and restored the twelve tribes.131 The mission of the Twelve was thus something more than a piece of missionary strategy; it was one more prophetic-symbolic step toward the reconstitution of eschatological Israel. Hence, I think the very significance of the Twelve as a special group chosen by Jesus coheres well with their being the audience to whom he directed his missionary instructions. Admittedly, since it is well nigh impossible to prove a negative in ancient history, I cannot prove that Jesus