December 6, 2024

Calling the Apostles

Mark 3:13-19

At a quick glance, this can seem like nothing more than a listing of names.  But there is much more here.

Jesus goes up a mountain and asks a number of people to come with him.  And he appoints twelve, whom he called apostles, to be with him, to travel with him, and to at some point themselves be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have the authority to cast out demons.  This is an important step in Jesus’ journey, for he is sharing the calling, preparing others to carry his message, and even giving them the special power to cast out demons.

As we noted last week, people had come from near and far to be with Jesus, to hear him speak, to feel his healing touch.  While some of them perhaps came out of curiosity and then returned home afterwards without feeling any particular connection to Jesus, it is safe to say that those who remained can be called his disciples, his followers. 

Yet, while I am certain that he did his best to fill everyone with the good news that he brought, he needed a small group with whom he could spend more intensive times, opportunities to offer them deeper insights, to prepare them not only to help him but to carry on when he was no longer with them. 

We know so little about these twelve.  We have brief stories in the Gospels about some of them, and we receive more about some in the Acts of the Apostles.  But others are never mentioned once this list is laid out.  There are of course legends that surround these apostles, but it is difficult to know how much is factual and how much their lives expanded in the imaginings of people.  Nonetheless, it must have been extraordinary to spend such intensive time with Jesus.  And, known or unknown, their contributions were instrumental in the growth of the church that we have inherited today.