John 6:60-71
Jesus Chose His Disciples
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
Mark 8:34-38
The Way of the Cross
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
John 16:33
We Will Have Troubles in this World
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Many of Jesus followers turned their backs on Him and no longer followed, after He told them He was the Bread of Life...As many were leaving Him, He asked the Twelve original disciples this, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”...Simon Peter answered Him, “LORD, to whom shall we go?...You have the words of eternal life...We have come to believe and to know that You are the Holy One of God.”...Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?...Yet one of you is a devil!”...(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him.)...Jesus handpicked the Twelve, they did not pick Him...They did not choose to be with one another and with Him, but Jesus had chosen this group of Twelve men to be together, learn about Him and His message, and then to spread His message later after His death, in Judea and all around the world...This is why the Eleven plus Matthias would get His message out...It is because He chose them...
One might ask is it hard to be a follower of Jesus...He made it clear, and it is the same for the Twelve as it was for those who left Him...This is because His message would not change...He is the Bread of Life, the Son of Man who has ascended to earth from heaven...He teaches that it is the Spirit that gives life, as the flesh counts for nothing...His Words are full of the Spirit and life...For those who have left Him, His message just did not get deeply rooted...No fruit would be produced by those who were leaving Him...Their faith was an immature one...And His teachings are hard...If these followers that left Him were looking for an easy comforting message, a happy lesson and teaching, they were not going to get it from Him...That is not the Way of the Cross...There will be troubles in life, and He says that up front...The Way of the Cross is denying our very selves and following Him completely...
After others had left, Jesus still had His Twelve Original Disciples...They wanted to continue following Him (even the one who would betray Him later)...Jesus makes the comment, which is in the form of a question, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?...Yet one of you is a devil!”...He was their Teacher and Master, yet they were like friends, in this sense, yet much more...C. S. Lewis has an interesting quote about friends, and it references these verses...Lewis said, “But in Friendship, being free of all that, we think we have chosen our peers...In reality, a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting—any of these chances might have kept us apart...But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances...A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work...Christ, who said to the disciples "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends "You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another."...The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out...It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others...They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them...They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing.” ...
Friendship is from God, Lewis says...He is the Secret Master of Ceremonies who has been at work in our lives...There are no chances with God...A few more years apart (younger or older), a few more miles apart (not meeting up in the same place), and different interests all keep people from being your close friends...God through His wisdom helps us choose our friends, and make it together...He often puts followers of Jesus together...He is the Instrument that reveals the beauty of things to us, as well as the Instrument for creating and revealing...There is a beauty in friendship, and it is derived by Him...