The Ordination of the Twelve

140:2.1Je­sus now in­structed the twelve mor­tals who had just lis­tened to his dec­la­ra­tion con­cern­ing the king­dom to kneel in a cir­cle about him. Then the Mas­ter placed his hands upon the head of each apos­tle, be­gin­ning with Ju­das Is­car­iot and end­ing with An­drew. When he had blessed them, he ex­tended his hands and prayed:

140:2.2“My Fa­ther, I now bring to you these men, my mes­sen­gers. From among our chil­dren on earth I have cho­sen these twelve to go forth to rep­re­sent me as I came forth to rep­re­sent you. Love them and be with them as you have loved and been with me. And now, my Fa­ther, give these men wis­dom as I place all the af­fairs of the com­ing king­dom in their hands. And I would, if it is your will, tarry on earth a time to help them in their labors for the king­dom. And again, my Fa­ther, I thank you for these men, and I com­mit them to your keep­ing while I go on to fin­ish the work you have given me to do.”

140:2.3When Je­sus had fin­ished pray­ing, the apos­tles re­mained each man bowed in his place. And it was many min­utes be­fore even Pe­ter dared lift up his eyes to look upon the Mas­ter. One by one they em­braced Je­sus, but no man said aught. A great si­lence per­vaded the place while a host of ce­les­tial be­ings looked down upon this solemn and sa­cred scene—the Cre­ator of a uni­verse plac­ing the af­fairs of the di­vine broth­er­hood of man un­der the di­rec­tion of hu­man minds.