The two next are James and John, as it follows, James and John, both indeed sons of Zebedee, who were also fishermen. After them he mentions Philip and Bartholomew. John says Philip was of Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. Bartholomew was a simple man, devoid of all worldly knowledge and guile. But Matthew was called from those who used to collect taxes; concerning whom he adds Matthew and Thomas.
You have heard then the words of Him who says, Stretch forth thy hand. That is a frequent and common cure, and thou that thinkest thy hand is whole, beware lest it be contracted by avarice or sacrilege. Stretch it forth oftener to help thy neighbour, to protect the widow, to save from injury him whom you see the victim of unjust attack; stretch it forth to the poor man who beseeches thee; stretch it forth to the Lord, to ask pardon of thy sins; as the hand is stretched forth so is it healed. (1 Kings 13:5, 6.)
Let not thy ears be open to deceit, that thou shouldest think that the Son of God prays from want of strength, that He may obtain what He could not perform; for being Himself the Author of power, the Master of obedience, He leads us by His own example to the precepts of virtue.
Every where also He prays alone, for human wishes comprehend not the wisdom of God; and no one can be a partaker of the secrets of Christ. But not every one who prays ascends a mountain, he only who prays advancing from earthly things to higher, who is not anxious for the riches or honours of the world. All whose minds are raised above the world ascend the mountain. In the Gospel therefore you will find, that the disciples alone ascend the mountain with the Lord. But thou, O Christian, hast now the character given, the form prescribed which thou shouldest imitate; as it follows, And he continued all night in prayer to God. For what oughtest thou to do for thy salvation, when Christ continues all night in prayer for thee?
But what does it become thee to do when thou wouldest commence any work of piety, when Christ, about to send out His disciples, first prayed? for it follows, And when it was day, he called his disciples, &c. whom truly He destined to be the means of spreading the salvation of man through the world. Turn thy eyes also to the heavenly council. Not the wise men, not the rich, not the noble, but He chose to send out fishermen and publicans, that they might not seem to turn men to their grace by riches or by the influence of power and rank, and that the force of truth, not the graces of oratory, might prevail.
(Hom. ad Pop. Ant. 42. et in Act. c. 16. Ed. Lat.) Rise then thou also at night time. The soul is then purer, the very darkness and great silence are in themselves enough to lead us to sorrow for our sins. But if thou lookest upon the heaven itself studded with stars as with unnumbered eyes, if thou thinkest that they who wanton and do unjustly in day time are then nothing different from the dead, thou wilt loathe all human undertakings. All these things serve to raise the mind. Vain-glory then disquiets not, no tumult of passion has the mastery; fire does not so destroy the rust of iron as nightly prayer the blight of sin. He whom the heat of the sun has fevered by day is refreshed by the dew; nightly tears are better than any dew, and are proof against desire and fear. But if a man is not cherished by the dew we speak of, he withers in the day. Wherefore although thou prayest not much at night, pray once with watching, and it is enough; show that the night belongs not only to the body, but to the soul.
(de Con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 30.) With respect to the name of Judas the brother of James, Luke seems to differ from Matthew, who calls him Thaddæus. But what prevented a man from being called by two or three names? Judas the traitor is chosen, not unwittingly but knowingly, for Christ had indeed taken to Himself the weakness of man, and therefore refused not even this share of human infirmity. He was willing to be betrayed by His own Apostle, that thou when betrayed by thy friend mayest bear calmly thy mistaken judgment, thy kindness thrown away.
Let us examine then in the actions which Jesus did, how He teaches us to be instant in prayer to God, going apart by ourselves, and in secret, no one seeing us; putting aside also our worldly cares, that the mind may be raised up to the height of divine contemplation; and this we have marked in the fact, that Jesus went in to a mountain apart to pray.
(ut sup.) But mark the great carefulness of the Evangelist. He not only says that the holy Apostles were chosen, but he enumerates them by name, that no one should dare to insert any others in the catalogue; Simon, whom he also called Peter, and Andrew his brother.
But if we may learn the interpretation of the Apostles' names, know that Peter means, "loosening or knowing;" Andrew, "glorious power," or "answering;" but James, "apostle of grief;" John, "the grace of the Lord;" Matthew, "given;" Philip, "large mouth," or the "orifice of a torch;" Bartholomew, "the son of him who lets down water;" Thomas, "deep or twin;" James the son of Alphæus, "supplanter of the step of life;" Judas, "confession;" Simon, "obedience."
He not only surnamed Peter first, but long before this, when he was brought by Andrew, it is said, Thou shall be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, a stone (John 1:42.). But Luke, wishing to mention the names of the disciples, since it was necessary to call him Peter, wished shortly to imply that this was not his name before, but the Lord had given it to him.
Matthew places himself after his fellow-disciple Thomas, from humility, whereas by the other Evangelists he is put before him. It follows, James the son of Alphæus, and Simon who is called Zelotes.
But in a mystical sense the mountain on which our Lord chose His disciples represents the loftiness of justice in which they were to be instructed, and which they were to preach to others; so also the law was given on a mountain.
(non occ.) When adversaries rose up against the miracles and teaching of Christ, He chose Apostles as defenders and witnesses of the truth, and prefaces their election with prayer; as it is said, And it came to pass, &c.
Because in truth he was of Cana in Galilee, which is interpreted zeal; and this is added to distinguish him from Simon Peter. It follows, Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
But our Lord and Savior, not very long after the beginning of his preaching, called the twelve apostles and to them alone of all his disciples he gave the name of apostles as a special honor. Later he proclaimed seventy others, and them also he sent out two by two in advance of himself into every place and city where he himself was to come.
If you listen to Luke, you will not hear him calling Matthew a publican nor subordinating him to Thomas, for he knows him to be the greater, and puts him first and Thomas second. Mark has done the same.… So Luke honored Matthew, according to what they delivered, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word.
It says, “He called unto him his disciples, and he chose twelve of them,” whom he appointed sowers of the faith, to spread the help of human salvation throughout the world. At the same time, observe the heavenly counsel. He chose not wise men, nor rich men, nor nobles, but fishermen and tax collectors, whom he would direct, lest they seem to have seduced some by wisdom, or bought them with riches, or attracted them to their own grace with the authority of power and nobility. He did this so that the reasoning of truth, not the grace of disputation, should prevail.
Judas too is chosen, not through inadvertence but through Providence. How great is the truth that not even a hostile minister weakens! How great is the integrity of the Lord, who preferred to endanger his judgment among us, rather than his compassion! For he had assumed the frailty of man, and therefore [he did not] refuse those aspects of human weakness. He was willing to be forsaken, he was willing to be betrayed, he was willing to be surrendered by his own apostles, so that you, when abandoned by an ally, betrayed by an ally, may bear it in good order.
Note the extreme moderation of the Evangelist. He does not simply say that the holy apostles were appointed, but rather, by introducing the record of these chief ones each by name, takes care that no other one should venture to enroll himself in the company of those that were chosen.
He also chose twelve disciples, whom he called apostles, and commanded them to preach the kingdom of heaven which he came upon earth to declare, and to make heavenly us who are low and earthly, by virtue of his incarnation.
Judas of James, and Judas Iscariot, who was the traitor. And for the sake of distinction, he doubled the names. One of whom, as he himself writes in the catholic Epistle, is the brother of James, who was also called Thaddaeus. The other took his name either from the village in which he was born, or from the tribe of Issachar as a premonition of his condemnation. For Issachar, which means "reward," hints at the price of betrayal. But Iscariot, which is interpreted as "memory of death," shows that he did not suddenly decide, but meditated longer on committing the sin of betraying the Lord. He was chosen among the apostles not by imprudence but providence. How great is the truth, which even an adversarial minister cannot weaken? How great is the morality of the Lord, who preferred to risk His judgment among us rather than His affection? For He had taken on human frailty, and therefore did not refuse even these parts of human weakness. He wanted to be deserted, wanted to be betrayed, wanted to be handed over by His own apostle, so that you, deserted by a companion, betrayed by a companion, might bear your misjudgment and lost benefit with moderation.
[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Luke 6:12-16