Then Jesus shocked them with these words: “I have hand-picked you to be my twelve, knowing that one of you is the devil.” John 6:70 TPT

I think it’s safe to say everyone has experienced the sting of being picked last for something, or not being picked at all. 

In grade school, my friends and I were not known for our athletic abilities, so when the teams were chosen for playground tag or kickball, we were all too familiar with being picked last. We had a long- standing promise to each other that when we were captains, we’d pick each other first even when we knew it wouldn’t make for a winning kickball team. In high school, we still weren’t picked first for gym class games; in fact, we tried to avoid being picked at all! Ha! By then we knew where our best skills lay, and they weren't in gym class. (Yay, band! Three cheers for the math and science club!)

The crowd in John 6 started in the thousands, and as the chapter unfolds the numbers dwindled. Where we pick up this week, Jesus has laid down some hard teachings, and more and more followers go their own way as a result. Is this Jesus’ way of weeding out the ones who’ll tuck tail and run at the first sign of trouble? Because that’s exactly what happens!

Jesus turned to the Twelve: the faithful who had been with him from the beginning, his team, and asked if they wanted to leave, too. Peter replied with a hearty, “No way! We know who you are, and we believe what you’ve told us. We’re all in!” (Paraphrasing mine.) I love what Jesus says next in The Passion Translation, because it conveys that the Twelve were shocked by His words.

“I have hand-picked you to be my twelve, knowing that one of you is the devil.” (Were they shocked that they were hand-picked, or that he called one of them the devil?) 

Jesus was the captain, and he picked each disciple for his team. He knew their talents, he knew their shortcomings, and He chose them anyway. He chose even Judas, who would eventually turn him over to be killed. He chose his team knowing they weren’t star players (or because he knew they weren’t star players?), and he does the same for us.

Do you feel like you’ve always been picked last? Guess what: you’re hand-picked to be on Jesus’ team! Have you been avoiding his invitation to play? 

To read or re-read the overview/summary of this week’s passage, you can click here.