The Community of Jesus – Luke 6:12-16

Luke 6:12-16 – Study Guide

The Community of Jesus:

An Orderly Account: Encountering Jesus in the Gospel of Luke

Luke 6:12-16

Introduction:

In 1803, the purchase of Louisiana from France increased the territory of the United State by 828,000 square miles. The President, Thomas Jefferson, selected his personal assistant, Meriwether Lewis to form an expeditionary team to chart the geography and rivers of the territory, seek out a Northwest Passage from the Mississippi to the sea following the Missouri River, and establish both sovereignty and trade with the peoples of those lands.

In May of 1804, 45 men called the Corps of Discovery, led by Captain Lewis and his Second Lieutenant William Clark, left St. Louis Missouri in a keelboat, pushing up the Mississippi River to flow down the Missouri. The team would dwindle to 33 by November of 1805 when they would finally reach the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Oregon.

In all, the Corps would map over 7,000 miles of uncharted territory, maps that are still reliable today. Lewis catalogued 178 new plant species and 122 animal species previously unknown to scientists including the Grizzly Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, and Prairie Dog and established trade relations with over 50 Indian tribes, all with minimal loss of life. It’s one of the most remarkable stories of human achievement in history.

Raise the Need, State the Destination, Give Signposts:

But as inspiring as the Corps of Discovery may be, it doesn’t hold a candle to the story of the 12 Apostles and the spread of the church. Whereas Jefferson sent Lewis to survey 828,000 square miles, Jesus Christ sent his disciples to every corner of the earth. Whereas Lewis and Clark were highly trained surveyors and military leaders, most of the Apostles were uneducated physical laborers. And, whereas Lewis and Clark would return from their journey, all but one of the Apostles would take the gospel to the nations give their own blood as martyrs of the faith.

Today, as we study Luke 6:12-16, we see that Jesus’ selection of his Apostles reveals the very heart of what Christianity is. Christianity is a community formed by Christ, commissioned for His mission, and empowered to reconcile enemies through the gospel. That’s our outline:

Christianity is: 1. A Community 2. on Mission 3. to Reconcile Enemies.

The Text

¹² In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, ¹⁶ and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.

Christianity is…

1. A Community

If you’ve read the Old Testament, you realized there’s a big parallel between this passage and Exodus 19 & 20. In Exodus, Moses goes out to the mountain (Sinai), he constitutes the 12 tribes of Israel as a nation, and when Moses comes down, he teaches people the law of God. In Luke 6, Jesus goes out to the mountain, he chooses 12 apostles, and if you look at the very next passage in verse 17, Jesus comes down and begins teaching the people. What’s going on? Why does Jesus go up to a mountain? Why does he select 12 apostles? Why does he come down and teach the people? What’s the point?

Jesus Christ is showing us the very heart of Christianity. Jesus has not come for individual followers, but to establish a community. Christianity, at its center is not a private or individual faith, it’s a corporate faith. God is taking people from the nations and bringing them into a new community.

1 Peter 2:9 says: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession”

Ephesians 2:19-20 says: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”

Here’s what this means: the church is not a building or even an event: it’s a living community of believers assembled by Jesus Christ. It means that when Jesus Christ calls you to himself, he calls you into the church; he calls you into a community.

In Lewis’ novel The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Aslan the lion is the Christ-figure and after he’s resurrected (sorry to spoil it, but it was published 75 years ago) he tells the two girls, Susan and Lucy, “We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me.” Lewis writes, “And he crouched down and the children climbed onto his warm, golden back and Susan sat first holding tightly onto his mane and Lucy sat behind holding tightly onto Susan.”

Lewis is showing us how the Christian life works. When you become a Christian, you are not just holding onto Jesus, you are holding onto other Christians as they hold onto Christ.

The ordinances of the baptism and the supper show our community with one another. Everyone who believes in Christ is washed in the same bath. Don’t worry we change the water. But we’re all baptized into Christ in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everyone who has been baptized shares in the same meal. By faith, we spiritually feed on the body and blood of the crucified savior as it is symbolized in the bread and the wine. For 2,000 years we’ve all been reading the same 4 gospels and the letters to the churches. We take the same bath, eat at the same table, and read the same stories. As we do this, our lives are woven into an ever-expanding tapestry of men and women, boys and girls who have been united to Christ.

Our culture is terribly individualized and atomized. Everyone has their own algorithmically curated stream of social media posts. Out there you’re allowed to block or mute anyone who bothers you. But not here. Here you have real relationships with real people. People who encourage you and disappoint you; who strengthen you and sin against you. This is a real community, but it’s not an end in itself. This community exists for a purpose, which leads to the second point.

Christianity is…

2. A Community on Mission

¹³ And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles

Jesus had many disciples or followers. But now he’s looking at the large crowd following him and he’s making a smaller selection. What’s happening? We’ve seen in the previous passages that Jesus has run into opposition from the religious crowd in Israel. They’ve questioned him, they’ve harassed him. He’s been driven out of town. It’s becoming clear that they don’t altogether approve of his teaching and that eventually something will come to a head.

Of course, we’ve read the entire gospel and we know that Jesus Christ ultimately did not come to teach, or to feed the hungry, or to perform miracles. No, Jesus Christ came primarily to die as a sin-bearing sacrifice. This was the reason he came. Remember what the angel told Joseph? Mary will “bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:17)

The opposition was expected. It was all part of the divine plan. The salvation that Jesus was to accomplish at the cross must not be hidden under basket; it must extend to the ends of the earth, and who will God task with the expansion of this gospel proclamation: 12 men called apostles.

The word Apostle means “envoy, or delegate.” It was a common word in the first century for someone commissioned and sent out to represent the king. So, whenever the apostolos spoke, it was as if the king was speaking. The official words of an apostle were words which carried weight and authority. They were binding words.

So, these men were not chosen to form a social club. The community that Christ formed through his death and resurrection would be led, initially, by authorized messengers who taught the church and led the church to global, urgent, and sacrificial mission.

At the end of the Bible, Revelation 21 records a vision of the people of God in heaven. They are likened to a city, the New Jerusalem shining in glory and splendor, and the walls of the city; the protection and guard of the city is built on 12 foundations stones and on those stones are written the names of the 12 apostles. (Rev. 21:14)

Church, the community they began to build 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem spread to Antioch, and Ephesus, and Rome, and London, and New York, and Charlotte. It spread from Judea to jungles and continues to spread this very moment.

“Try to imagine, from God’s vantage point, an assembly of the universal church each Lord’s Day. As the day begins in the Pacific, congregations in the islands enter his presence for worship. God hears their united praises. Almost immediately numerous churches in New Zeeland enter the same presence. Then congregations in Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan join the assembly. As God’s praises sweep across Asia, many tongues in Korea, China, Siberia, India, and Pakistan join them in his presence and utter the honors of his Name. Then a multitude of churches in Russia and his faithful few in the Middle East join the assembly. Then God’s praise erupts as the churches in Africa and Europe enter the assembly. An intense shrill of praise rises to heaven. Soon after the churches of Brazil join the chorus. Then suddenly, all over North and South America, myriads of churches put forth an immense volume of divine praise. Then the praises of God again cross the sea. They ebb out as churches in Alaska and Hawaii close the day of assembly in prayer. Thus God’s praise comes to a close in the Pacific islands where it began 24 hours before. This is how the universal church on earth, composed of the churches, assembles in God’s special presence today, some 2000 years after Christ founded it… Truly, God’s praises have come to cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea.” (Greg Nichols)

You see, we are not just a community rooted in Charlotte, our congregation supports church plants in Scotland, Mexico, Ethiopia and beyond.

In the coming years, I would love to see our church make annual visits to all of those church plants to support and encourage the workers there. I would love to see a few members who regularly connect with our church planters and update the congregation on their work. In the coming years, I would love to see our church plant or revitalize churches in Clover and York. Our call is to gather and go. Gather on the Lord’s Day to worship, and then to spread out and god to our neighbors and nations for the glory and the renown of Jesus Christ.

Christianity is a community on mission. Lastly…

3. A Community on Mission to Reconcile Enemies

Everything Jesus did had a purpose, including the men he selected as apostles. This was not a random assortment of men. Each one was carefully selected. Notice what Jesus did before making his selection in verse 12:

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. (Luke 6:12)

Jesus often left the crowds to pray, but this is the only occasion in the entire Bible that tells us he prayed all night long. This is an astounding passage: he who according to his divinity was one in essence with the Father, goes to commune with the Father according to his human nature. According to his divine nature, the Son of God knows all things. Yet, according to his human nature, he needed wisdom and guidance. What was he praying about?

He was sifting through the names of the disciples, placing them each before the Father. These are the men who will build the church. Has he selected the right ones? What about Peter? He’s so impetuous. And James and John? Are they too immature? What about Judas Iscariot? So he prays, and he makes his selection with perfect, God-given wisdom.

There were no mistakes in who Jesus chose. Judas would betray him. That wasn’t a mistake. Peter and all the rest would abandon him after his arrest. That was no mistake either, for after the resurrection all these men would go on to give their lives for Jesus. The men he chose are an example to us of what the church is: it’s a place where enemies are reconciled through the gospel.

In the middle of the list are two names that ought to stand out. Matthew (or Levi, v. 15) We read about him in Luke 5:27-32. Matthew was a tax collector. In other words, he was a Jew who had sided with the Roman oppressors. Jesus calls him from collecting taxes and says, “Work with these 11 men to establish the church.” Then there is Simon who is call “the Zealot.” Do you know what that means? Simon was a Jewish revolutionary who engaged in active resistance against the Romans. Jesus calls Simon to him from his political agitation and says, “Work with these 11 men to establish the church.”

Do you see the message Jesus is conveying? His mission is reconciling enemies. His mission is joining together people you would never put into the same group. In human terms, Matthew and Levi would have hated one another, yet here they are serving alongside one another with and for Christ.

The church is a community on mission to reconcile enemies. How can this happen? What has the power to reconcile polar opposite human enemies? And the answer is this: Jesus Christ can unite man to man because in his death and resurrection he unites man to God. Put another way: if Jesus Christ can reconcile sinful men with a holy God, then its no problem for him to reconcile sinful men to one another.

You see, no matter who your enemies currently are on earth, no matter how diametrically opposed to them you are or they are to you, the Bible says you had a greater enemy: God himself. Every one of us has made ourselves cosmic fugitives, running from the justice of almighty God, and we were never going to escape, never going to outrun his law.

But because God is just as loving as he is holy, just as merciful as he is just, he sent a Savior, his only Son, Jesus Christ to bear the just judgment for our sins. While we were still enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

This is what Christianity is: it’s a new community. It’s on mission, moving out into the entire world. And what is that mission: to proclaim that Jesus Christ has reconciled man to God and man to man through his death and resurrection.

Friend, believe on him today. Join the merry band. Enter into the communion of the saints by faith in Christ. You’ll be sure to find friends, and even some enemies here. But beneath it all you’ll find the coursing, eternal life giving, sin pardoning blood of a crucified and risen savior who is redeeming the nations.