It’s interesting to see that when God came to earth in flesh and blood, he chose some spectacularly weak men to be his Apostles. Think about it for a moment, Jesus could have chosen anyone, and yet Jesus purposely chose a bunch of men who were weak and who greatly misunderstood the true purpose for which Jesus came.

Jesus knew these men were weak when he asked them to follow him, yet he didn’t wait for them to get their act together, or get a better theological understanding of his purpose for coming, before he drew them closer to himself, but rather he went and publicly called them to be his Apostles. So now the disciples had been called to be Apostles, and yet they still didn’t really understanding Jesus at all. Throughout the gospel accounts the writers go out of their way to make it clear the Apostles didn’t really understand anything.

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. John 12:16

Yet Jesus walked with them, stayed close to them and continued to encourage them that they were a team; they were with him; they were one with him.

Even after the resurrection they still failed to understand the true purposes of Jesus, in fact it was about 8 years after his resurrections (Acts 11) before they even came to realise and accept that the New Covenant was actually also for gentiles! That’s the basic point of the New Covenant, and they totally missed it for years, and yet in all those years we read how the Spirit of Christ was amongst them, his grace was poured out greatly, he comforted them and united their hearts; Christ was still walking with them, staying close to them and encouraging them, despite their weakness and misunderstandings.

It was around 20 years after the resurrection that they all met again in the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) to try to decide if the gospel was a mixed covenant of law and grace, or a brand new covenant completely based on God’s grace, apart from law. It’s hard to believe that after 20 years they still had not settled this basic truth of the gospel! And yet throughout all that time Jesus still walked with them, still encouraged them and still poured out his love and grace upon them.

Peter wrote his letters to the church after all this, “testifying to the true grace of God” after he finally understood the fullness of the gospel and the purpose of Jesus. He would have reflected on all his weaknesses while with Jesus, all his misinterpretations while with Jesus; he would have realised all that he did wrong, and yet in all that time, Jesus still walked with him, still encouraged him and still make him secure that he was indeed a ‘rock’ in the eyes of God.

I believe Jesus chose weak men to be his Apostles to highlight the true strength of God: that God is strong enough to love us, and walk with us, in our weaknesses. That God doesn’t push us away in our weaknesses, but rather walks with us, stays with us, and continues to encourage us, so that when the day comes where we have become strong in him and understand his purposes, we won’t find our boast in how strong we are, but we will always find our boast in the God who loves people in their weakness. Our boast is in God, who is willing to walk with anyone, regardless of their weakness or failings, so that they may see the truth of who God is: The God of all grace; the God who loves.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16