These are the names of the twelve apostles.
—Matthew 10:2
There was Peter the rock, Judas the traitor—and ten others named between those two (Mt 10:2–4).
Jesus left his church in the hands of these twelve, minus one.
We know almost nothing about most of them. The book of Acts tells the story of the first thirty years of the church’s existence. It’s sometimes referred to as Acts of the Apostles; but does it surprise you that eight of those apostles are never mentioned after Acts 1:13?
Our Lord started his church with this crew—people pretty much like us—a mixture of courage and cowardice, ardor and apathy, fidelity and fickleness.
He made his church out of human beings because human beings were all there was to make it out of.
That’s still all there is to make it out of. You and me.
He lifts you up.
Don’t let him down.