The Jewish leaders were astonished at the passion and selflessness of the disciples of Jesus. After all these were common laborers with the general consensus that most were only in their late teens or early twenties. They've all been depicted and described as lower class from Galilee. They spoke Aramaic and were not educated at all. Is this Jesus picking the HAVE NOTS to confound the HAVES?
In fact, Luke, or someone attributed to Luke, wrote in Acts 4:13, "Observing that Peter and John were UNEDUCATED laymen, they were astonished at their boldness and and took note that they had been companions of Jesus. Several translations call them "UNLETTERED" disciples. They were "common folk" who simply FOLLOWED Jesus. There's nothing in the Gospels or Acts that indicates that they could READ, let alone WRITE!
Agree?
Peter, James, and John were day-laborers. And Matthew, the tax collector, was at the lowest end of the food chain in "collecting money".
So tell me, how is it that these UNEDUCATED, UNLETTERED, & ILLITERATE disciples, who were Aramaic speaking got the reputation of being the authors of the Gospels which were written by highly educated, Greek speaking Christians? At the time of Jesus, it's estimated that less than 10% of the population could read, and fewer than that could write? Did these disciples go to school, suddenly become literate, travel the Roman road, or something miraculous?
How do we make this work: other than saying "Well, God can do anything". :-(
Mark and Luke were not from the inner circle, the books attributed to them didn't originally have their names on the books, and so forth. Matthew may or may not have known the tax-collecting Matthew. And then there's John whom I so want to be the John who laid his head on the chest of Jesus, but then chapter 21 and verse 24 perplex me.
The GOOD NEWS is that I don't have to know who the author is or was. It's what the Spirit brings to me that advances Matthew 22:37-39 that really matters. Some say they'd love to have been one of those "unlettered disciple". Well, I've got BETTER NEWS for you. YOU ARE NOW and you are far more highly educated and with a consciousness that's exponentially more attuned.
You and I are BLESSED!
