I read something in Luke 6 that I had not noticed before. In verses 12-16, Jesus called his disciples and chose twelve from among them to be sent out, or to be apostles. From those twelve, there are two who would have been diametrically opposed to one another, Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot. Matthew worked for Rome and Simon was a political activist who was radically anti-Rome. Jesus called these two to be on his team and to do his work. That is like calling a Republican and a Democrat to his team. That is like calling someone from “the board” and someone from the “warehouse” to his team. That is like calling the “establishment” and the “anti-establishment” to his team. Why would he do that, call people who do opposite things to his team?
Maybe it is because when he calls them to his team, what they do is not the most important thing. Maybe what they did no longer was the priority but the work which he has set out before them became the priority. Maybe he wanted people to set aside differences and opposing views so that they can work together for a much wider cause than their own. And maybe their identities were not found in what they did but in the fact that Jesus has called them to him to be his disciples.
Thanks for reading.
