Reading… and Thinking

It’s easy to think that “the Twelve” were the only disciples who faithfully went with Jesus through his ministry, that they alone heard the teaching Jesus gave to “the disciples”. But it isn’t so! This passage tells us plainly that these women were present, for example, when Jesus was foretelling his coming death and resurrection. And yet, the discussion the angels refer to (in chapter 18) says, “Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them…” Perhaps the Twelve were the primary audience, but obviously they weren’t the only audience!

There are a number of passages which tell us there were more than the Twelve who faithfully followed Jesus for the long haul. A sampling:

• There were 72 disciples, called “others” (other than the 12), who had been learning with Jesus long enough that he sent them out to speak on his behalf. (Luke 10:1)
• Right in the passage we’re considering, the women reported to “the eleven and to all the rest“.
• Later in the same chapter, we find Cleopas and the other disciple on the road to Emmaus. These are called “two of them“, obviously implying more. (Luke 24:13)
• There were 120 believers in Jerusalem before Pentecost and before any preaching work started—these must have been people who were long-term disciples of Jesus prior to his death and resurrection. (Acts 1:14-15)
• Similarly, there were more than 500 believers in Galilee to whom Jesus revealed himself prior to his ascension. (1 Corinthians 15:6)
• There were two, Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias, who met the qualification of having been with Jesus for his entire ministry of 3+ years, from the baptism of John on. (Acts 1:21-23)

There were crowds of people who followed Jesus, who tended to be rather fickle as far as any sort of commitment. But there was also a sizable number of more faithful disciples—not just twelve.

Well, so what? There are at least 3 reasons why it’s helpful to know this. First, it means that Christianity didn’t start with 11 goofy guys spreading stories, which is what some critics suggest. There was a large body of people who were long-term followers. A lot of them were eyewitnesses of the risen Christ.

Second, I think it’s pretty helpful to women to know that there were a lot of women among the disciples. Not only is it not true that there were just 12, it’s also not true that it was just guys.

And third, it’s encouraging for all of us, to know that someone can be a disciple without being an apostle.*  We may have trouble identifying with the apostles, but we can all picture ourselves as one of those other disciples—following our Lord, listening to him, learning from him. When we read in the gospels that Jesus speaks to “the disciples”, we know he’s speaking to us.