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, 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 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.  My study bible points out that Jesus withdrew both because the Pharisees were planning to destroy Him (although it was not time for His Passion and death), and also in order to preach in other places.  We note that His fame is growing now outside of Galilee, in addition to a great multitude from Galilee who followed Him.  At this point, He is like a pop star, with crowds who might crush Him; they are desperate to touch Him for healing.  Once again, the text emphasizes that Jesus does not wish to be made known as Son of God through the unclean spirits.  He seeks a particular way for this ministry to unfold, a particular kind of faith that is genuine, and to avoid unnecessary conflict with the religious authorities before it is time for confrontation in the fullness of His ministry.

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.  Jesus chooses twelve that they might be with Him as disciples (meaning "learners" in the Greek) and who will also become His apostles (meaning those who will be "sent out").  Note that they will preach, and to heal sicknesses and cast out demons.  My study bible notes that the names of the Twelve aren't the same in all lists, as many people had more than one name.

We note that in becoming apostles, the first priority the text tells us they will have is to preach.  After that they have been given power by Jesus to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.  Healing is important, but it is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1:1), that takes priority.  They will preach the good news of the Kingdom.  On their first missionary journey, they will preach that people should repent (6:12).  Within the context of the Kingdom, they will heal and cast out demons.  We have a framework for healing, a framework for the struggle of forces which they will oppose on spiritual terms and through the power that Jesus gives them.  Throughout the Gospels, and in the times of confrontation with the leadership, there will always be the tension between the impact of the healings  made during this ministry (including casting out demons) and the message of the Kingdom.  The people flock to Jesus because of these healings.  Those with ailments come from everywhere.  They want something concrete from Jesus, and perhaps also they want to see the miraculous.  The religious leadership will demand from Jesus some staggering and stupendous sign, showing or proving to them that He is the Christ, but He will not give in to this demand.  There is always the great tension between faith that is genuine, that is capable of truly desiring to serve God, and a kind of faith that is the product of our own desires, of what we think we can use in life, and what will be useful or desired by us.  To love God is a whole different ballgame.  To desire to serve God is another level entirely in terms of the depth of faith of which we might be capable.  And these chosen as apostles will be called on for sacrifice and missionary activity that takes them far away from what they know and what they expect.  It will demand of them their own changes, and is not simply an answer to desires and wished-for outcomes.  While many receive healing, which remains a sign of the presence of the Kingdom, let us not forget that these men serve by both giving those healings and preaching the gospel, even teaching repentance.  It is their deepening faith which allows them to move forward into the roles Jesus chooses for them.  And we need to start there.  Do you ask what Christ wishes of you or chooses for you?  In prayer, do we pray only what we wish for, or do we also pray to understand God's will for us, or where Christ would ask us to go in moving forward into our faith?  Are we ready to ask what we need to give up to move forward in faith?  These are pertinent and important questions to ask, because faith hinges on understanding how we move forward in deepening our communion, and in so doing, shining a light that expresses our faith in the world.  Simply dreaming up what we would like, or what we think is good, isn't the complete picture for faith.  Faith relies on the presence of God, who might be asking us to repent, to change, even to sacrifice something we might rely on or an image we cherish.  At this time of Lent, we can deepen our prayer simply by asking to please be led forward to the place that is pleasing to God.  It re-centers our understanding of relationship, that we seek to follow and to find the fullness of communion that in turn heals us and shows us who we are on deeper levels than the surface awareness of life.  We trust in God to take us ahead and find the good path we want to be on, the best way to find our faith.  It is the right time to re-orient ourselves to God's call.