perfect rectitude, wisdom, and justice: but nevertheless we are not capable of
CHAPTER 1: The Calling and Preparation of the Twelve
perfect rectitude, wisdom, and justice: but nevertheless we are not capable of comprehending his reasons. That is the first point. And then for the second, let us also know that men are nothing, and can contribute nothing of their own to make God our debtor: as it is said, Who gave him the first, and he will repay him? Because if we want to be prized by God, we must have something. If he is neither bound nor indebted to us, what claim could we possibly bring against him? And so it is that of all that is ours, there is nothing that is not given to us from him. And yet, we ourselves, our very persons, and everything he has put in us belongs to him, and we must be indebted to him. Moreover, he lacks nothing, and nothing we do can add anything to him: as it is said in the sixteenth Psalm. Let us therefore conclude that when God calls us to some dignity and office, that it is by his good pleasure, and that we must not imagine that he found us more capable than others: but in order to humiliate us, he wanted to show that everything depends on his grace, and not on any merit. Now if this concerns temporal dignity, it is even more necessary to apply this truth when the matter concerns of our eternal salvation, for he has adopted us as his children, and to be members of our Lord Jesus Christ his Son, to be partakers of his heavenly glory: shall human beings attribute any part of this to themselves? And if they attribute something to themselves, are they not worthy of being stripped of it because of their ingratitude? So this is the first point we have to note here.
Now it is certain that Mark and Luke mention here in passing what occurred later, touching on the company of the twelve. Be that as it may, they do not mean that Christ had already installed them fully in the apostolic office (for this will be seen in his order) but rather, he had already set them apart in anticipation of it. Thus twelve men were reserved of twelve men who were of the number of the disciples, so that so that they might be employed when the proper time came, as we will see: but although at first they were not ordained apostles, and the office of preaching the gospel was not given to them. Nevertheless, our Lord Jesus Christ took them into his household, and thus came to him, that is to say, they attached themselves to him, so that he might afterward establish the proper order among them. It is true that he called them apostles, but it was with regard to the commission that he wanted to give them, and not because they already exercised it at that time. In short, let us note that these twelve were kept near Jesus Christ, in order to be prepared and trained. Even after they had been in his school for some time before opening their mouths, if they were so ignorant and so dull, that it is a shame to see that they