Arizona sun., 1949-02-18

ties. He had thous-
ands of disciples,
w d followed
him wherever he
went. But it was H'S'sa '''.
important to have DR.. Foreman
a few with whom he
could live as an intimate friend. So
from the immense number OF fol-
lowers, Jesus selected twelve clos.
est friends. Before that fateful
morning no one outside their vii
lagos had ever heard of them. But
now their names are known-and
eleven Of them are honored-around
the world.
Jesus Multiplies Himself
X GOOD executive, Jesus multi
{ = piled his own personality. A
recent book has shown how Harry
Hopkins during World War II lived
in the White House as Roosevelt's
personal companion, having given
up his own ambitions and living on
ly to carry out the ideas Of his chief.
Without Roosevelt, Hopkins would
have been little more than an infer
ior politician: and without Hopkins,
many Of Roosevelt's plans could not
have been carried out. He enabled
the president to be in two places at
once. So it was with Jesus, as Mark
tells us. Jesus wanted those twelve
to be with him, and then to send
them out.
He wanted these friends to know
him as the crowds, and his en-
emies, never could know him.
He wanted these men to absorb
his ideas and ideals.
The word Jesus used for them was
not his own invention; "apostle"
was the word used all over the civil
lied world in those days for an am
bassador, a personal representative
of royalty. All Christians are in the
apostolic succession" If a Chris
tian can truly say, II live, yet not
/, but Christ liveth in me-" then he
is. as these men were, Christ's per-
sonal representative.
Raw Material
THE ASTONISHING thing about
l. Jesus choice Of these twelve Is
his faith in them. OF course they
had faith in him-who would not?
But who would have faith in them?
There was not a single ''outstand-
ing" man in the lot. Not one had
what we would call a college educa-
ton, not a man Of them had held
public Office or was rich or famous
for anything at all.
There was Peter, an ordinary fish,
erman, much given to profanity:
there was Matthew, a crooked bus
mess man if ever there was one,
for no publican could be honest and
keep from starving; there was Phil
ip, as stupid man as ever asked q
foolish question; there were James
and John, loud-mouthed (Jesus nick
named them the Thunder Boys -
Sons of Thunder'), greedy fellows
who could not be satisfied till they
had elbowed their way ahead Of
everybody else; there was Thomas
the born pessimist, the defeatist .
What could have got into Jesus
mind to select such men?
and Judas Iscariot -
THE SECRET of Jesus choice was
l. this: He selected his men not
for what they were or had been, but
for what they could become, filed
with his spirit, transformed by his
friendship. It is so today, as al
ways. The Kingdom of God needs
men and women. but the raw hu-
man material found in or out of the
churches is too shabby and weak
to build anything like the kingdom
of God.
Yet after all, it was never human
weakness that has built the King
dom. It is men reborn, re-made
by contact and companionship with
Jesus the Lord Of men Now as
then, Judas is among the Twelve.
Jesus must have seen good in Ju-
das, otherwise it would have been
mockery to choose him. But though
that man was with Christ for Just
as long as the others, heard what
they heard and saw what they saw,
he ended by being traitor. Twelve
immortals"-? Nay, but one is the
immortal betrayer and suicide.
Why? The reason was in Judas,
not in Jesus.
But he wants volunteers, never
forced labor. The Christ of Glory
can be served by the humble; but
the free Christ can be served only
by free men with open hearts. Ju-
das may keep his heart shut if he
will; Christ never forces his way in.
Copyright by the International Coun.
40 Protestant denominations Released
by WNU Features.)