How Is Your Training?

Mark 3:13-15 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve – designating them apostles –  that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
 
IT was Draft Day in the Kingdom of God. The Lord Jesus is the General Manager, the owner and the head coach. He “drafted” 12 young men who were about the age of a college athlete. Jesus wanted these men of various skills and abilities to form a world-changing team. They came to him with full anticipation of something new and wonderful for their lives.  
   Mark tells us they were Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. (Mark 3:16-19) They are ordinary men with no particular reputation. He drafted them from fishing boats, the streets, a tax collector’s booth and radical zeal. He calls them from obscurity into an eternal purpose.
   Then the training began. As a drafted athlete receives professional training to become an effective player, these new apostles must submit to the new authority in their lives. They needed to learn Jesus’ strategies to identify, confront and defeat the Evil One. Their preaching must be true. Their commands to the demons must be spoken in the Spirit’s authority. They must exercise and strengthen their faith, confident of their skills. The training would be intense. For three years they would walk with the Master, listening, watching and doing the Father’s work in the Spirit’s power.
   The gospels reveal that Jesus’ teachings and prophecies sometimes confused them. Still Jesus kept teaching them, guiding them to the day he would commission them to their purpose: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a) Eleven of those 12 men became the foundation of the church that ministers the gospel to you today.
   You could say that on the day Jesus called those he wanted, he was also calling you. As you claim Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can thank your Lord he trained and commanded his apostles to go to the nations. From that first trained team, the gospel has come to you. Now it’s your turn to continue the work.
 
One Question: Why did Jesus choose Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him? It seems to waste a space on Jesus’ team to choose one who would betray him. But, in God’s plan to save you and countless others, there needed to be one close to Jesus who would reject and betray him. We may see it as unfair that Jesus would purposefully call one to betray him. The ultimate unfairness, though, is that God so loved you, a sinner, that Jesus, the only one without sin, would die for you.
   With deep gratitude, thank God for your salvation. Be well-trained in his truth. Be secure in the knowledge God wants you. Even when you don’t understand, remain in Jesus, and he will continue to teach you.