Jesus and the twelve

When the time came for Jesus to begin his public ministry, and he chose the twelve apostles, it is quite strange to see that he chose all strangers!  There is hardly any evidence that the twelve men knew Jesus before Him calling them out.  We only hear some anonymous person exclaiming, "Is he not the son of the carpenter?"  Had any of the twelve known Jesus earlier, I think at least one of them would have made that statement!!  

Nicolas Poussin

But did Jesus know them before hand??  

Jesus never went far or beyond Israel, or for that matter his hometown.  And so, during those 30 years that he spent in the same place, would he not have known most of those men?  He was a carpenter and surely he would have met and interacted with a lot of people of varied backgrounds.  Everyone would have sought the services of a carpenter at some time of their life, for some work.  My guess is that Jesus did have a rough list but not for long, perhaps just about the time he began his ministry.  And Luke records that he spent the night in prayer and when morning came, called out the twelve who were to be called his apostles.  

The reason(s) he chose those twelve and not some others, I guess were privy just to him.  We can only guess and theorize.  But none of those reasons would be applicable to all the twelve!! 

Another strange fact that find is that of the chose twelve none was a carpenter.  Jesus did not select anyone from among those whom knew him!!