Today, while I was at a gathering of Christian ministry people involved in young adults ministry, something struck me to wonder how old the apostles were when they first followed Jesus. A quick Google search gave me surprising results. Two sources suggest that the apostles were likely in their 20s or younger (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3136128?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents; http://bibleq.net/answer/4801/).
The apostles were teenagers, while Jesus was about 30 years old.
Boy, that blew my mind. Not least because I have been so influenced by the mental pictures of the apostles as bearded old men. Also because I realised how the apostles were youths who were discipled by Jesus, and who then led the early Church in their early adulthood.
It also then struck me that as I was soon reaching the age that Jesus commenced His public ministry, I desired to follow Jesus’ footsteps in discipling young ones. I have been occasionally praying for disciples but have not presently so found 12. No I figure I can’t manage 12. So just a few would do.
Whatever it is, it struck me how we assume many things about age. Perhaps especially so in the cultural context of the world. But in God’s Kingdom, it is not age that matters but faith, which is tied to humility.
We need to disciple our young, like how Jesus discipled His young teenage apostles. It is they who will carry the message of the Kingdom of God in a spectacular way to a watching world.