I have already quoted one except from this chapter concerning why Jesus chose twelve apostles. See "Why Twelve Apostles" from October 28.
"One reason Jesus chose twelve disciples has already been discussed. It involves the symbolism of the number. With his ministry, the long-awaited kingdom of God had come. The 'consolation' (Luke 2:25) and 'redemption' (Luke 2:38) of Israel were now taking place. To symbolize the gathering of the ten (literally--nine and a half) lost tribes and the reunion of Israel, Jesus chose twelve disciples.Their number and presence during his ministry was a visual proclamation that the kingdom of God had indeed come."
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"Among the disciples were a traitor (the tax collector Matthew) and a Zealot revolutionary (Simon). The fact that they could coexist side by side for an extensive period reveals how Jesus can change the hearts of natural enemies and bring reconciliation and peace. Truly, Jesus demonstrated that through the lives of his disciples that he could break down the walls of hostility."
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"Apart from Jesus' death and resurrection, probably no other event in his life possessed a greater significance and had more lasting consequences than his choosing of the Twelve. The act itself reveals that Jesus saw in his ministry the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. Because the kingdom had now arrived and God was visiting his people, the Old Testament promises were being fulfilled. As we will see in the next chapter, Jesus' message involved a realized dimension. Already, not just in the near future, the end of the ages had come. For Jesus 'in that day' had moved from the distant future to the present. His choosing of the twelve disciples illustrates that...
Much discussion has focused on how Jesus taught his disciples. Did he teach them according to how the Talmud claims that rabbis taught their disciples, using at times rote memory? Such a procedure conflicts radically with the free-spirited individualism of the present day. It has been argued that JEsus' disciples, unlike the rabbinic disciples, were not followers of traditions and ideas but of a person. Yet this would certainly not make them less committed to the teachings of that person. If anything, it would make them even more committed to them. Within the ministry of Jesus we even find a situation in which those teachings were proclaimed by the disciples. It is hard to imagine that when Jesus sent out the twelve disciples to preach (Mark 6:7) he told them to say whatever they felt or whatever came into their minds. What kind of disciple would have preferred his own preaching and formulation of the divine message over that of the divine messenger himself? The proclamation of Jesus' message during this mission would have helped fix these teachings forever in their memory.
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the disciples would provide leadership for the early church and be guarantors of the gospel traditions. For this they had been both called and trained. They were called to preach (Mark 3:14) and to oversee as 'eyewitnesses and servants of the word' the passing on of the Jesus tradition (Luke 1:2). There is a very real sense, therefore, that even today the church is built on the founding work of the twelve disciples. That is true not just in the historical sense that the Christian church today is descended from the church they founded. It is also true that the Gospels that the church today that the church possess are the result of the preservation and transmission of the gospel traditions by 'those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word' (Luke 1:2). Two of our Gospels are associated in the tradition of the church with the Twelve (Matthew and John). The Gospel of Mark is associated in all the early church traditions with the Apostle Peter. Luke claims that his gospel is result of his having investigated both the written works of other writers and the oral accounts stemming from the apostolic eyewitnesses themselves (Luke 1:1-3). Thus the church today, if it remains true to the Gospel teachings, still rests on 'the foundation of the apostles' (Eph. 2:20)."
--Robert Stein
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