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"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized th at they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." ~ Acts 4:13
The Disci ples were a band of illiterates, utterly devoid of social consequence, no t likely to be chosen by one having supreme regard to prudential considerat ions. Why would Jesus choose such men? The truth is that Jesus was obliged to be content with fishermen, publicans, and quondam zealots. Those who d eemed themselves better were too proud to become disciples. A few of good p osition were sincere sympathizers, but they were not eligible for apostles . Nicodemus was barely able to speak a timid apologetic word in Christ's be half, and Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple "secretly", for fear of the Jews. These were hardly the men to send forth as missionaries of the cross - men so fettered by social ties and so enslaved by the fear of man. Ans so Jesus was obliged to fall back on rustic, but simp... |