And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted

 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, and 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 it happened that Jesus 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, and 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.   As we read in Saturday's reading (above), by this time the Pharisees and Herodians (the followers of Herod Antipas, "king" or tetrarch of Galilee) are plotting against Jesus, to destroy Him.  My study bible says that Jesus withdrew both because the Pharisees were planning to destroy Him (although it is not time for Him to die), and also to preach in other places.  As we read, many from Galilee followed Him, but now His fame is spreading so that not only are people coming from Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and also from beyond the Jordan River to the east, but also from far northern "Gentile" territories of mixed populations, from Tyre and Sidon.  (See this map for locations.)  All of these are the territories that make up the home of the Jewish populations that remained at Christ's time in and around historical Israel.  The emphasis is on how great the multitude is, and also how assiduously they seek Christ, as He now directs His disciples to keep a small boat ready so that He can leave if He needs to avoid being crushed by the crowd.  We're told that this is because those who have afflictions seek Him for healing, desiring even to touch Him.  But also there remains the phenomenon of the unclean spirits who know who He is.  We read into the text on these occasions the surprise of the spirits that He is among them and in this world, but also Jesus' admonition -- His command reflecting His true authority -- that they should not make Him known.  His ministry must unfold in a particularly way and in a particular time.  These facts we would do well to appreciate in our own lives and in accordance with our own faith.

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.  The experiences described as up on a mountain are that hint at the heavenly mingled with the worldly, times of spiritual revelation.  Here at this time the twelve are appointed from among His disciples.  Christ invests them with authority and power.  They will now also become apostles whom He might send out to preach (apostle in the Greek means one who is "sent out" on a mission), and He also shares with them the power to heal sicknesses and cat out demons.  In all listings of the Twelve, we note that Judas is always mentioned as the one who betrayed Him.

Christ's ministry has reached a kind of tipping point; He is ready now, with the swelling ranks of people who seem driven to see Him and even to touch Him, to appoint the Twelve -- those disciples who also become apostles.  My study bible notes that frequently the words "disciples" and "apostles" are used interchangeably for these twelve men.   In the Greek, disciple means literally "learner" and apostle means "one sent out."  In this sense, we are all disciples of Christ, and our learning is a lifelong journey of following Him, His way.  As we live our lives in accordance with our faith, we are also, in one sense or another, "sent out" to live as faithful in a world frequently hostile to His teachings.  In today's reading, up on a mountain, Christ shares His power with these men.  It is, my study bible points out, His own power which He shares with particular people in particular ways.  To my mind, this is a kind of investment by Creator in creature.  The early Church will come to know special charisms, or gifts of the Spirit, which St. Paul writes about.  In Galatians 5, St. Paul lists "fruits of the Spirit" which are the result of a life lived in faith, products of the synergy between the divine and human in this new covenant given by Christ (see Galatians 5:22-23).  Christ, in a revelation of this new covenant, shares His divine power and authority with human beings.  We don't know why and how, but through the lives of the saints of the Church over two millennia we are given what it means that particular people show forth the gifts and fruits of this divine/human synergy -- embodied through the Incarnation itself -- in their own lives.  As I have often written in commentary, there really is no such thing as a cookie-cutter saint.  Each becomes his or her own dynamic personal  story, a life of devotion to God unfolded in particular ways, reflecting our origin as unique creatures of an infinite and infinitely creative God, and also the particular ways in which grace works in the world through each of us.  The saints are not stories told in holy places and ancient literature simply for our interest.  They are rather examples, models given to us of what God's work in our own lives might take on.  For this very reason, saint's lives often look to us strange or peculiar in light of modern society -- and even, we must come to recognize -- the particular mores of their own time and place.  In the Orthodox tradition, for instance, there exist a type of saint called "Fools for Christ," whose own deliberately chosen actions or lifestyles resemble forms of mental illness, chosen to reflect that which is outside of the society and frequently manifest in times when strict social hierarchy and structure were harshly enforced.  It is simply one way in which grace pours into worldly life when it would seem to be impossible, a perfect image of the work of the Spirit in the world.  This act of Christ taking these men to the mountaintop, and investing His own power in them for ministry, healing, and the casting out of demons is the perfect image to capture the work of God overcoming the "prince of this world," and what a truly revolutionary or radical ministry is always at work.  From the roots up, the purely materialistic structures of this world are shaken.   These powers Christ comes to displace in our world are still at work, but they always take on new form, ready to call the reality of the divine illusory.  But the Spirit is infinitely creative, and the lives of the saints reflect how the work of the divine will always find a way to make Christ's ministry felt and known, even by the fruits which St. Paul lists.  St. Paul also speaks of the "peace that passes understanding" (Philippians 4:7), even as Christ promises the Twelve in John's Gospel that He gives them of both His joy and peace, but that He gives "not as the world gives" (John 14:27).  We should understand that these forces are still very much at work in the world, and they work through us in ways hidden to those who cannot understand them, even in the surprising depths of our own hearts -- even as Christ taught us to pray and do good works in secret, so that our "Father who sees in secret" may also reward us openly (Matthew 6:1-20).  That is, in ways those without spiritual perception will still fail to understand, but which appear openly in the world.  It would do us good to consider the ways in which our modern lives hide the gifts of the Spirit, and a fully material understanding of what is "good" or worthwhile also seeks to blind us to this synergy of God at work through us and in the world (i.e., do our prayers make a difference?)   Our faith may depend upon this very thing, and our understanding of our love of God and how it works in us and through us as well.  Our focus is not on what the whole world seems to think; rather, our faith must work through our experience of it, and the journey of its deepening and unfolding.