A Motley Crew

One would think that Jesus would chose a more educated, more religious group of men for his first followers. Most of the apostles were uneducated fishermen, one was a tax collector, two wanted high places, one was a thief. Not a band of likely holy men. Yet perhaps Jesus wanted to show that he could turn even the most ordinary men into saints.

And he succeeded except for one. They rest died a martyrs' death in the end. But it took a while to achieve that kind of holiness. Peter would deny Jesus three times before he realized his terrible lack of fidelity and was able to seek forgiveness. James and John were proud men who wanted to be treated special, but they later realized this was not humble. Matthew was used to mixing with those who often cheated people when collecting taxes, but he changed his ways.

The gospels givee us glimpses of their slow conversion. These experienced fishermen could not catch anything one night, yet dragged in a buldging net of fish when Jesus told them where to cast their net. They were amazed when they saw Jesus healing the sick and curing the blind and lame. They were astounded when he raised the dead to life. They were flabbergasted when he fed the 5,000 with seven loaves and two fish. And the final miracle of rising from the dead must have really blown them away. 

Then when they feared they too would be put to death like their leader, the Holy Spirit came to fill them with wisdom, knowledge,  strength and fortitude. They were able to continue Jesus' work on earth and in the end give their lives for their beloved Lord. 

We all are kind of a motley crew with plenty of weaknesses and shortcomings. We need God's love to change us into the kind of people he wants us to be, strong and courageous followers of Christ. He is not looking for perfection, but for people willing to be converted over a lifetime.