The Calling of the Twelve

INTRODUCTION

We are looking at the Word of God again this morning

Let me invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Mark chapter three

We are looking at verses 13-15 which is part of the larger picture that takes us down to verse 19

Listen as I read Mark 3:13-19…

“13 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), 17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 and 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.”

We now embark on the Jesus’ calling of the twelve disciples

12 men from different walks of life that Jesus would use to change the world

None are chosen for their strengths

For all are men

But Jesus is sovereign in His choice of them

When we think of Jesus being sovereign we must understand what that means

Sovereignty is speaking of supreme power, authority, and control over all things

Jesus is all three

He is the ruler and king over all creation

He is sovereign over the natural as well as the supernatural realm

He performed miraculous signs and wonders

He healed the sick

He raised the dead

He provided eternal redemption for those who would believe

And He raised Himself from the dead

As has been stated numerous times, Mark’s thesis is Jesus is the “Son of God”

What does that mean?

It means He is God

It means He is sovereign

It means He is the supreme ruler over all

And we have been seeing His sovereignty as we have been studying the gospel of Mark

Mark has already shown us His sovereignty at His temptation (1:12-13), in the synagogue when He drove out a demon (1:23-27), when He taught (1:27), when He healed Peter’s mother-in-law (1:30-31), when He healed a leper (1:40-42), when He healed a paralytic (2:5) and when He healed a man with a withered hand (3:5)

In the words of Charles Spurgeon…

“Here is sovereignty. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.”

That’s everything we see in Jesus

He was gracious to whom He chose to be gracious

He was stern with those whom He chose to be stern

In this passage we see His grace

He’s not dealing with religious leaders but with those whom He called to be His disciples

We see His graciousness in two ways in this passage…

First we see it in…

I. The Call of Jesus (v.13)

"And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him"

Sometimes locations have special meaning

In the case of the disciples, this is where Jesus called them

We don't know where "the mountain" was but they did

We do know it was somewhere in Palestine

We also know that Palestine is very hilly

The mountains stretch west of Jordan, from Lebanon far down into Galilee ending in Carmel

Some think this is where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount but we cannot be sure

Either way, it was here that He "summoned those whom He Himself wanted"

Jesus Chooses Whom He Wants

We have already seen Him choose Peter, Andrew, James and John in Mark 1:16-20

He chose Levi (Matthew) in Mark 2:14

He called Philip and Nathanel in John 1:43-51

He told Ananias in Acts 9:15 that Paul was “a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel”

Jesus said in John 13:18, “…I know the ones I have chosen…”

He said to His disciples in John 15:16, "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you..."

He reiterated it again in John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

All believers are the elect, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession…” (1 Peter 2:9)

We don't choose Him, He chooses us

We Are Unable to Choose Him By Ourselves

Because without Christ we are dead in our sins

Ephesians 2:1–3, “ 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”

He mentions again us being formerly “dead in our transgressions” in verse 5

That’s why Jesus said in John 5:21, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”

See it always goes back to election or God’s call to salvation

For those who believe that they are saved as a pure act of their will, their choosing Christ ignores Ephesians 2:1-3 and fails to realize the reality of Romans 3:10-18.

That passages clearly teaches…

Our will is affected by sin (Rom.3:10-18)

After Jesus “summoned those whom He Himself wanted”…

They Came to Him

They didn’t come before He chose them

They came after He chose them

He raised them from spiritual death to eternal life

By doing that, He made them willing to come to Him

John 6:44 describes it as the Father drawing them when it says, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

According to John 6:37, the Father gave them to Jesus: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Why did they come? What was…

II. The Purpose of the Call ( vv.14-15)

To Be with Him (v.14)

This is the meaning of the word “summoned” or “called”

The Greek word is proskaleo, means “to speak to a person with the purpose of bringing him or her nearer.” (Richards)

Jesus sovereignly chose those He wanted to be “with Him” or “nearer” to Him

The idea is Jesus called and “they came to Him”

This is the point of election, to be nearer to God

He called or chose us “for Himself”

Ephesians 1:4, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love”

The word “chose” (eklegomai) is in the middle voice which means He “chose us for Himself”

Again, why did He do this? “to be with Him”

We could not “be with Him” unless He chose us first to be with Him and then us alive

We could not have chosen Him in our dead state

God had to make the first move

And He did that by election and by calling

In other words, we had to be made alive before we could answer His call

Ephesians 2:4–5, “4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”

That’s what John meant when he said in 1 John 4:19, “We love, because He first loved us.”

Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Psalm 65:4, “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You That he would dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.”

Not only did Jesus choose whom He wanted but His second purpose was…

To Send Them Out to Preach (v.14)

Luke 9:1–6, “1 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing. 3 And He said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, neither a staff, nor a bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not even have two tunics apiece. 4 “Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 5 “And as for those who do not receive you, as you go out from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 Departing, they began going throughout the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”

Matthew 10:5–7, “5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

To Have Authority Over Demons (v.15)

Matthew 10:1, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.”

Luke 9:1–2, “1 And He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. 2 And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing.”

Both passages indicate they not only had authority over demons but they also had the authority “to heal diseases” and “every kind sickness”

CONCLUSION

There are several truths we can glean from this passage

First, Jesus chooses whom He wants to save

That’s election

Second, He chooses all His children to serve in the church using the spiritual gift the Holy Spirit has given you

Some He specifically chooses to be pastors and deacons

Ephesians 4:11–12, “11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ”

Third, He sends all of us out to make disciples of all the nations

We do that in our everyday life

Matthew 28:19–20, “19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

But before you can go, you must be called

And to you know whether He is calling you right now is to examine your heart

God calls you to believe and repent of your sin

Repent means to turn from it recognizing you have lived your entire life by it but now you want to turn from it and turn to Christ who paid the full price of death for your sin

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Come to Christ now for salvation

Come to Christ like Isaiah answering the call from God who asked, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” (Isa.6:8)

Isaiah answers, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isa.6:8)

Let’s pray