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Education
by the stern discipline of toil and hardship. They were men of native
ability and of teachable spirit; men who could be instructed and molded
for the Saviour’s work. In the common walks of life there is many
a toiler patiently treading the round of his daily tasks, unconscious
of latent powers that, roused to action, would place him among the
world’s great leaders. Such were the men who were called by the
Saviour to be His colaborers. And they had the advantage of three
years’ training by the greatest educator this world has ever known.
In these first disciples was presented a marked diversity. They were
to be the world’s teachers, and they represented widely varied types
of character. There were Levi Matthew the publican, called from a
life of business activity, and subservience to Rome; the zealot Simon,
the uncompromising foe of the imperial authority; the impulsive, self-
sufficient, warmhearted Peter, with Andrew his brother; Judas the
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Judean, polished, capable, and mean-spirited; Philip and Thomas,
faithful and earnest, yet slow of heart to believe; James the less and
Jude, of less prominence among the brethren, but men of force, positive
both in their faults and in their virtues; Nathanael, a child in sincerity
and trust; and the ambitious, loving-hearted sons of Zebedee.
In order successfully to carry forward the work to which they had
been called, these disciples, differing so widely in natural character-
istics, in training, and in habits of life, needed to come into unity of
feeling, thought, and action. This unity it was Christ’s object to secure.
To this end He sought to bring them into unity with Himself. The
burden of His labor for them is expressed in His prayer to the Father,
“that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee,
that they also may be one in Us: ... that the world may know that
Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.”
John
17:21-23
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The Transforming Power of Christ
Of the twelve disciples, four were to act a leading part, each in a
distinct line. In preparation for this, Christ taught them, foreseeing
all. James, destined to swift-coming death by the sword; John, longest
of the brethren to follow his Master in labor and persecution; Peter,
the pioneer in breaking through the barriers of ages, and teaching the
heathen world; and Judas, in service capable of pre-eminence above