Luke 6:12-36
Good morning, RTB’ers!
Jesus choosing the twelve; the “Sermon on the Mount/Plain”. My Study Bible suggested a plateau in the hills, which would satisfy both the “mount” in Matthew and the “level place” in Luke (Matthew 5:1, Luke 6:17).
Thus far in Luke we have seen Jesus calling Peter and Andrew, James and John, and Levi/Matthew. Then in John 1 we also know of Jesus choosing Philip and Nathanael. Now we see Jesus choosing another five apostles from among the crowd of disciples gathered around Him, including Judas Iscariot. This Judas (the traitor) was the only apostle who was not a Galilean; presumably he was one of the hundreds of Jesus’ followers who had come far north from Judea to see and “to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases” (v. 18).
Today’s second STS question has a sentence beginning, “Putting yourself in the place of the disciples…”. I have often asked this question of readers in previous RTB years. It’s a good exercise, to “put yourself into the story”, into whatever person you choose to be. Today you could be one of those seven whom we know were earlier explicitly chosen by Jesus; or you could be one of the five newly chosen (were you surprised at Jesus naming you?); or you could be just “one of the crowd”, either a local or an Israelite from Jerusalem/Judea: or you could have been one of those Gentiles from Tyre and Sidon, some 30-50 miles to the northwest from Capernaum (v. 17). So, choose one!
It’s scary for me (us) when I see myself (ourselves) as rich, full, happy, “honored” (vv. 24-25), when I read of woes heaped upon me (us). Am I doing something wrong? Am I running with the wrong crowd? Help me, Lord to understand who You want me to be!
Blessings!