We may think of “the chosen” in terms of Jesus being the chosen one who is our Savior. But, for the last few years, the 5-season movie production called “The Chosen” brings our attention to “the twelve” who Jesus chose to be his closest friends and disciples. Many followers believed in him, and followed him, but the twelve were specifically chosen.
I watch with curiosity the way the writers of The Chosen movie have walked us through the things the twelve learned from Jesus. In the Bible, we have a few details given about some of the disciples, others have only a sentence or two recorded, and a few are only found in a listing of their twelve names.
John (the disciple and writer of one of the four Gospels) gives us the short list of the first few who began following Jesus. Keep in mind that whenever John writes about himself, he says “another disciple” or “one of the twelve” or “one that Jesus loved”, but he never says “I” did this or that.
So let’s follow John’s account of the first few chosen disciples.
It began with two of John the Baptist’s followers, Andrew and John. They watched the rugged-looking baptizer preach everyday near the Jordan River. He was persuasive and many felt convicted of their sin, walked into the water to be baptized, and claimed forgiveness of their sin.
Andrew and John were two of these believers and considered themselves to be followers of the baptizer. Imagine the day that Jesus came into the waters and John the Baptist claimed Jesus to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The Baptizer concluded with, “I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
The next day, John the Baptist stood talking to Andrew and John when Jesus happened to pass by again. The baptizer said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
That was all Andrew and John needed. They turned and started following Jesus. Jesus noticed and turned to them. He said, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
“Come, and you will see,” Jesus said. They spent most of that day with him until the tenth hour (4:00 PM). From that point on, they were convinced that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Their impulse was to share this exciting news with their brothers. (John 1:29-41)
And that’s how it is with good news. We’re anxious to share it. When you think about it, that’s exactly why we have millions of believers some 2,000 years later!
In these next few blogs we’ll look at the way, one by one, The Chosen were chosen and what recorded words we hear from them.
~ Joyce ~
