What Jesus did #3: he surrounded himself with the right people

One of the first things Jesus did when he set out on his ministry on earth was to gather around him a group of followers to travel with him. These were not men who had come to him. He sought them out. He selected them and invited them to follow him.

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 send you out to fish for people.” 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 they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew 4:18-22

These men were not the obvious choice. If I was creating a team of people to support me in spreading the news of an alternative way of life, I’d be looking for the movers and shakers of the time. These guys were not rich or influential. Not part of the in crowd. Not popular or respected. Who would listen to a bunch of fishermen? What image would this Jesus convey when he turned up in town with an entourage of ordinary nobodies? They were not intellectual. They were not inspirational.

Some of those he chose had a bad reputation. How could that help Jesus’ public image? Did he know nothing about PR?

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13

Jesus isn’t worried about who he’s seen with. Quite the opposite. He isn’t concerned about what others will think of him for mixing with the lowest of the low, the marginalised, the outsiders.

Jesus ended up with a ragbag of followers. Some would say he didn’t pick very wisely, given that one of them would actually be the one to turn on him and betray him in the end. Along the way, they made mistakes, they spoke out of line, they argued about things that didn’t really matter, they didn’t really understand what Jesus was up to at times…and yet it was these men that Jesus chose. It was to these men that Jesus gave the power to preach and heal.

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot,  Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Luke 6:12-16

Jesus chose flawed, ordinary people just like us to accompany him on this journey. Guys that people like you and me can relate to. Just think about the adventures they have. The discussions. The questions they ask. Aren’t they the kind of things you can imagine yourself saying and doing in the situation? It’s hugely encouraging to see that Jesus is more than willing to rub along with the ordinary people of this world. If he’d chosen the high flyers, the successful, the influential, the inspirational, we would have understood that. That would have made sense to us, but where would that have left us? What hope would we have had that Jesus would want anything to do with people like us?

Of course Jesus knew what he was doing. He didn’t make his decision on a whim. He’d spent all night praying to God before choosing the twelve disciples. He wanted to make sure he got it right. These were exactly the right people for him.

I wonder if like me, your thoughts have turned during this piece to your friendship group – how you chose them and how they chose you. To the people you invest time and energy in. To how you feel about being seen with certain people.

All of that.

I know Jesus’ followers were more than just friends. They were his disciples. But there is something more we can learn from this for ourselves.

We need to surround ourselves with the right people for us. They may not – and probably will not – be in the ‘in’ group. We should never choose friends based on their popularity and reputation.

Good friends are able to be honest with us.

Good friends can disagree with us and still be our friends.

Good friends accept us for who we are – and we do the same.

Good friends trust us.

Good friends will join us in our crazy adventures.

Good friends will question what we’re doing, but support us in it all the same.

Good friends have our back.

Good friends will make mistakes, but we’ll find a way to forgive them because our friendship is worth more than that. No one is perfect, after all.

Good friends are essential to life. I’ve been blessed with so many good friends along the way and I really don’t know where I’d be without them. I’ve observed too that men seem to find it so much harder to be part of a group of friends – and there’s a whole other blog there that maybe my man could write! All I would say is – if Jesus needed a close group of friends, then we all probably do too!

Actually, thinking about it, it’s not really been for me something so deliberate and calculated as choosing friends. I guess I’ve been pretty friendly with a lot of people along the way. The deep friendships have been the ones that have developed over time. The ones that have stuck. The ones that keep bobbing to the surface. Friendship is a gift, something inexplicable that draws you to another. A connection that just happens and grows if you give it some time and attention.

Thank God for friends.