With all the knowledge the Pharisees possessed that was handed down to them from the prophets I often find myself wondering how they could have missed the fact that quite often God chose to use the most unqualified person or the most ordinary individual to do the most ordinary things. I came across a letter once that went something like this:
"TO: Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafter's Carpenter Shop
"FROM: Pharisaic Management Consultants
"Dear Sir:
"Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for managerial positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests, and we have not only run the results through our computer, but also arranged personal interviews for each one of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the staff's opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of proven experience in managerial ability and proven capacity.
"Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of anger. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. The two brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. We also feel that it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings and they both registered a high score on the manic depressive scale.
"One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your comptroller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory.
"We wish you every success in your new venture,
Sincerely yours,
James, son of John"