He wanted to send them out to preach; and he gave them authority to drive out demons.
These are the Twelve: Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee,
and John his brother, to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon
the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

Reflect

“The ones who are sent.” Jesus’ mission is to proclaim the kingdom of God. Later on, he
would mandate his followers to preach the Gospel to the whole creation. But first, Jesus
willed to form a community of disciples. Jesus would call individuals, from different walks
of life, to form a community. God’s reign on earth is realized when genuine communities
are created. God’s grace is the bond that enables true Christian communities to be formed.
Apart from God’s grace, any attempt to create a community is bound to fail. Openness to
the grace of God helps us to submit ourselves to greater values. The Gospel narrates that
Jesus chose twelve followers whom he called apostles. The word apostles means “the ones
who are sent.” Members of the community of disciples, characterized by the chosen twelve,
are to be sent. What does this imply? The true Christian community is not self-confined.
Jesus’ disciples are to reach out to others. Being called by Jesus to be his followers is not
to be taken as a special privilege but an occasion to experience grace, to be transformed by
such grace and eventually to become instruments of the same grace for the rest of the
world.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2024