Calling of the twelve (Mark 3:1-19)

[Stephan Choe]

September 17, 2024

Key verses 13-15:       “Then he went up on a mountain and called to him those he wanted, and they went to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also called apostles, to be with them, and that he might send them out to preach, and that they might have authority to cast out evil spirits.”

There is the following saying, “He who wants to experience the fruits of his labor only in one year, plants annual flowers; he who wants to enjoy the fruits after 10 years, plants fruit trees; but he who wants to see the fruits of his labor after 30 years, educates people.”

Jesus Christ, however, wanted to see the fruits of his labor after 100 and 1000 years. For this purpose, he taught God's word during his messianic ministry, sowed the love of God in people's hearts and raised disciples.

Today we want to learn about how Jesus loved people in need and raised up disciples for all people in the world

1 The healing on the Sabbath (1-6)

Verse 1 tells us that Jesus visited the synagogue because it was the Sabbath. Among the visitors in the synagogue, Jesus saw a man with a withered hand.

All people need two healthy hands to be able to work properly. In the poor society of that time, everyone needed two healthy hands for their physical work in order to survive.

But this person only had one healthy hand and the other was withered. But we, who have two healthy hands, cannot fully understand this person's concern. There is a saying in Korea: “Only a widow understands the sorrow of another widow.”

He had many difficulties at work. He was worried about finding a spouse. This person must have always hidden his withered hand in his pocket.

Pharisees were also present in the synagogue at this Sabbath service. They had no interest in the service, but concentrated on observing whether Jesus would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath. They were very jealous of Jesus' gracious, powerful ministry and feared that Jesus would damage their authority as spiritual leaders of the people. The scribes had decreed that people were not allowed to cook or heal the sick on the Sabbath unless it was an acute, life-threatening illness. And the person with the withered hand could have waited another day to be healed when the Sabbath was over.

But the Pharisees had no understanding for the man's worries and had no compassion for him. They only had ice-cold thoughts about how they could make Jesus guilty and get rid of him.

Then Jesus said to the disabled man, “Come forward!” and asked the Pharisees a question: “Should we do good or do evil, preserve life or kill on the Sabbath?”

Jesus also loved these Pharisees who wanted to kill him and wanted to bring them to their senses. The Pharisees should recognize their evil intentions and answer: “Do good!”

But they remained silent (3-4).

They were hardened and did not want to change their evil intentions. They threw divine love for the disabled person to the wind. They were not good shepherds of the people, but like wolves.

Jesus recognized their evil determination, became angry and also grieved over their hardened hearts (5a). Jesus was in great pain because of the sheep of God.

Jesus could not wait another day and heal him, even though he knew the evil intentions of the Pharisees. So he said to the disabled man, “Stretch out your hand”.

And the man stretched his hand out and his hand was healed (5b).

The man was very grateful to Jesus for the healing. But the Pharisees were very angry and went out and took counsel with Herod's followers about how they could kill Jesus.

This healing shows us that Jesus really is the good shepherd and the Savior. He has come to save and preserve people's lives. If we accept Jesus as Savior, he will heal us from the sickness of sin and give us eternal life.

2. The influx of the people (7-12)

After this event, Jesus went away with his disciples to the seashore of Galilee. Then a large crowd followed him from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea and beyond the Jordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, because they had heard of his deeds.

And Jesus healed many, so that all who were afflicted tried to touch him. And when the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!”

Jesus strictly commanded them not to tell anyone about him.

There were many sick and possessed people who needed healing and deliverance.

Also today, there are countless people in the world who desperately needed forgiveness of sins and eternal life. What did Jesus do for them?

3 The calling of the twelve apostles (13-19)

Verse 13a tells us that Jesus went up a mountain.

This passage does not give us any information about why Jesus went up the mountain. However, in Lk 6:12, 13, the parallel passage to Mk 3:13, the following is reported: “At that time he went up on a mountain to pray, and he stayed up all night praying to God.”

So Jesus went up the mountain to pray and prayed all night long with an earnest prayer request. He probably told God about the plight of the crowd, the obduracy of the religious leaders and their plan to kill him. He asked God for direction for his messianic work.

And God gave him a clear direction: Jesus was to call some disciples as apostles so that they would get to know Jesus and the gospel well and, as his followers, save the whole world from the power of sin and death through the gospel of Jesus and turn them into children of God.

Who did Jesus call as his apostles?

Verse 13 tells us that Jesus “called to him those he wanted.”

This means that he chose those whom he had decided to raise up as apostles in accordance with God's will. He did not call them because of any human qualities, but because of divine sovereignty. The calling to be Jesus' disciple is a unilateral grace from God. That is why Jesus said in John 15:16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you.”

Every calling for Jesus Christ is the grace of God and a one-sided grace of God.

How did Jesus' disciples react to Jesus' calling?

Verse 13 tells us: “...and they went to him.”

They immediately accepted Jesus' calling with gratitude and came to Jesus just as they were.

Verse 14 explains Jesus' purpose in calling the twelve to him: “And he appointed twelve, whom he also called apostles, to be with him and to send them out to preach.”

The word “apostle” literally means “the one sent”. Jesus intended these twelve people to stay with him in order to get to know Jesus and his message more deeply and to send them out to preach Jesus and his gospel throughout the world.

The Pharisees and the chief priests wanted to kill Jesus in order to nip Jesus' saving work in the bud. But Jesus wanted to raise up 12 apostles and spread the gospel of eternal life everywhere. Through his apostles, he wanted to spread the good news about him to all people on earth and make known to them the way to forgiveness of sins and eternal life. He wanted to free the people of the world from the power of death and the devil and give them eternal life and the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus' vision was great. His step towards fulfilling his vision was very concrete and practical. He chose 12 people and took them with him so that they could get to know him and his message well.

Let us reflect on Jesus' educational program for his apostles. His program is that they should be with him and be sent out to preach” (14).

They should first be with Jesus. Can you call that an educational program? Yes, it was the best educational program of Jesus - a personal educational program of Jesus.

Being with Jesus was in many ways the best educational program for the apostles. By being with Jesus, they were able to get to know Jesus more deeply. They would recognize Jesus as the Son of God and Christ, learn the good news of the forgiveness of sins, the power of Jesus and the resurrection.

As a result, they will know Jesus and his power in the best possible way and understand his message correctly. That is why Peter was able to confess a little later: “You are the Christ” (8:29), or Thomas: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). They were then to preach Jesus and the gospel reliably and powerfully. In addition, they themselves were to raise up other disciples who would become like Jesus and preach the gospel reliably and with authority.

Being together with Jesus should also serve to ensure that the apostles have a heartfelt relationship of trust and love with Jesus and with each other. The apostles were always allowed to accompany and eat with Jesus and work with him. This enabled them to experience Jesus' love for them. In this way, they accepted his love more deeply and loved him with all their hearts. Because of this love relationship, they were willing to trust and obey Jesus' word and lay down their lives for Jesus' sake.

Being with Jesus also helped them to become good Bible teachers and prayer warriors. By accompanying Jesus, they were able to see how Jesus prayed to God and received direction from God. By accompanying Jesus, they were able to learn God's Word from Him and become good Bible teachers.

By being together, they were able to become more like Jesus. Through everyday fellowship with Jesus, they were able to recognize their own weaknesses and shortcomings and become more and more like Jesus. This enabled them to recognize Jesus' holiness, righteousness, love, faithfulness, etc. With the help of Jesus, they were able to cast off their weaknesses and sinfulness and put on the holy inwardness of Jesus.  In this way they could grow into saints and apostles of Jesus Christ and preach the gospel everywhere in the world with full power and credibility.

Today, Jesus Christ is usually not visibly present with us.

How can we grow as Jesus' disciples and be good messengers of Jesus?

The answer is: “By being together”.

Although Jesus Christ is no longer with us physically, he is with us in spirit. When we are together in the name of Jesus Christ, Jesus is also in our midst, as he promised in MT. 18:20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

If we get to know this Jesus well on the basis of the Bible and become like him and have Bible study, prayer fellowship, table fellowship, home fellowship and joint invitations according to his words, we will become more and more like Jesus Christ over time and communicate Jesus Christ and the gospel in a credible and powerful way.

Let's read verses 13-15 again: “And he went up on a mountain and called to him those he wanted, and they went to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also called apostles, to be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, and that they might have authority to cast out evil spirits.”