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

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed the 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.  And they went into a house. 

 

- 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.  Jesus withdrew both because the Pharisees were now planning to destroy Him (see Saturday's reading, above) though it was not time for His death,  and also in order to preach in other places.  

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.   By now Christ's renown as a healer is so great that He must be able to get away from the crowds with a small boat kept ready, lest they should crush Him, as they pressed about Him to touch Him.  My study bible comments on Christ's refusal to fully disclose His identity as Messiah.  It says that this is foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  There are varied reasons for secrecy, which include (1) the growing hostility of the religious leaders; (2) the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and finally (3) Christ's desire to invoke genuine faith, which is not based solely on marvelous signs.  This is the second time Mark's Gospel has given us an example of the unclean spirits knowing and identifying who Christ was, and His command to be quiet (see Mark 1:23-26).

And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted.  And they came to Him.  Then He appointed the 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.  And they went into a house.   Jesus goes up on the mountain as a sign to us that what is happening is given from God.  Although Mark does not mention either word, it's worth noting that "disciples" and "apostles" are frequently used interchangeably for these twelve.  The Greek word for disciple means "learner" (mathetes/μαθητὴς) and for apostle means "one sent out" (apostolos/ἀπόστολος).  This act is an important sign or marker of the expansion of Christ's ministry in the world, as now it is not only Christ, but those whom He appointed will not only be with Him as disciples, but also sent out as apostles to expand His work.  In their capacity as apostles they are sent out to preach as He does, but even to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons.  This is a power given by Christ, who performs such things by His own power.  Also noteworthy is the change of names for a few:  Simon is renamed Peter by Christ, James and John are given the name Boanerges or "Sons of Thunder," and Levi the tax collector is now called Matthew (see Mark 2:13-17).  

In pursuing His worldly public mission, Jesus has any number of variables to juggle.  As my study bible points out, there is first of all the revelation by the demons of His true identity before the time is appropriate for this unveiling.  The people expect the Messiah to be a worldly king, one who will rule as do the Romans, with a great dominant kingdom in the lineage of David, which will set aright the fortunes of Israel and the people of God.  Jesus therefore does not publicly explicitly reveal Himself as such, nor has it even come time for the confession of faith by Peter on behalf of the disciples.  That will come in Mark's 8th chapter, and even then Christ will demand that they tell it to no one (see Mark 8:27-30).  Therefore we are to understand that there is a particular way in which Christ's ministry is to unfold, and there are particular times when things are appropriate to be done (John 7:30).  In that pursuit of understanding what correct timing is all about, we can look at this new phase in Christ's ministry and see its components.  As Jesus goes up on the mountain to appoint the twelve, we know this as a sign of something given by God.  It is a new turn or twist in His public ministry.  But accompanying this new turn is another fact we can't overlook, and that is that the religious authorities have decided to destroy Him, in collusion with those who represent the state power, the Herodians who support the ruling house of Herod, which rules for Rome.   At the end of Saturday's reading, we were told that "then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him" (see above).  In this new phase of Christ's ministry, through His shared power and the discipleship of the twelve, His ministry expands, even as it begins to be pursued by the alliance of religious authorities with the ruling empire.  And then there remains the whole open question of who will respond to this ministry, and how people will respond to it.  It might sound strange to say it, but this is a dimension which is entirely outside of Jesus' control, for it is by God's choice outside of God's control.  God grants us free will, and in our choice to say "yes" or "no" to God we remain in that sense free.  God does not compel anyone to love God, and yet God always has love for us.  As my study bible notes it, Jesus does not want people to come to false faith, which would be based solely on marvelous signs.  His real search in this world, the goal with which He encourages others to become "fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), is to find those whose faith is genuine.  And that is entirely in the hands of human beings.  If we really observe Jesus' ministry from this angle, and including this new expansion of choosing the twelve to go out and in whom He invests His power and shares it with the world through them, we see what great tremendous leaps God takes to place faith and investment in human beings.  What kind of response will there be?   In Luke 18, when Jesus exhorts His followers to persistent prayer, He also asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (see Luke 18:1-8).  And this is our question and what remains of this tremendous effort on our behalf and for our salvation.  Jesus invests His life, manifests Himself as human being, God's love expands this human-divine ministry into the world, and we are still left with this question.  Will we understand?  Will He find faith?  Do we look simply for miracles and signs?  Or is faith somewhere else in the heart that replies with justice to the One who is the Sun of Righteousness, with love to God who is love, with faith in the One who is true and faithful?  These are the questions which remain, for every generation, and with us now, today.