01/21/2026
One of those details that quietly flips the whole Bible on its head once you notice it is the age of the disciples.
We tend to picture the disciples as middle aged men. Beards. Deep thoughts. Calm wisdom. Basically a group of emotionally regulated adults who had their lives together and then decided to follow Jesus as a well thought out career move.
That is almost certainly not what was happening.
Most scholars agree that many of the disciples were likely teenagers. Actual teenagers. The age group that forgets why they walked into a room, argues confidently while being wrong, and can be hungry five minutes after eating.
Probably mid teens. Some maybe late teens. One or two possibly older. But very few, if any, were what we would call grown grown.
Here is why.
In Jewish culture at the time, boys typically learned a trade after their early religious education unless they showed exceptional promise as a rabbi in training. By their mid teens, most young men were already working. Fishing. Carpentry. Family trades. So Peter, Andrew, James, and John being fishermen does not mean they were old. It means they were normal teenagers doing normal teenager jobs.
There is also the temple tax detail in Matthew. Only Jesus and Peter are mentioned as paying it. That tax applied to men twenty and older. No one questions why the others did not pay. Which strongly suggests Peter was over twenty and the rest were under.
Meaning Peter was probably the “responsible adult” of the group.
And suddenly everything makes more sense.
Jesus tells them not to be afraid during a storm and they absolutely lose their minds.
Teenagers.
They argue about who is the greatest while literally walking next to the Son of God.
Teenagers.
They fall asleep during prayer even though Jesus specifically asked them to stay awake.
Teenagers.
This also means that when Jesus says things like “Unless you become like little children…” He is not talking to people decades removed from childhood. He is talking to people who still absolutely remember being told to clean their room and somehow not knowing where to start.
Jesus entrusted the future of the Church to a group of young people who routinely misunderstood Him, asked wildly off target questions, competed for status, overreacted emotionally, and ran away when things got scary.
And He did it on purpose.
Not because they were impressive.
Not because they were polished.
Not because they had leadership training or a five year plan.
But because they were willing to follow.
That should be deeply comforting.
God has never waited for people to be fully grown, fully confident, or fully put together before calling them. He works with people who are learning. People who are awkward. People who say the wrong thing at the wrong time. People who need things explained more than once. People who promise big and then need grace when they fall short.
If God can change the world through a group of teenagers who were scared of storms, confused by metaphors, distracted during prayer, and arguing about who was the favorite, then He can absolutely work through us too.
Even on days when we are tired, overwhelmed, under caffeinated, and fairly certain we are not the right person for the job.
