The Choosing of Jesus

By Cathy Chen

Scripture

“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—whom he also named apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
(Mark 3:13–15)

Introduction

When we look back over the history of human civilization and thought, we rarely ask a fundamental yet revealing question: How do disciples come into being?

We are accustomed to examining the theories and teachings of great thinkers, yet we often overlook the process by which people become their students. This, however, reveals something profound about how a tradition understands truth itself. Beneath this lies an even deeper question:

Does truth wait for human beings to seek it—or does truth come seeking us?

Humanity Seeking Truth: A Shared Assumption

In Confucian tradition, students came of their own initiative. One who brought the proper offering (shu xiu) and demonstrated sincerity would be received. Truth was something gradually grasped through moral cultivation and ethical practice.

The Buddha similarly drew those who sought liberation. His authority rested in his own awakening, and truth was understood as a path that could be learned, practiced, and repeatedly verified through discipline.

In the Western tradition, Socrates engaged passersby in the public square through rigorous questioning. Truth emerged through rational inquiry and dialectical reasoning. No one claimed exclusive possession of truth, which is why Plato and Aristotle continued to argue, refine, and develop thought within the teacher–disciple relationship.

Across these traditions, a common assumption persists: human beings seek truth. Truth is something to be discussed, revised, and developed.

Even when traces of teacher-initiated selection appear, they are typically grounded in a student’s perceived potential, sincerity, or intellectual capacity. Socrates’ probing questions may have awakened his listeners, but the core conviction remained that truth resides within human reason, waiting to be collectively uncovered.

It is precisely within this historical context—where humanity continually strives upward in search of truth—that the appearance of Jesus is profoundly unsettling.

The radical nature of Jesus’ choosing lies entirely in Himself. Its beginning and its end are not human reason or moral achievement, but the unpredictable, sovereign initiative of divine grace. He disregards human criteria and qualifications altogether.

Truth Seeking Humanity: The Radical Call of Jesus

Jesus does the unthinkable: He walks toward fishermen casting their nets, tax collectors sitting at their booths, and people regarded as ordinary—or even despised. To them He issues a direct command:
“Follow me.”

This was deeply abnormal in its time.

Jesus did not choose learned scribes, gifted rhetoricians, or influential political figures. Nor did He invite people to study a system of thought, master a doctrine, or adopt a spiritual technique. He called them to follow a person.

“Jesus called to him those he wanted.”

This was not an application process, a selection committee, or a volunteer opportunity. It was a call.

Here, truth is no longer an abstract concept or a logical framework. Truth is the incarnate Christ Himself. Jesus did not say, “I will teach you the truth.”
He declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

This was a declaration without precedent.

Truth is no longer merely content; it is a Person—one with authority, voice, and the power to summon. A call grounded in grace does not require credentials. It calls for faith to receive it and obedience to respond.

Not Because They Were Reliable—But Because He Is Faithful

Those whom Jesus chose were not scholars, spiritual elites, or philosophers. They were fishermen, tax collectors, and revolutionaries—impulsive, fearful, often confused. Some would deny Him, flee in fear, or betray Him at the most critical moment.

Jesus did not choose them because they were capable or dependable, but because He is faithful. At the moment of their calling, He had already defined their future—to become fishers of people—though they themselves had no understanding of it.

They became disciples not because they understood enough, but because, upon hearing the call, they laid down their nets and followed.

Jesus’ classroom was not a school or religious institution. It was found on roadsides and fishing villages, in homes and sickrooms, in synagogues and boats, on hillsides and at the sea, in Gethsemane, at the cross, and before an empty tomb.

Although crowds often surrounded Him, Scripture tells us, “Jesus did not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people.” (John 2:24–25) His most essential teachings were given privately to those He had chosen.

Jesus did not come to establish a school of thought or ensure the survival of an ideology. He came to fulfill the Father’s redemptive plan, to accomplish what the prophets had foretold, and to send His disciples as witnesses.

Thus, who Jesus is and what He does became indelibly engraved upon the disciples’ lives. They witnessed the Word made flesh. Though they scattered in fear when He was arrested, they were regathered after His resurrection and ascension—and would ultimately give their lives for the same testimony.

A Call Still Being Issued, A Testimony Still Guarded

The apostles proclaimed the gospel not to advance a philosophy, offer a spiritual path, or elevate themselves, but because they had been entrusted with a commission from the Lord. They had truly encountered and followed the crucified and risen Christ.

Their confidence rested not in eloquence, knowledge, or strength, but in lived testimony. As Peter declared, “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:20)

Though they turned the world upside down, they never portrayed themselves as heroes. Instead, they faithfully recorded their fear, failures, denials, and foolishness—so that future generations might encounter the same living God through their honest witness.

“This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.”
(John 21:24–25)

The transformation and authority evident in the apostles’ lives did not originate from themselves, but from the call and authority of the One who sent them. They guarded these unalterable testimonies with their lives, refusing to allow anyone to reconstruct another version of Jesus through human philosophy or speculation.

For they knew this with certainty:

Jesus is not one teacher among many, nor one path among many.
He is the Savior.
(The name Jesus means “God saves.”)

In a world obsessed with self-improvement and qualification, we do not need to stand anxiously before Jesus, wondering if we are good enough. Just as He once chose fishermen and tax collectors, He continues to call those who consider themselves unworthy.

He does not call people to perfect themselves or prove their worth.
He calls them to lay down the illusion of self-mastery, to receive the new life He gives, to be granted new direction and strength—and along the way, to know Him, experience Him, and bear witness to Him.

Such choosing causes us to tremble—
yet it is precisely this choosing that allows us to stand firm.

Prayer: Responding to the Call

Lord Jesus,
Thank You for choosing the apostles—for allowing them to see You with their own eyes, to touch You with their own hands, and to preserve this pure faith with their lives. Through their testimony, I am able to know You and to hear what You are speaking to me today.

Thank You that You did not measure my worth by my qualifications. Even when I was confused and self-reliant, You loved me first.

Lord, I know that I am weak, just as the disciples were—easily frightened under pressure and quick to forget that grace is freely given and does not require proof.

May I seek not my own glory, but faithfully carry forward the testimony entrusted to the apostles. In my weakness, may Your strength be made visible. Make me one whom You can send, and one whom You can use.

I pray all this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.