Did it feel the same when Jesus named his starting 11, sorry 12? Well, probably not, but what is significant surely is the mixture of personalities and backgrounds that Jesus assembled. It begins with the four fishermen, Peter, Andrew, James and John. These men have probably known each other since childhood. Matthew the tax collector is there (presumably the same person as Levi, since he is called Matthew in the gospel according to ... um ... Matthew). Next named is Simon the Zealot.
Wait a moment, did you say the Zealot??
Zealot as in terrorist? Or freedom fighter, depending on your point of view? In the same group as a filthy collaborating tax collector? Can you imagine the tensions?
The group dynamics are going to be truly disastrous - not only have we got the fishermen's clique, and the rivalry between pro- and anti-Romans, we've also got Philip, whose name sounds Greek, so he was probably a foreigner, and then Judas Iscariot who as Luke helpfully reminds us, later betrayed Jesus. If there was talk in the pubs about this team, the pundits would have slated it. Doomed to disaster before the start.
Incidentally, no one really knows why there are 11 players in a football team, except that there were already 11 in a cricket team, and no one knows why that should be. But we do know why there were 12 in Jesus' team. Israel was made up of 12 tribes, and Jesus is assembling a brand new, mini Israel out of some very strange shaped parts.
The pundits may be prophesying doom, but let's not forget Jesus spent all night in prayer before making his final choice.
He's thought long and hard about what he is doing. I think he's got a plan.
In the New Testament there are four people named Philip. there was Philip the Apostle who came from the same town as Andrew and Peter - Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44). Then there was Philip the Evangelist also called a Deacon (Acts 6:5).
ReplyDeleteThere was Philip, son of Herod the Great, and lastly Philip the tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis (Luke 3:1).