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The call of the Twelve:
v. 13. And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would; and they came unto Him.
v. 14. And He ordained twelve that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach,
v. 15. and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils.
v. 16. And Simon He surnamed Peter;
v. 17. and James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James; and He surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The Sons of Thunder;
v. 18. and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
v. 19. and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him. And they went into an house.
In the neighborhood of the sea, where Jesus had been performing the miracles, there was a mountain, later simply known among the apostles by this name; in a lonely region. Jesus managed to dismiss the multitudes for a time, since He was anxious to perform a very necessary piece of work, namely, the gaining of assistants and successors in His prophetic labors. On this hill they would be undisturbed, and He would have leisure to give them the information concerning the call given them at this time. He called to Him those whom He wanted; He made a deliberate selection or choice from the total number of those that had gathered about Him as His disciples. And as He told them off, they came to Him in a place apart from the others. He then literally made twelve apostles, constituting these as a body for themselves. A special ceremony of ordination is not mentioned. It was merely a calling, a separating for special work, that the Lord performed. But as "the Twelve" they were henceforth known. The Lord's charge to them consisted mainly in these points: That they should be with Him, be in His neighborhood at all times, this constant attendance upon His words being necessary for their training; that they should be sent out by Him for the work of heralding or proclaiming the Gospel; that they should, for this purpose, have power, transmitted to them by Jesus, to cast out demons. The power to perform miracles of such an extraordinary kind was necessary to substantiate their claim of a divine mission. The Twelve were thus called and they received their charge, their appointment. And their names are recorded in order. Jesus surnamed, laid upon, Simon the name Peter, Mat_16:18. His nature was uncertain and vacillating, as his denial shows; but by the teaching of Jesus and through His mercy he was afterward strengthened in faith and in trust to become a true rock-man. James was the elder son of Zebedee, the fisherman, the name of the younger son being John. To these the Lord applied the Aramaic name Boanerges, "sons of thunder," on account of their fiery temper in their younger days, Luk_9:54-55. Their zeal was later tempered by the Lord's instruction. James became the first martyr of the apostles, and John was known as the "Apostle of Love. " These three are mentioned first, because they were the intimate friends of the Lord, being with Him both on the Mount of Transfiguration and also in Gethsemane, not to speak of minor occasions. Andrew was the brother of Peter and one of the first to follow the Lord, Joh_1:35-40. A third pair of brothers was Philip of Bethsaida and Bartholomew, who is undoubtedly identical with Nathanael, Joh_1:45-46. Matthew was formerly known as Levi, the publican, the son of Alphaeus, Mat_10:3. Thomas was also known as Didymus, the "twin," Joh_20:24. Then there was James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, also known as Lebbaeus or Judas Lebbaeus, Act_1:13, and Simon of Cana. Last of all is mentioned Judas, the traitor, who was from Keith, and was admitted to the rank of the apostles that the Scriptures might be fulfilled, Joh_13:18. Their preliminary charge having been made to them, the Twelve returned to the valley with Jesus, and entered into a house. They were all in need of rest and recreation, the last days having been very strenuous.