The Apostles' Callng

How little they knew, when He made the call,
The price they would pay, or where He would lead;
But they followed Him, to stand or to fall,
Through both storm and peace, with much and with need@
Did the twelve walk away from kith* and kin,
Wives and offspring abandoned on their own?
Were others called that Jesus did not win,
For refusing to leave loved ones alone?
When His own tried to curtail His gospel spread,
He revealed for us how we should respond;
Let nothing delay the lost being fed;
Keep your eyes fixed on the life beyond!
Eleven were faithful until the end;
Only one failed his calling to attend!

*kith = friends

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately rhey left their boat and their father and followed him." (Mattew 4:18-22)

"When Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.' He replied to him, 'Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?' Pointing to his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, is my brother and sister and mother.'" (Matthew 12:46-50)

It seems a little amazing that these four men (in the first scripture above) answered the call of Jesus at once, not pausing to make arrangements for the care of there possessions or families. So it was to be for the other eight apostles. Nothing is said in the Bible about any of them leaving His side for the next 3 years, except that they all were in Peter's home for teaching at times. And Peter did have a wife, for his mother-in-law was healed by Jesus. After Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and arose to heaven, 11 of the 12 went into full-time missionary service to various places in the Roman Empire and beyond; all 11 died as martyrs. What was the attraction of this unknown Jesus that motivated these men to respond to the call of the Savior? Perhaps the Holy Spirit was already at work before He called them.

Jesus' mother Mary and His half-brothers were concerned that He was a bit "off His rocker" and would be killed by the Pharisees or be harmed by His living in the open country; at any rate they made a trip to intervene while He was preaching, probably hoping to talk some "sense" into Him and bring Him back home. When informed that they were outside and wanted to talk with Him, while He was addressing a crowded housefull, Jesus "snubbed" them by declaring that His believers' "feeding" or teaching was more important. Isn't that what we are commanded to do? In Matthew 22:34-40, He declared that the most important thing for us is to put our love of God above everyone and everything else, even our own families! He demonstrated that we must not let anything in this world interfere or curtail our mission of service to God. We must adopt a "next-world" view toward everything we do in this present world.