Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
If you read the Gospels, Jesus was mostly with one, two or three of his disciples at at time! Rarely all 12.
In God's plan, maybe that"s how discipleship occurs best?
Many ministries today think bigger is better. But the result tends to be the spiritual impact of "an inch deep and a mile wide." So perhaps in God's economy smaller is better that leads to bigger.
Notice in Acts 1:8 how Jesus told the disciples to start small in Jerusalem and expand to all the earth! "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
Sam Walton's philosophy in founding Walmart was, "Start small, Go deep, and Think big."
That's why Walmart started in smaller communities and captured the local markets and expanded from there. The rest is history! And so is the proclamation of gospel! Christianity is still the largest religion in the world.
I believe that is why Jesus only selected 12 to impact the world. That was His plan! A small band of brothers.
Of course, Judas was the betrayer, but look who took his place? Paul! The greatest evangelist of them all and he never met Jesus in the flesh! And he ended up writing the majority of the New Testament epistles that has formed the central tenants of the Christian faith.
Please considering reading Paul's words in 1 Cor. 15:1-19
Pretty cool!
Yours for an eternal impact.... Bill