Luke prefaced Jesus' teaching of His followers with an introduction of His most important disciples.
"It is clear that for Luke an important stage in the founding of the church is to be seen here, the choice of those from among the company of Jesus' companions from the beginning of his ministry who were to be in a special sense the witnesses to his resurrection and the messengers of the gospel."199
6:12 Jesus' choice of the Twelve followed His conflict with the Jewish leaders. Luke implied that that hostility played a part in Jesus' decision to spend the night in prayer before selecting the apostles. In view of mounting hostility it was imperative that He receive direction from His Father in this choice. A mountain or hill was a traditional place to pray since it provided seclusion and its elevation gave the person praying a special sense of nearness to God. Luke alone mentioned Jesus' all night prayer vigil. It shows Jesus' conscious dependence on God, a special emphasis in the third Gospel. The early church followed Jesus' example (Acts 13:2; 14:23; cf. Acts 1:2, 24-26).
6:13-16 Jesus selected the Twelve from the larger group of learners who followed Him around (cf. Matt. 10:2-4; Acts 1:13). Only Luke mentioned that Jesus called the Twelve "apostles"(lit. sent ones). This fact reflects his continuing interest in the mission that Jesus began and continued through these apostles and the whole church (Acts 1:1-2). The fact that Jesus chose 12 apostles now probably suggests continuity in God's plan of salvation because the 12 apostles in one sense replaced the 12 sons of Israel (Jacob). However, I believe the many points of discontinuity with Israel are just as important and make the equating of Israel and the church impossible (cf. Eph. 2).
Luke's list contains the same names as those that Matthew and Mark have given us with some variation in the order.
