The Gospel of Mark 3:13-21
“13 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those
whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve (whom
He also named apostles) to be with Him and to send them out to preach, 15 and
to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon
(to whom He gave the name Peter), 17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John
the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of
Thunder”); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas,
and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot; 19 and
Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 20 And
He came home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat a
meal.21 And when His own people heard this, they went out to take custody of
Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.””
Jesus departed from the sea and went up to the mountain and
summoned those whom he had chosen to be His disciples and Apostles. He first
went up to pray to His Father for He was about to promote His disciples. They
were to His ministers that would be granted the power to heal and cast out demonic
spirits, thus Jesus sought the wisdom of Yahweh. Jesus prayed for them.
He chose them and set them apart by His own good pleasure
and conferred on them only the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls whom He
will, for he is a free Agent, and His grace is His own. I did not choose God, I
wouldn’t on my own. Nothing in me before I was found led me to a place where I
would be worthy of where I am today. It was Christ Jesus who called me out of
the kingdom of darkness I once lived in and brought me into His wonderful kingdom
of light.
And so it is with all born-again believers, for all are
called by God and are His chosen family, His royal priesthood, and a Holy
nation, a people for God’s own possession so that we may proclaim the
excellencies of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
This is how we are set apart and made Holy, by God’s good pleasure.
So He did with His disciples, “He ordained
them (probably by the imposition of hands, which was a ceremony used among
the Jews), that they should be with him constantly, to be witnesses
of his doctrine, manner of life, and patience, that they might fully
know it, and be able to give an account of it; and especially that they
might attest the truth of his miracles; they must be with him to
receive instructions from him, that they might be qualified to give
instructions to others.”(Matthew Henry)
Jesus ordained them for the work of miracles. They were
given the ability to heal sickness and cast out devils. He was life and full of
life and the Holy Spirit beyond measure. It was His to give and He gave to
these twelve disciples. He gave it to the weak and foolish things that the
strong and wise may marvel and be dumbfounded at the power of God. This was a
great honor for Jesus to lift and ordain these men.
These twelve were numbered and chosen according to the
number of tribes of Israel. Like the Patriarchs of the faith, each does not
represent a tribe per se, but the twelve patriarchs in essence. They would be
the pillars of the new covenant and through them, Christ would establish His
kingdom in the world through the teaching of His doctrine and the power of
grace.
They are named not in the same order as they were in
Matthew, nor by couples, here Peter is put first and Judas last. Matthew is put
before Thomas, but in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew puts himself after Thomas;
he was far from insisting upon the order of his calling.
Mark takes notice in his list of the apostles, that Christ
called James and John Boanerges, which is, The sons of
thunder; perhaps they were remarkable for a loud commanding voice,
they were thundering preachers; or, rather, it denotes the zeal and fervency of
their spirits, which would make them active for God above their brethren. Yet
John, one of those sons of thunder, was full of love and
tenderness, as appears by his epistles, and was the beloved disciple.
Abd that is the wonderful power of Yahweh. He can take weak,
foolish, and even vile men and women and change them into the most wonderful,
kind, gentle, and loving people. For those who are known by Jesus care about
others to look to their interest over their own. They learn to be still and
calm in the face of all trials, they learn not to fear anything but their God. They
learn to love and respect life, for all are made in the image of God and when
that image is marred or taken away it angers them, for we abhor what is evil
and hold fast to what is good. And they learn what it to sacrifice that which
is immediate for the long haul.
For when Jesus came home with the twelve the crowds gathered
around him so that they couldn’t eat. The multitudes came and pressed upon with
many tasks they couldn’t even eat a piece of bread, let alone a full meal. Yet
he did not shut his doors against the petitioners but welcomed them and gave
each of them an answer of peace. Those whose hearts are enlarged in
the work of God can easily bear great inconveniences to themselves and would
rather lose a meal’s meat at any time than slip an opportunity of doing good.
But not all see the good that is being done. Those who were
His people, His family, and His friends, thought He was mad, much like people
thought the prophets of the Old Testament were mad for the works they did and
messages they brought for Yahweh. Most were alone and were only sought when
there was a need, but never really cared for them. And here we see they thought
Jesus had lost His senses.
Isn’t that what you think? Do you absent-mindedly stare at
those in front of you and think that they have lost their senses? We just
muttered words and they fell on deaf ears, never really listening to what was
being said. Did you not hear what Jesus can do for you? He can change your life
so that you do what is good, right, and true. He can pour His love into your
hearts and bring you peace, first with God and then in yourselves.
Do you consider yourself a good person? Understand this, Jesus came to save the lost, to save sinners. Sinners repress the truth and hide in their darkness, but sinners who know God, are people who know in their hearts that they are vile, rebellious, haters of God who are lost and they stand in condemnation and will be judged and sent to hell where they will burn for eternity in the lake of fire.
But God so loved His creation, Mankind, that He sent His Son
Christ Jesus who seeks you this day. He can forgive you of your sins and
restore you whole again, for He has the authority and the power of redemption. You
who are lost in the ideologies of this world, imprisoned by the doctrines of
men, slaves to your sexual desires and perversions, and pursuits of the flesh
and mind, who rebel at the created order of God and stand condemned to death
and destruction and are destined for eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
Jesus seeks you right now and brings life to all who repent
and believe. Jesus the Messiah has risen from the dead, conquering it, and
lives. He is in your midst with us, but you cannot see. You are blind and your
heart is darkened thus we bring the light that we proclaim.
For death will soon take you and when you die you will face
judgment for your sins. God is just and cannot by His nature abide by sin nor
dismiss it. Every act of rebellion and transgression against God is wrapped up
in sin, yet you have foolishly chosen to do it because you love your sin, rather
than follow Christ and His righteousness that would truly enrich you.
From the Ten Commandments, we have false worship,
idolatry, misusing God’s name and living vain lives, violating the Sabbath,
dishonoring parents, murder, adultery, stealing, lying/false witness, and
coveting.
In Galatians
5:19-21, we are told, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred,
discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Jesus bore all our sins; He bore all the sins of all who
believe in Him. He suffered the totality
of God’s Wrath upon Himself that every sinner willingly deserves so that those
who believe in Jesus may have peace with God. Turn away from your unrighteous
sinful ways which lead to death and turn toward and follow Jesus which leads to
life.
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