John 15:16
Jesus Chose His Disciples
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit--fruit that will last--and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Mark 1:16-20
Jesus First Chosen Disciples Are Fishermen
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Matthew 10:2-4
Names of the Twelve Disciples
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
John 16:29-30
Jesus Knows All Things
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
Matthew 16:16
Peter Tells Jesus, He is the Messiah
16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Matthew 13:36-43
The Parable of the Weeds Explained to His Disciples
36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”
37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
Matthew 26:69-75
Peter Disowns Jesus
69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.
70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”
73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”
74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Mark 10:43-52
Jesus Arrested
43 Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
44 Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” 45 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 The men seized Jesus and arrested him.47 Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
48 “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? 49 Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.” 50 Then everyone deserted him and fled.
51 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52 he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
Matthew 20:17-19
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
17 Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”
John 20:19
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Acts 4:13
The Disciples Are Unschooled Men
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Jesus handpicked His Twelve Disciples...He chose His Twelve for a reason...He knew what was going to happen to Him and to them in the next three years, because He knows all things...And Jesus is the greatest judge of character of men...So He knew His Disciples, so very well...And the Twelve Disciples were humble men...Four were fishermen...And in the twelve, we are told some of them if not all of them are unschooled and uneducated...And even after being with the greatest Teacher and having access to Him for three years, they often did not understand His teachings and they would have to have Him explain some of His teachings...After three years with the greatest Teacher, one of His students would be disloyal to Him...So on the night when He needed them the most, one would betray Him...One would deny Him and disown Him, and they would all flee from Him that night...And after telling them three times that He would return to them after His death, they did not understand Him...So they would lock themselves up after His death, and feared for their own lives, because their Teacher had died and disbelief and lack of faith can set in quickly...This all happened despite them being close to the One who they thought was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God...
Maybe when we see One so unique and so different and we do not understand these things of Divinity, we have doubts...Maybe our limited understanding of these things, make our loyalty fade...Faith may want personal understanding and reason, but then personal understanding and reason are not faith...So goes it with men...
I cannot think that immediately after His death, there was this prayer of hope...The eleven Disciples were holding on to hope...It may have been all they had to hold on to...There was something about Him...In Jesus' mysterious uniqueness there is this connection between the divine and humanity...A hope of hopes...
I am glad Jesus chose these Twelve...They have their flaws, but so do I...They sinned, and so do I...So these Saints give me hope...