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 sicknesses and to cast out demons

 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 sicknesses 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 name Boanerges, that is "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 

- Mark 3:7-19a

On Saturday, we read that Jesus and the disciples went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck he 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.  My study says that Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea for more than one reason.  First, the authorities now see Him as an antagonist and plot against Him.  Secondly, there are other places to go and people to preach to.  We can see the crowds begin to gather to Him from Judea and Jerusalem and other regions closer to the center of religious authority, the temple at Jerusalem.  Jews are also coming to Him from the Gentile regions of Tyre and Sidon to the north of Galilee. Again we read not only about preaching and healing, but also the response of the demons, a kind of signal rising from the spiritual reality not obviously evident to us.  Jesus hides His identity for various reasons, as was predicted by Isaiah of the Messiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).   The growing hostility of the leadership to Him, the people's common expectation and misunderstanding that the Messiah will be a kind of political leader, and Christ's desire for genuine faith in response to Him that is not merely based on miracles (or "signs").

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 sicknesses 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 name Boanerges, that is "Sons of Thunder"; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.   That these twelve will be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons tells us the role of both disciples and apostles.  Disciple means "learner," and apostle means "one sent out."  The role of discipleship is like that of a child learning from its parent; they will be with Christ and close to Him for precisely this purpose.  Like children or heirs, they are given power that is Christ's, which He shares with them.  My study bible points out that the names of the twelve are not the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.  Note that the name Matthew is now listed; in Friday's reading, as Jesus passed by the tax office and called him to discipleship ("Follow Me"), he was called Levi.  The change of name is perhaps indicative of the change in his life, a depth of repentance and the grace that is at work.  Matthew means "Gift of the Lord."  We note also that it is made clear from the very beginning of the discussion of disciples that these are those personally chosen by Christ, as He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  In the listing of the disciples, it is always noted that Judas Iscariot also betrayed Him.  In John's Gospel, Jesus will say, "Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70).

We get an idea of what evil or the demonic is from the "hidden" places in the text that reveal it to us.  "Hidden" is another way of interpreting the word "mystery," which is Greek really means something like "secret."  We're given glimpses of this world in the responses of the demons to Christ, and also in the understanding that Judas, His betrayer, is one who was personally chosen by Him, wanted in the words of today's text.  Jesus has authority over the demons, He forbids them to speak and reveal His identity (another core of mystery).  In the quotation from John above, the word devil in the Greek is diabolos.  This word can have many meanings, and it's a reference to Satan.  It is associated with slander, false accusation, calumny -- one who does such things.  In the Greek it also means deceiver, or one who betrays.  In each case, the effort is to destroy another.  It is important, I think, to contrast the understanding of the Greek word for faith (pistis) with this meaning of betrayal and falsehood.  The real root meaning of pistis is "trust."  We put our trust in Christ, in the Lord.  Those who slander, who betray, who seek merely to destroy, are unworthy of such trust -- and it is we who suffer if we put our trust there.  This is what happens even to Christ as Son of Man; he is betrayed to Judas Iscariot.   Whether or not He knew this would happen in advance is another part of mystery; to us it is not disclosed.  But what we can perhaps infer or understand from the story of Christ's life and ministry is that as fully human He undergoes and suffers from evil as we do, to a depth we pray none of us has to face.  Everything the human race may be subject to, He is also subject to.  And as such this is part of His ministry of grace; God knows what we suffer.  And He is here to give us the way through a world that is not "perfect," and to give us the grace -- as He shares His power with the disciples -- to be a part of His ministry, a part of the struggle against evil.  In this picture we're given in the Gospel, it is perhaps most important to understand that evil is sneaky, tricky; the whole nature of deceit is not to be obvious.  In John's Gospel, Jesus' "brothers" taunt Him, telling Him that He should "show Yourself to the world" (John 7:3-9).   But Jesus knows this is a bad idea; He needs to be wary and careful of how His ministry unfolds for the true goals of God.  The notion of heresy gives us another clue about evil:  it looks good, it's not obviously bad.  Jesus affirms this understanding in the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30):  the weeds (or "tares") resemble the wheat -- they will grow together until harvest time.  If we are truly to understand the nature of evil, we understand that it's not what appears to us as obvious, not easily identified.   A betrayer, deceiver, or backbiter isn't someone we have foreknowledge about.  On the contrary, it's more likely someone we trust in our innocence or unknowing.  The question is, what do we do with our experience, and who do we trust to lead us through the journey of life and the work of faith?  These are the realities revealed by Christ in His life as Jesus.  These are the truths given to us about our world -- and also the mission, until His Return, at which time to harvest is His and so is the Judgment.  Jesus also tells us, "By their fruits you shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).  This is the way our lives are.  We are in the struggle that He showed us.  The real mission to follow Him is in understanding His way for us to go through it, and the choices we make to follow His commands rather than what we might assume is good.