Friday of the
Second Week in Ordinary Time
(I Samuel 24:3-21;
Mark 3:13-19)
There are four lists
of apostles in the New Testament. Three
are from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. One is found in the Acts of the Apostles,
also written by Luke. No two lists give exactly
the same information.
A couple of
interesting observations can be made of the list from the Gospel of Mark. Andrew
occupies fourth place in the order after James and John and, of course, Simon
Peter. The reasoning behind this placement is
probably that Peter, James, and John formed Jesus’ inner circle. They accompanied Jesus up the mountain of the
Transfiguration and to the place where Jesus prayed in Gethsemane.
Mark also has the name
“Matthew” rather than “Levi,” the tax collector whom Jesus called. It is likely that “Matthew” was a name on an
early list of apostles which Mark used. Matthew
tells much the same story of the tax collector’s calling but names him “Matthew.” He probably wanted both to include the tax
collector who received an independent call from Jesus and to use the early list.
All this may seem trivial. However, the twelve apostles have great
importance in the gospel. First, they represent
the New Israel that Jesus came to establish.
Secondly, they are the primary witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. They are the first to go out to the world preaching
“Jesus as Lord.”
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