JESUS' MINISTRY AND THE DISCIPLES' APPOINTMENT (Mark 3:7-19)
INTRODUCTION:
Mark opened his Gospel with these words, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” (Mark 1:1, NASB95)[1] That Jesus Christ was the Son of God was then confirmed by the testimony of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist, and even God Himself when He affirmed His Son at His baptism. Jesus Christ further validated this truth through the miracles that He performed. This truth was seen throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry as He displayed His divine, supernatural power and authority over Satan, demons, disease, sin, and the Sabbath. Even the disciples immediately left everything and followed Him when He called them. Over and over throughout His ministry Jesus exercised His divine power and authority, giving irrefutable proof that He was who He claimed to be, the incarnate Son of God and Savior of the world.
In our passage this morning Mark summarizes Jesus Christ’s ministry. In doing this Mark zeroes in on three key themes that he has already clearly shown us. First, he will focus on Jesus’ growing popularity and how far it reaches. Second, Mark will again describe for us Jesus’ power and authority over the physical and the spiritual world, and third we will see as He personally chooses and appoints twelve men to be His disciples. All three of these themes focus in and give proof to the central theological truth of verse 11 which states of Jesus, “You are the Son of God.” Let’s pray and then turn to our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 3:7-19. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 3:7-19,
“Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was. And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons. And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.” (Mark 3:7–19, NASB95)[2]
JESUS’ POPULARITY (Mark 3:7-9)
After His clash with the Pharisees, the latest one being over the Sabbath, which ended with the Pharisees conspiring with Herodians how they might destroy Jesus. Jesus knew what they were plotting and knowing it was not yet time for His arrest and crucifixion, we read that He withdrew to the sea with His disciples. He put some distance between Himself and those plotting to put Him to death. Jesus traveled along the north end of the Sea of Galilee to a solitary place.
When it speaks of His disciples here it is speaking of not only those who He has called, but also of an unknown number of those who had chosen to follow Him. The word translated “disciple” simply means a “learner” or a “student.” At this point it refers to those who were not just curious observers, but those who wanted to attach themselves to Jesus as their teacher, as their rabbi. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, He had many disciples, some of them were superficial and fell away after a time, but also in this crowd were those who would follow Him to the end, and scattered among them were the twelve that He would choose to be His closest disciples.
By leaving the city and going out to this isolated place Jesus left behind those who were plotting His death for the time being. But He did not escape the crowds. Twice in the first two verses Mark describes the size of the multitude that followed Him out into this desolate place as great. First, he writes that a great multitude from Galilee followed Him. Even though Jesus had been in Galilee and had been ministering in the synagogues and along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the news about Him and the miracles He performed traveled far beyond Galilee and crowds were coming from everywhere bringing their sick and diseased and demon possessed to Him to be healed. Mark writes that they were coming from Judea and Jerusalem to the south of Galilee, and also from farther south from Idumea which is on the southern edge of the Negev south of the Dead Sea and on the east of Judea, in the area that is called Edom in the Old Testament. The crowds were also coming from the east side of the Jordan, formerly the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. People were also coming from the region of Tyre and Sidon which is north along the Mediterranean Sea in what was then known as Phoenicia, a predominately Gentile area. Those that gathered and the fact that Mark uses the term great twice likely indicates that there were thousands flocking out to see Jesus, if not tens of thousands. The number of people and the size of the crowds coming from all over the region of Israel and beyond shows us just how the fame of Jesus had been spreading first throughout Galilee and then being carried to every part of Israel and the surrounding regions. It is not clear if this crowd included Gentiles, but since they were coming from Phoenicia it would seem that this immense crowd was a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The popularity of Jesus had no equal in the history of the world, not even John the Baptist had seen crowds this size. Even King Herod was interested in the news that had reached Him concerning Jesus and His miracles.
Imagine if you were a part of the crowd that was pressing into see Jesus, you would have experienced supernatural displays of power never before seen in all of history. The blind received their sight, the deaf could suddenly hear, the mute could speak, the crippled and the paralyzed were healed and having come on crutches or carried on stretchers, they walked away whole. The sick and diseased were cured and the leprous cleansed. It was miracle upon miracle, beyond anything anyone could have imagined. With nothing more than a word or a touch Jesus brought immediate and complete healing and restoration to those who suffered from even the most debilitating defects, diseases, and disabilities. In addition, demon-possessed souls were delivered immediately.
The miracles of Jesus were public and undeniable which is why people kept coming. No one questioned His miracles. There is absolutely no record of any effort to deny any of them. Not even those who wanted to put Him to death ever suggested that His miracles were not true. Yet they refused to believe in Him. Not able to deny Jesus’ power we will learn that His enemies will seek to discredit Him by attributing the source of His power to Satan. But no matter what the religious leaders said, they could not keep the people from flocking out to see Jesus. The crowds were so large that Mark writes in verse 9, “And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him;” (Mark 3:9, NASB95)[3] This was do to the fact that He had healed many and people were crowding into Him just to be able to touch Him and be healed. From this we learn that most of those who had come to see Jesus were only there to experience His miracles. Even though the people were attracted to Him by His powerful works, they would find offense at His piercing words. Many of those who followed Him as disciples ultimately rejected His message and left Him. In the end, near the end of His ministry Jesus would pronounce judgment on the unbelief of the majority of those who had experienced His miracles and had heard Him preach the truth of God, calling for repentance and belief in Him for salvation.
JESUS’ POWER (Mark 3:10-12)
As I already mentioned, Jesus’ popularity was due to His miracles this is what drew the people, but popularity was not His goal. The miracles that Jesus did had one purpose, they were to authenticate that He truly was who He claimed He was and that as the divine King His message of salvation was true. The majority of Jesus’ miracles were acts of healing. These miracles required the immediate reversal of disease and decay and the restoration of the human body. Because Jesus Christ is the Creator of the universe, no sickness or disease or disability proved too difficult for Him to heal. He instantly created new limbs and organs, restoring eyes, ears, hands, feet, and bodies to full health and function.
Those crowding around Him were doing so to just touch Him and be healed. Later we will read in Mark 6:56, “Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.” (Mark 6:56, NASB95)[4] The people learned that Jesus’ healing power was so available and effective was all that was required was to touch even the fringe of His cloak and you would experience instant and complete healing.
Jesus was not only healing those who had physical diseases or disabilities, but He was also casting out demons. Mark writes, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, ‘You are the Son of God!’ And He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.” (Mark 3:11–12, NASB95)[5] Satan’s demons are everywhere, and most often they work covertly to destroy the souls of those under their influence. Demons are hidden most often or like Satan they masquerade as angels of light. They could not hide themselves from Jesus. In His presence, they panicked and threw whatever person they were possessing down before Jesus and blurted out His identity; “You are the Son of God!” These demons fearfully recognized Jesus for who He truly was, the Sovereign of the universe. Even though the demons’ declaration of Jesus’ identity was theologically correct, Jesus was not looking for publicity from demons. He desired no promotion or testimony of who He was from the realm of Satan, so “He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.” (Mark 3:12b, NASB95)[6] The authority that Jesus exercised over the demons is another example of His divine nature. Not only did the unclean spirits recognize Him as the Son of God, but when He cast them out, they fled under His authority. When He told them to be quiet, they obeyed. They may have been His most vicious enemies, but they were bound to submit to His authority as the Creator of the universe and all it contains.
The incomparable power and authority that Jesus had over the demons caused the people to wonder who He was. Who on earth possessed such authority? Who could banish both demons and disease? Who was this Man? Mark’s Gospel constantly answers these questions, this Man is none other than the Son of God. This was confirmed by God the Father at Jesus’ baptism, the demons could not help but acknowledge it when He confronted them. Eventually, Jesus closest disciples would come to understand this same truth. Sadly, the nation of Israel as a whole never did. Under the influence of their apostate religious leaders, the people rejected Jesus, refusing to recognize Him as their divine King and Messiah, the Son of God.
JESUS’ APPOINTS 12 DISCIPLES (Mark 3:13-19)
Mark now turns his attention away from the popularity and power of Jesus to focus on the appointment of a select group of disciples. Mark has already introduced us to some of this group of twelve men. These twelve were personally selected by Jesus to be His apostles, they would be His legal representatives and royal ambassadors even after He was gone.
By choosing 12 disciples Jesus was making a judgment on Israel’s unbelief. Those who were supposed to be the shepherds of the people of Israel hated Him because He exposed them for what they truly were, hypocrites full of greed and corruption. When the religious leaders of Israel rejected God’s Son, God rejected them. In place of them Jesus chose a group of twelve ordinary laymen, not one of them came out of the religious establishment. That fact was a rebuke to the entire system. The number 12 was not an arbitrary or accidental number, it represented that in the Messiah’s kingdom these twelve men would be given the responsibility to rule over the twelve tribes of Israel. By selecting twelve apostles, Jesus was sending a clear message to the leaders of Israel that they were spiritually disqualified and as such they were shut out of His kingdom. Jesus confronted the religious leaders directly, publicly, and repeatedly with such rebukes. Instead of repenting, their hatred of Him grew and the determination to kill Him increased.
Jesus knew that their hatred would ultimately lead to His death, just as was planned by His Father. With the cross ahead of Him, Jesus made preparations for what would happen after His death. Who would carry on the message of the gospel to the world after He, the Messiah, had been killed? The answer to that question started with these twelve men. Jesus selected these twelve ordinary men in order to display His sovereignty and glory through them as He trained them and empowered them to preach the gospel and to establish the church. As Mark notes, “And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him.” (Mark 3:13, NASB95)[7] The parallel passage in Luke tells us that He spent the whole night in prayer, after a full night of communion with His Father, Jesus summoned those whom He Himself wanted. He had already called Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew. Along with these five men Jesus calls and appoints seven others to be His apostles. Up to this point these twelve followed Jesus as part of His larger groups of disciples. It was now time for them to be pulled in closer to Jesus from the larger group. Up to this point Jesus had focused most of His time with the crowds, as He moves forward, He will focus His attention on the training of these twelve men.
Mark gives us two reasons for Jesus appointing these twelve men. First, so that they could be with Him. They would spend intimate time with Jesus, they would be personally mentored by the Messiah Himself. They would be trained by Him so that when He was gone, they could continue to spread the gospel and lay the foundation of the church. Second, Jesus appointed these twelve so that He could send them out to preach. They were to be trained to be the first generation of heralds of the good news of salvation, modeling the example set for them by the Lord Jesus.
This calling would not be easy, they would be hated and persecuted by the religious establishment. Yet they would have a greater impact on the world more than any other group in history. At Peter’s first message on the day of Pentecost, 3000 souls were added to the church, and it continued to grow from that point. The only explanation for such immediate and widespread influence is that they had been with the Lord Jesus and His Spirit empowered them. They did not start out as preachers, as many as seven of them were fishermen, one was a tax collector, another a freedom fighter. The only theological education they received was from Jesus Himself. When Jesus was done with them, those who started out as learners or disciples became apostles or sent ones.
In appointing them as His delegates, Jesus gave them the authority to cast out demons and Matthew tells us that Jesus gave them authority and the power to heal every kind of disease and sickness. As Jesus’ representatives, this authority and power authenticated their position.
Mark ends this passage by naming for us the twelve that were chosen and appointed by Jesus to be with Him and to be sent out by Him to preach. This is one of four lists of the disciples that are found in the Gospels. All four lists begin with Simon who is called Peter, this is to indicate that he is the spokesman for the other eleven. Jesus is the one that gave him the name Peter which means a rock and he truly became a rock for the church. Next listed are James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and Jesus gave them the name Boanerges, Sons of thunder. Peter’s nickname was what Jesus wanted Him to become. The nickname of James and John referred to a hotheaded and judgmental attitude toward others that they needed to forsake. This name was to remind them of this attitude and to avoid it. These three became Jesus inner circle of the twelve. Next Andrew, Peter’s brother is named. Philip is the fifth named, after him is Bartholomew who began to follow Jesus due to the influence of Philip. His name means “Son of Tolmai” and is in fact a surname. His first name is Nathaniel. Next Matthew, the former tax collector is named, who later would write the book of Matthew. Thomas is number eight, and from him we get the term doubting Thomas because he said he would not believe in the resurrection until he put his fingers in the nail prints and his hand in Jesus side. Ninth is James the son of Alphaeus, not much is known about him or his father. Next listed is Thaddaeus, also called Judas the son of James or Judas, not Iscariot. Again, not much is known about him. Simon the Zealot is the next in the list, and as his name suggests Simon was an anti-Roman revolutionary. The fact that Matthew, a former tax collector for Rome, and Simon were both members of the twelve shows the diversity of this group. Before meeting Jesus, Simon would not have thought twice about killing someone like Matthew to advance his anti-Roman cause. Last on the list is the infamous Judas Iscariot, he is always listed last in the lists of the apostles because he is the betrayer of Jesus, and this is always mentioned when his name appears in a list. His treachery and betrayal may have been a surprise to everyone, but Jesus was never deceived by Judas. As Jesus told the disciples in John 6:70, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70b, NASB95)[8] Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray Him, it was a part of God’s plan and prophesied in the book of Psalms. (Psalm 41:9)
CONCLUSION:
As we come to a close this morning and we look at this passage and at the twelve men that Jesus chose to be His disciples it must be agreed that from a human standpoint these twelve men were odd choices. First, because they were uneducated and had no theological training. Second, they were untrained for what Jesus chose them to do. And third, they were ordinary men with little influence outside their own circle. But, from God’s viewpoint, they were the perfect choice—weak and imperfect vessels through whom the power of Jesus could be gloriously displayed. Before their lives were over, God had used them to turn the world upside down. That our Lord can use such ordinary men to accomplish His great purposes highlights the supernatural purpose of His sovereign power. In this short passage Mark gives us a sweeping summary of that power shown in the miracles Jesus performed, shown in His authority over both the physical and the spiritual world. That power was also demonstrated in the men whom He chose. He took twelve ordinary men and transformed them into the powerful foundation stones of His church.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.