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When Jesus spoke to Matthew "follow Me" the shock reverberated amidst not only Matthew, but also to the flock of people quietly observing.  Matthew heard Jesus, yet must wondered "What? Me? No way." Still, he abandoned all he knew—career, wealth, prestige—for his new life. 

 

As a celebration, Matthew invited those he knew for a party. “And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. The scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, ‘Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” (Luke 5: 29-32). 

 

To the Pharisees external appearance—dress, who to hang out with, strictly obeying the rules—demonstrated they were righteous. Christ taught a different meaning. Repentance was an inward desire to follow God’s ways, Then, one would not even to be involved in sin. Freedom to follow God and freedom from past sins were possible. 

 

Early in Jesus's ministry, John, James, Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Nathaniel chose to follow Him. With the addition of Matthew, seven of the apostles were committed to spreading hope to the world. Other than the seven, there is little information about the calling of the other five: Thomas, Jude, and his brother James the Less, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot. 

 

Some believe that early in Jesus’s ministry, His disciples occasionally traveled back home to reconnect with family or to handle work obligations. During the second year of Jesus's ministry, it was time came for the calling of those that would give up other obligations to be Jesus's committed, wholehearted disciples.  

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“Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountains to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself and from those He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: Simon, whom He also named Peter and Andrew, his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alpheus and Simon, also called the Zealot; Judas, the son of James and Judas Iscariot, who would become a traitor.” Luke (6:12-13). From this moment on, their commitment was to His cause. Now their training started in earnest. They would learn to share, to use the Holy Spirit for healing, and to live a life totally committed to God. From this moment on, Jesus was their everything. 

 

Even after His death, the apostles responded with enthusiasm and righteous zeal to the call until their own deaths. Of the six original disciples, James was beheaded by King Herod for his belief in the resurrection of Christ. John, James's brother, wrote a sizable section of the New Testament and spent years in exile before, according to tradition, spending his final years overseeing churches around Ephesus. According to tradition, Peter spent his life spreading the gospel throughout the Middle East and Western Europe and his brother Andrew brought the Good News throughout what today is called Ukraine and Russia. Nathaniel is believed to have become a missionary in India, and his brother, Philip to Türkiye. 

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Of the other five, folklore teaches that Matthew spread the Gospel throughout Egypt and Ethiopia, and Thomas in India. James the Less ministered locally before being stoned to death. Simon the Zealot took the message to Africa and Jude the son of James to Greece.  

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While the Apostles never attended a rabbinical school, they were not unlearned, ignorant men. As Jewish males, the synagogue school was attended until the age of fifteen. The first five books of the Old Testament, the writings of the prophets, the importance of the law—both written and oral—and the significance of the religious holidays were a part of every man’s study. At least seven of the men were businessmen—six buying, selling, managing fishing services and of course Matthew, the tax collector. Finally, the writings of several of his disciples in the New Testament are scholarly works, not works of the unlearned.  

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Each Apostle worked with fervor and an absolute belief in the message of Christ. The message was so life changing and important to each that tradition has all but John dying of brutal deaths while spreading the Gospel. Just ordinary men, changing history. 

 

The work of Christ continues today. Some take the Gospel to the downtrodden and lost. Others minister to friends, neighbors, or co-workers. The crucial element? Fulfilling their calling. Be faithful to complete your God-given task.