12 Now it happened in those days that he went onto the mountain to pray; and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 When day came he summoned his disciples and picked out twelve of them; he called them 'apostles': 14 Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. Luke 6:12-16
Here's the Gospel text that inspired Domenico Ghirlandaio's painting, The Summoning of the Twelve Apostles. The fresco, painted in 1481-82, is found in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican. Jesus stands at the head of the winding Sea of Galilee. And while large crowds to left and right have followed Jesus, Peter (in yellow) and Andrew (in green) kneel before him to accept his commission and receive his blessing.
Behind Jesus, seen along the shore, are two sub-scene reminders of Jesus calling these fishermen to discipleship. A disciple is one who presents himself (herself) to learn. An apostle is one who is sent out.
In less than a minute of viewing the painting, I asked, "But where are the women?" Jesus had women disciples. I found them way over on the left side where a man in blue is talking with them. I wonder if these are the women who will persevere in love after Jesus is buried hurriedly, who will return to the tomb on Easter morning and then act as apostles to the apostles, telling the men of Jesus' rising?
Ghirlandaio's reputation as a landscape artist is on full display here. He shows all of creation witnessing the calling of the Twelve—the morning sky is alive with light and dark, the birds zoom in, the trees are lush, the hills and mountains shape the river. The Gospel verses are short, only five, but there's a great deal to learn.
Verse 12: Jesus has moved away from the towns and villages of the previous accounts, now to the mountain, where he goes to pray through the night. Notice we're told "the" mountain, so Luke must have had a particular one in mind. Was it Mount Horeb? Mount Tabor?
Whenever Jesus has an important decision to make, we're told he first goes off to be alone in solitary prayer. There are lots of people who approach their big decisions this way, if not going off to a mountain, at least setting aside some time and place that honors their interior life.
Verse 13: Jesus has prayed through the night, and now it is morning. A new day! Something is changing. During that long night, did Jesus envision you, me, as persons who would one day profess an apostolic faith—a faith that doesn't stay closed up in a building, but which goes out to others.
Verses 14-16: Luke's list of names doesn't coincide with the names recorded in Matthew and Mark, or even the second list he offers in the Acts of the Apostles. We needn't spend time distracting ourselves, worrying and debating this. Let others do that. Maybe different, early Christian communities had different representatives. But it is interesting that the name of the betrayer, Judas Iscariot, is included in each list: "Oh Jesus, suffer me not to be separated from thee, from the malignant enemy defend me..."
