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But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God." But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out demons: Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the same Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
- Mark 3:7-19a
On Saturday, we read that it happened that Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, "Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" But He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?" And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath." And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God." But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. The Gospel makes it clear how famous Jesus now is. Although He is Galilean, and we've read that His ministry so far has been focused within Galilee, people are now coming from everywhere in Jewish territory -- not just Galilee, but also south in Judea and Jerusalem, from east beyond the Jordan, from far north beyond Galilee in Tyre and Sidon. Everybody comes to Him. He's so pressed by the crowds He's in danger of being crushed. All want to touch Him because of the healings He's done; there is a sense of the power that comes from Him. They have to keep a boat ready in case they need to flee the crowd. And there are some among these great crowds who know exactly who He is: the unclean spirits. They understand His power even more directly than do the people. But it's not time for this revelation; He commands them to be quiet. At this point, He's preaching far and wide -- and staying far away from the authorities who plot against Him.
And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out demons: Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the same Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. "On the mountain" is an important landmark experience in the ministry of Jesus. This time it is the appointment of the Twelve. They are called alternatively disciples or apostles: a disciple is a "learner," an apostle is "one who is sent out." They are with Him to learn, He will send them out to preach. As part of their purpose He's given them power to heal sickness and to cast out demons, thus spreading His ministry. In all the lists of the Twelve, Judas Iscariot is noted as the one who also betrayed Him.
As Jesus' ministry has "exploded" into a kind of wild popularity, we see various elements competing for our attention. It's not just a one-sided story, so to speak. The crowds seek Him out to such an extent that He cannot even preach by the sea, away from the cities, without being thronged by the mob -- so much so, that a boat has to be kept ready in case He's in danger of being crushed by the people. This is due to His healing ministry; so many want to touch Him that they crowd around Him. At the same time, there are other factors that are seemingly out of His control. The unclean spirits know who He is, and they openly call Him the Son of God. The religious authorities have decided He's problematic to Him; they would like to put an end to His ministry and they plot against Him as a result of their confrontations with Him. An open understanding that He is Messiah would really set things into motion with them, and it's not time for that. It's not time for His "exodus" -- His Passion, death, and Resurrection. Jesus' advent into the world isn't a simple mission; it's very complex. Our world is complex. There are so many influences in it, so many things can "go wrong." And this the great thing that we have to recognize, that it's not a simple story; it's a very complex and kind of messy story. Our freedom guarantees that we have the capacity to make all kinds of choices; even the unclean spirits, who must obey His commands, still are "acting out," so to speak. There is a kind of chaos involved here, and perhaps chaos characterizes what it is to be "without God" better than anything else. It's a kind of disorder that we encounter without the principle of Logos to set it straight, to put things in order. The unclean spirits play havoc with people's health, mental and physical. The leadership, in their own desire to enforce their own kind of order, see Jesus' healing as something that disrupts their system, their places. And all the expectations for Messiah in all the people, the envy of the leadership, the nature of worldly power, all make for chaos indeed; all this means it is not time for His identity to be revealed. But God Incarnate does not simply order and command everything and everyone to be exactly as He wants them to be; He doesn't compel life into order. Jesus' currency is love; it is faith. This is the way His ministry works. He's not here to turn us into slaves, nor to command and impel like an emperor would. This is a mission of love. It's an invitation to a wedding feast, and it's up to us how we are going to respond. This is the world in which we live and in which we find ourselves, a world created by a God who loves us, who offers us freedom, choice, and the capacity to love. What do we do with it? How are we "rational sheep," the ones who will choose for Him? Today Jesus chooses His twelve, and even one of them will betray Him. Into this very confusing, messy world comes the Savior: but it's up to us how we respond to Him, learn from Him, and participate in His mission. Jesus was not born into a perfect world as God Incarnate. Instead, He offers us a choice while in this world, to be like Him, to share in His mission, to follow Him. The world remains imperfect, complicated, with betrayals and misunderstandings, envies and rivalries, problems we don't control, inconvenient stumbling blocks, and difficult choices to make -- but through it all, we have Him. We have everything He's given and all that He offers. He is the light of the world, the Son of God, the Way.
