12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray , and He spent the whole night in prayer to God . 13 And when day came , He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles : 14 Simon , whom He also named Peter , and Andrew his brother ; and James and John ; and Philip and Bartholomew ; 15 and Matthew and Thomas ; James the son of Alphaeus , and Simon who was called the Zealot ; 16 Judas the son of James , and Judas Iscariot , who became a traitor .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Luke 6:12-16
Commentary on Luke 6:12-19
(Read Luke 6:12-19)
We often think one half hour a great deal to spend in meditation and secret prayer, but Christ was whole nights engaged in these duties. In serving God, our great care should be not to lose time, but to make the end of one good duty the beginning of another. The twelve apostles are here named; never were men so privileged, yet one of them had a devil, and proved a traitor. Those who have not faithful preaching near them, had better travel far than be without it. It is indeed worth while to go a great way to hear the word of Christ, and to go out of the way of other business for it. They came to be cured by him, and he healed them. There is a fulness of grace in Christ, and healing virtue in him, ready to go out from him, that is enough for all, enough for each. Men regard the diseases of the body as greater evils than those of their souls; but the Scripture teaches us differently.