Mark 3:13-21

Well did anybody buy a boat? That was your chance people! The pastor told you too! That was perhaps the funnest application point you will ever here in a sermon and you missed it!

We are going to look at this same set of verse this week and a few more as well because there is a lot more to discover in this passage that we didn’t get to last week. Last week hopefully we came to understand that Jesus is a bigger deal than we currently think. People from all over Israel were swarming around this guy and He was legitimately concerned about being physically crushed. That is crazy. He was in danger of being mobbed by the needs of others everywhere He went. This is like the modern day paparazzi that is obsessed with celebrity sightings.

Everybody was curious to see if He really was who they thought He was so they moved from where there were at to get a closer look at Him, but Mark tells us that the demons didn’t need to wonder who He was, they knew. They knew He was the Son of God and they were willing to shout it out loud and then were willing to be quiet when Jesus told them to be quite. So we said we can’t be dumber than demons and we shouldn’t be more disobedient than them either.

If He is calling us, we need to respond to His calls. And probably the most stunning thing we saw last week is that Jesus desires all of us to come to Him. We saw this when we put 3:13 and 3:19 together.

Mark 3:13 (ESV)

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him…19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

If Jesus desired the one who would eventually betray Him to come, then I think we should be able to discern His loving call as well.

So that was last week in recap and today once again we are going to see how demanding it is to be Jesus. This time He is so swarmed that He can’t even eat! But we can rest assured He is capable of meeting all of our collective needs and the way that He planned on doing that is sending out official emissaries into the land with His authorized teachings and His unparalleled power.

With these verses, Mark is revving the engine much like you would on your motor cycle or 4 wheeler to show how much power is harnessed within the machine and that will be made evident once you slam it into gear. The commission we see here in chapter 3 will be put into action in Mark 6:7-12.

Let’s see how Mark tells the story.

Mark 3:13 ESV

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.

Mark 3:14–15 ESV

14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons.

Mark 3:16–17 ESV

16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);

Mark 3:18–19 ESV

18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Mark 3:20–21 ESV

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Pray

He called and they came (3:13-14a)

Mark 3:13–14 (ESV)

13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him…

God desires you. He really does. You are desirable to Him and even if you have a hard time believing this, that doesn’t make it any less true. We get so hung up in remember so often who we have been and what we might have done and even what we are currently doing or plan to do, and it’s really hard for us to imagine that we are desired by a Holy God. But here’s the thing, He does. If you got a problem with that, that is your problem not His. Jesus Christ came into the world to save, “sinners.” Sinners are the ones that are in desperate need to be saved. And that is who Jesus came for because He desires people like you and me.

He called these 12 men, so that they might “be with Him” Mark tells us. This is a basic all to discipleship. Basically, it was on the job, intensive and extensive training on learning how to be a human the way God intended us to live! Jesus called them to be “with Him” so that as they spent intentional time following in His footsteps they would become like Him doing what He does, loving what He loves and hating what He hates. That is what discipleship is and progressively, over time, start disciples of Jesus begin to progressively more and more are “transformed into the same image.”

He called these guys to be “with Him” and they came.

And once they came…

He appointed and they were willing to go. (3:14b-19)

Mark 3:14–15 (ESV)

14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons.

So here we are going to see a very specific call. The call to discipleship goes out to all of us. We are all summoned to be “with Him,” but we see something unique happening to this first band of followers.

Mark tells us that Jesus “appointed twelve, whom He also named “apostles.”

There is so much intentional wording here.

There is so much redemptive historical significance to Jesus appointing 12 apostles. Much like God chose the nation of Israel with its twelve tribes to be a blessing to the nations. Jesus was choosing His 12 and appointing them to be emissaries that can carry His redemption message to the entire world!

He was “appointing” this guys to a very specific, unique calling. And think about this, having the ability to name something assumes dominion and authority. Jesus is “naming” these guys (authoritatively creating them to be” “apostles” which means “sent ones.”

These men were authorized agents, a special envoy of people commissioned directly by Jesus and invested with His authority to speak on His behalf.

They were sent out to “preach” and “have authority to cast out demons.” They would share about the Saviors power and then they had the ability to demonstrate His power by overthrowing the works of the counterfeit kingdom of chaos and disorder and disobedience that the devil brought into the Creation.

Being named an “apostle” by Jesus was a very specific, unique call and commission that wasn’t to be repeated throughout church history. We don’t have apostles walking around earth today because all of what Jesus has needed to communicate through these initial and only apostles has been complete when the NT Testament canon was formed.

Do you know that Jesus pre-authorized the apostolic preaching and teaching of these apostles in the Upper Room discourse?

Check this out. Jesus is with these guys on the night He was betrayed and He says to them.

John 14:25–26 (ESV)

25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

So there are things more things that need to be revealed to you and there are also things that you need to remember that I said to you. So hold tight until the Holy Spirit comes. Then He says a little bit later in the same monologue.

John 16:12–13 (ESV)

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

So He doubles down on their need to learn more from Him and says that the way they would come to know the things that Jesus wanted to teach them in the future was through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Well what do we know happened in the first chapter of Acts? The resurrected Christ appears to His chosen apostles and He tells them,

Acts 1:8 (ESV)

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses (μάρτυς) in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They will be His martyrs all over the place. They will bear witness to Him until their end! Tough call for sure and then in chapter 2 of Acts on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes and enables them to preach and bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus and their message was also validated by miraculous gifts and enablements of the Holy Spirit. The author of Hebrews mentions this when he writes,

Hebrews 2:4 (ESV)

4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Then throughout the rest of the book of Acts these guys carry this message all throughout the then known world and as they go about doing this official apostolic kingdom business they write letters of correspondence to disciples in different communities and these letters of correspondent contain what we now call the inspired word of God.

2 Peter 1:20–21 (ESV)

20 …no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

They preached and wrote down the messages of the King of the Kingdom and they were willing to die for His message.

He called them and they came and He appointed them and they were willing to go on His behalf.

And here are the names and nicknames of the unlikely band of remarkably diverse people that make up His team of 12.

Mark 3:16–17 ESV

16 He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder);

Mark 3:18–19 ESV

18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Fisherman. Tax-collector. Zealot. A couple of vengeful hot-heads, a guy that was good with money but simultaneously a betrayer!

This is a wild bunch man. This eclectic, varied group of people with opposite ends of the spectrum personalities and preferences could all be unified because Jesus is simple just that AMAZING. They cared more about Jesus than they cared about their own unique preferences!

And I love that Jesus gives nick names. To give someone a nickname assumes that their is a relationship because of shared experience. Nicknames are enduring and can give security to the relationship. They showcase His personality and relatability. (Peter - Rock / James and John /Sons of Thunder). Do we detect a hint of sarcasm here?

But these guys were appointed and they were willing to go. Jesus said, You will be my witnesses… Martyrs…

None of these men believed in vain. Except of John who died of old age while in exile, the rest all died for their belief about the resurrection of Jesus. Judas destroyed himself after he betrayed Christ.

But lets take a closer look at these men and how devoted they were to Jesus.

- Statues of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano Rome (Basilica of St John Lateran) (Brad Belcher)

The earl Church fathers tell us:

o Peter: His Martyrdom was by crucifixion at Rome with his head downwards. i.e. He was crucified upside down… (hear holding the keys to the church)

o John: John who died in exile on the Island of Patmos in the Mediterranean having a quill in hand having written the Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3, John, and the book of Revelation…

o James the Greater: His Martyrdom was by being beheaded or pierced through with a sword.

o Andrew: His Martyrdom was also by crucifixion (however he was bound, not nailed, to a cross).

o Philip: His Martyrdom is uncertain. (Not much is known about Philip except of his work and influence in Ethiopia as the church there remains strong to this day…)

o Thomas: His Martyrdom was by being pierced through with a spear. (In Madras India.) The one who doubted the most went the furthest…

o Bartholomew (Often identified with Nathaniel in the New Testament): His Martyrdom was most likely by being Flayed alive and then crucified, head downward. (here we see him holding his own skin)

o Matthew: His Martyrdom is uncertain… but he was likely burned, stoned, or beheaded or some combination. (here we see him holding his Gospel and standing on the money he once collected as a tax collector)

o James the Lesser: His Martyrdom was by being thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple at Jerusalem, and as if that wasn’t enough he was then stoned and beaten with clubs.

o Simon the Zealot: Martyrdom was most likely by being sawn in half. (here we see him Holding his saw)

o Jude (Often identified with Thaddeus in the New Testament): Martyrdom by being bludgeoned/beaten to death.

o Paul: Likely beheaded by the Romans under Nero. (Sword in Hand)

These men were appointed and they were willing to go and they didn’t die in vain…because of their early on effort early, the church of Jesus Christ has had a solid foundation on which every disciple every since has been built upon. These guys were unwavering in their devotion to the degree that we are benefactors of their devotion!

HE called and they came. He appointed and they were willing to go, but…

They were all identified as insane. (3:20-21)

Mark 3:20–21 (ESV)

20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Have you ever been to an overcrowded restaurant? This was worse. This was his home. Mark tells us, the crowd that threatened to crush Him early on in the chapter was now bustling in and around His house to the extent that “they could not even eat.”

The big deal around Capernaum had gone viral and His immediate family thought that He was out of His mind. It’s actually only one word they say, literally it is, “for they were saying, “INSANE!”

This is a word that can have both positive and negative connotations to it. We have seen it before when Jesus forgave the sins of the paralytic and healed His legs. Mark uses this same word, but with a positive connotation. They were amazed, but here according to His family, Jesus is INSANE. He is deranged. He is delusional. They think only an “insane person” would attempt to propagate what they thought was dangerous, treasonous propaganda. It wasn’t. It was Gospel truth, but they didn’t know that yet, and so they attempt to “seize” Him!

To seize something means to take something out by use of force. They wanted to physically apprehend Him and overrule Him. You can’t do this Jesus, you will throw your life away if you pursue this “call to ministry.”

Wow. That might ring a bell for some of you that grew up in a family that didn’t understand the wonders of Jesus love. Maybe you had a church going experience, but your family was never really willing to go anywhere with that experience and now that you have come to love Jesus more these days and you are more serious about living life on purpose for Him and His sake, your family thinks your nuts.

Man, that is hard. Jesus had to contend with unbelieving family members. You might be a kid here today and your parents just don’t get what you are up to with all this new “Jesus stuff” in your life. You might be a parent here today and making Kingdom minded decisions for the life of your family and your unbelieving kids, or maybe just spiritually immature kids, might think that you are nuts. If you are a parent who is really attempting to honor King Jesus in this culture with how you parent, there is a really good chance that your kids will sometimes look at you and be frustrated that you won’t let them do what other parents are letting their kids do. And it will create tension in the home. This is tough stuff. This is hard stuff.

This is the stuff that Jesus Himself can sympathize with you in. There are going to be things that we do as followers of Jesus that will just look crazy and cuckoo to those who don’t conduct their lives by principles of the Kingdom that we belong too.

It’s just the way it is going to go. There is a whole bunch that we could apply from that, but I trust that the Spirit will do His work of individual application to each individual heart that He is indwelling hear today.

Following Jesus is costly.

We aren’t apostles, but we are ambassadors of the Kingdom and God makes His appeal of reconciliation to an unbelieving through us! We need to hear the call and come. And we need to take our appointment as ambassadors seriously and be willing to go and share His message of reconciliation even if everyone around us thinks that we are “Insane.”

We are children of the Kingdom. That is who God’s says we are. And what He says defines everything about us.

Song:

Benediction:

We might not all physically die for Christ as we represent him as emissaries to a fallen world, but we are called to die to self in order that He might live through us. Where is God specifically calling you to die to yourself so you can live for a kingdom much bigger than your own? How would your spouse benefit if you die to yourself? How would your kids or your parents be blessed by the indwelling Christ in us if we as parents or as kids, seek to let Christ live through us?

That is what these initial apostles were willing to do. This is what we as Christ ambassadors ought to do as well.

Even Paul, the untimely born apostle said,

Acts 20:24 ESV

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Discussion Questions

Jesus called His disciples to “be with Him” (Mark 3:14a). Acts 4:13 says, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” In what ways might onlookers of your life say the same thing about you?

Where is God specifically calling you to die to yourself so you can live for a kingdom much bigger than your own?

What is the difference between and apostle and an ambassador?

What is significant about Jesus giving some of His disciples nicknames? What nickname might He give you?

Sometimes when we follow Christ, people, even members of our own households, might think that we insane. Has that ever been your experience?