector and collaborator with the occupying Romans (Matthew), one of two twins who was a sceptical cynic (Thomas) amongst them. Yet all these went on to become wonderful evangelists and ambassadors of the Christian faith thanks to the Holy Spirit working in them. It gives us all hope that a motley crew like his could, with the help of God’s Spirit, spread the message all over the then known world. The only disciple that one could normally regard as someone with anything about him was the one entrusted to keeping the common fund held by the disciples – Judas Iscariot, and just look how he ended up.
