Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose 12 Disciples to be part of his ministry team?
Throughout my life I’ve always thought of the 12 Disciples as just tagging around after Jesus, watching Jesus do all kinds of cool stuff. I’ve always pictured the 12 somewhere off to the side while Jesus was busy healing people … off to the side while Jesus was teaching people … off to the side while Jesus did ministry.
In my mind, Jesus did actual ministry … and the 12 were simply tag-alongs.
I came to have a completely new understanding of the role of the 12 as I saw the sheer logistics involved in the Feeding of the 5,000.
5,000 people are a lot of people!
It’s one thing to know that fact in your head … it’s an entirely different thing to live that fact out experientially. We were a massive sea of humanity!
At large sporting events, where there is a massive sea of humanity, I’ve always taken for granted the crew of volunteers directing the flow of people and managing the crowds.
Or what about music concerts at arenas & stadiums … there’s always the crew of volunteers in bright yellow vests to whom we can go with questions or concerns.
Or even what about Sunday morning church service. There’s a crew of volunteers … greeting, helping, ushering, etc.
At our own Feeding of the 5,000, our crew volunteers were the heroes in the bright blue T-shirts.
Someone has passed out!! … Call the medic cart!! A crew volunteer in a bright blue T-shirt came to the rescue!
A grown autistic son, nonverbal, wound up getting separated from his parents in the swirling sea of humanity. A crew volunteer in a bright blue T-shirt came to the rescue!
A little girl got lost from her parents … twice … in the same day! It was the crew volunteers in the bright blue T-shirts who made everything ok.
It’s time to head over to the filming location. Where do we go??? Crew volunteers in bright blue T-shirts stood all along the way directing us which way to go.
Where do we sit down for the filming?? Crew volunteers helped us and showed us what to do.
So … why did Jesus have 12 chosen Disciples as part of his ministry team? Because it takes a team to minister to people!
Jesus’s ministry was empowered because He had a team of 12 crew volunteers coming alongside and shouldering the drama associated with people and crowds.
#thechosen
