00:00Meditaxio
00:26According to what Matthew tells us throughout his work, Jesus was followed by the multitude,
00:35which suggests that there were many people who wanted to follow Jesus.
00:40But he only chose twelve. The twelve were people he liked, not volunteers.
00:49Years later he reminded them, "You didn't choose me."
00:54but I chose you.
00:59The Lord's calling was not based on any merit in them, but on His free grace.
01:07None of them deserved to be among the apostles.
01:11If I was, it was by the grace and mercy of Christ.
01:15Even so, we must clarify, respond to what he wants to do.
01:22Let us also remember that for some of them, perhaps for all of them,
01:28This was the second or third call.
01:31What makes the difference now is that from now on there will be a purpose for this calling.
01:39to expel spirits without worlds, and to cure all sickness and all ailments.
01:46We are at the beginning of the calling, the apostolic discourse,
01:51one of the five parts into which Matthew has structured his Gospel.
01:56Jesus summons the twelve; it is worth pausing for a moment to consider.
02:04Who were these men, what can we learn from them?
02:09and of the call that Jesus made to them.
02:15The text begins by talking about the twelve disciples,
02:19as if it were something perfectly known,
02:23and that it needs no further explanation.
02:26Although in reality, they have not been mentioned in the Gospel so far.
02:32In the list of the twelve, apart from Peter's privileged place,
02:38always named first,
02:40and in Matthew, with even greater emphasis,
02:44than in the other synoptic texts.
02:47There are names that are unanimously agreed upon,
02:49Tradition agrees, as in Santiago, Juan, Andrés, Judas the traitor.
02:58In others we find variations, even in the name.
03:03This means that, for the most part,
03:06The apostles were not such prominent figures,
03:10that his name would become famous in all the churches,
03:15who were born after our Gospel was written down,
03:21beyond Jewish borders.
03:23The important thing about the twelve,
03:27what the church emphasized from the very beginning,
03:30because Jesus had founded it,
03:34about those twelve whom he called apostles,
03:38that is, special envoys,
03:41for a very specific mission.
03:43Jesus sends those who choose to accept his call,
03:49because the calling is not only to act as He does,
03:54but to go where He goes.
03:57Following Jesus is not just about being close to him,
04:00It implies movement.
04:03He who remains still,
04:05or the one who stops,
04:07That's why she stops being close to Him.
04:09Because Jesus never appears installed,
04:15sedentary and still,
04:17It never stops,
04:19It's always moving forward,
04:22towards the destiny that the Father in Heaven has marked for her,
04:28and which ends in Jerusalem,
04:30where he dies for the salvation of us all.
04:34The demands of the mission,
04:36as the Lord's messenger,
04:38a messenger sent to preach,
04:41is someone who, having accepted turning their back on the world,
04:45is ready to share
04:46everything he has heard the Master say and do,
04:51knowing that he who acts in this way,
04:54he becomes a continuator of his message.
04:58Now then,
05:00Why are we talking about the institution of the twelve here?
05:04If we look at the meaning of the word institute,
05:11We found the following definition,
05:15to do something that didn't exist.
05:17In this sense,
05:21What Jesus is doing is creating a symbolic group,
05:26alternative to the people of Israel,
05:29is creating those who will be the new patriarchs of the people,
05:34a new people with whom he will sign a new and definitive pact.
05:39Therefore,
05:41We see that this call is of an official nature,
05:45constitutive for the twelve.
05:47This constitutive call represents a new level.
05:51Jesus is creating the group of the twelve,
05:55He is establishing them as pillars upon which his church will rest.
06:01In this text we can see that many of these names come from the Old Testament.
06:09For example,
06:10Simeon is the name of one of the sons of the patriarch Jacob.
06:15James is the same as Jacob.
06:19Judas is the name of another son of Jacob.
06:24Matthew also has the name Levi,
06:27who is Jacob's other son.
06:30Of the twelve apostles,
06:32Seven of them have a name that comes from the time of the patriarchs.
06:36Two of them are named Simon,
06:38two Santiagos,
06:40two Judases,
06:41one Levi.
06:44There is only one with a Greek name,
06:47Felipe.
06:49Jesus does not justify each person's choice
06:52for any merit achieved in the past.
06:55The only justifying support is the free word of Jesus,
07:08which inaugurates a new way of being.
07:11By calling each one of them by name,
07:16It indicates that each person is valuable in themselves,
07:19and not because of their past or lineage.
07:22Like them,
07:23Each one of us is called by God by name.
07:29At the moment,
07:30If you'd like,
07:31You can return to the text.
07:33You can stop slowly to contemplate the scene.
07:37Remember that we are allowing the Lord
07:40to find each other through his word.
07:42What catches your attention?
07:46The power that Jesus gives to his disciples
07:49It doesn't tell us what their reaction was,
07:53But perhaps we can imagine it.
07:55How would you feel if you received such power?
07:58Or perhaps our attention was focused a little more
08:01in this list of names,
08:04in observing their faces.
08:05Or perhaps also in the austere life
08:08the one that the Lord is inviting them to carry
08:11at this moment when they are now going to dedicate
08:14to deliver their message.
08:17What is the Lord saying to me through his word?
08:21What feeling does it evoke in me?
08:23Thank you!
08:45Thank you!
