Jesus Calls the Twelve
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Good evening students! It is great to see everyone here tonight. If you have your bibles, open up with me to Mark as we continue in our verse-by-verse study through this book of the Bible.
If you remember last week, we look at how Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. Also, Jesus healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath which the Pharisees thought was awful because it was considered work on the Sabbath day. As Jesus healed the man with the withered hand, He pointed out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees which resulted in the Pharisees teaming up with the Herodians to look for ways to kill Jesus.
That leads us to tonight’s passage of Scripture. Let’s look at Mark 3:7-19
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
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 and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 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); 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.
Pray.
So, as Jesus and His disciples left the synagogue, we see that a great crowd has surrounded them looking for Jesus to heal them and cast out demons. Which leads us to our first point which is:
We come to Jesus not for what we can get, instead, we come to Jesus because of what He has already done.
We come to Jesus not for what we can get, instead, we come to Jesus because of what He has already done.
Look back with me at verses 7-9
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him,
Jesus and His disciples have just left the synagogue where He healed the man with the withered hand. Upon leaving the synagogue, Jesus was trying to get away with His disciples; however, a great or large crowd followed them. These people were relentless. Look at all the places that these folks came from. They were from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, Tyre and Sidon. This crowd had walked from all these various places. Remember, they did not have cars, so if people travelled they traveled on foot. Because of this, this crowd was relentless in seeking to be healed and have demons cast out of them. They were pursuing Jesus and would not be denied because they had to make their journey worth it.
This crowd was so relentless that Jesus had one of the disciple prepare for Him an escape boat. Jesus had an escape route planned because the crowd was so relentless in their pursuit of Jesus. The crowd was pressing into Jesus because they knew if they could just touch Him they would be healed.
A woman in Luke 8 had suffered from internal bleeding for 12 years. And as she fought through the crowd (not the same crowd in Mark 3) that was pressing against Jesus, she was able to touch Him and immediately she was healed. Look with me at Luke 8:44.
44 She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately her discharge of blood ceased.
This is exactly what this crowd was seeking to do in Mark 3. We see here that the crowd completely trusted and knew that Jesus had the power to heal them and cast out demons, and Jesus did heal and cast out demons.
10 for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
Those that were suffering from disease and deemed as sinners by the Jewish religious leaders were pressing into Jesus seeking to be healed. Likewise, those that were possessed by demons were seeking to be freed from torture. And as the demons were cast out at the sight of Jesus. They would shriek “You are the Son of God.” The demons were falling knowing that Jesus has all power and authority and they did not stand a chance. And Jesus, knowing it was not yet the time for Him to be revealed as the Messiah commanded them not to tell others.
John MacArthur writes, “Jesus desired no promotion or testimony from the realm of satan, so He earnestly warned them not to tell who He was.”
Jesus had power over the demons as they had no choice but to obey because the Sovereign King had spoken.
What we see here is that the crowd was following Jesus seeking to get something from Him. They wanted what Jesus could give them. They had no concern for His well being or whether or not He ate. They only cared about what good He could do for them. He could heal them and He could cast out demons. These was exhausting for Jesus. Remember, Jesus was fully man and fully God while on earth. So, He got tired just like we get tired. There were people around Him all the time seeking to gain something from Him.
Guys, this still happens today. Oftentimes, people come to the church only seeking to get something from Jesus. That is what is so bad about the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that whenever you believe in Jesus you will get endless riches, fame, and perfect health. But, that is not what the Bible teaches. Whenever we place our faith in Jesus, we do gain something, salvation and eternal life with Christ. However, whenever we place our faith in Christ, the Bible teaches that we loss our life and take up a life of following Jesus in submission to God’s will. This is the true Gospel. The true Gospel is that Jesus is the perfect Son of God who descended from heaven, lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins where His blood was shed, rose from the grave alive after three days, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father in heaven where He now is our advocate. Then, in the Bible it tells us that upon our faith in Jesus we do gain salvation and eternal life, but we are promised suffering not earthly riches.
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
That is Jesus speaking. What do we see? Suffering is promised to the believer but eternal life is secure because Jesus has overcome the world. That is the hope of the Christian, not earthly wealth but eternal wealth. Therefore, we come to Christ understand what He has done for us on the cross. This leads us to serve in the church, grow in our understanding of the Word, and seek to tell others about Jesus. It is not about what we can get from Christ. It is all about what Christ has done for us.
Jesus calls ordinary people to follow Him.
Jesus calls ordinary people to follow Him.
Look back with me at verse 13
13 And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.
Jesus finally got away from the crowd and was able to get to the top of a mountain and be alone for a while. And Luke 6:12 tells us:
12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
We see that Jesus got alone on top of this mountain and was able to pray all night. Jesus withdrew from the crowds and the disciple just to have a moment of solitude. This is important for us because if Jesus needed time to be alone with God, we need time to be alone with God. This is clearly evident. Think about your life. In thinking about my life, I recognize that I sin against God or face temptation at some point every day. In understanding that, I recognize I need time in which I am alone and with God. In this time, I am asking God to forgive me and I am asking God for help to honor and glorify Him.
Now, lets continue on in verses 13-19
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 and he might send them out to preach 15 and have authority to cast out demons. 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); 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.
As Jesus has finished praying, He called to Himself those whom He desired. He called the disciples or apostles. Jesus calls these men to be the one’s to preach and cast out demons. These were the men that Jesus chose to help Him while on earth. Get this, I think this is pretty cool.
Notice that Jesus selects 12 men to be His disciples. Anyone know why He would do that? Think back to the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the Jewish religious leaders along with the Sadduccees. These two groups were attacking Jesus and plotting for ways in which to kill Jesus. Jesus here selects 12 men to be His disciples. In doing so, according to John MacArthur, “When Jesus selected the Twelve, He was making a statement of judgment on Israel’s unbelief.”
The Jews did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah or Son of God. So, Jesus selects 12 men that are representative of the twelve tribes of Israel and these 12 men would rule over each of the twelve tribes.
So, Jesus selects these men and does so as a rebuke against the Jews. But notice, these are ordinary men. Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. Matthew was a tax collector. Simon was a freedom fighter. There was not special about these men. Likewise, they did not have theological education to be religiously qualified. These were ordinary men in which Jesus called to follow Him.
Furthermore, 11 of these 12 men (excluding Judas) would be used by God in a mighty way after the ascension of Jesus. They were the men that Jesus called to preach the Gospel and to cast out demons. They were the first generation of Gospel proclaimers. Likewise, 11 of these men were used by God to establish the church that is still existing today. We are the church. It started nearly 2000 years ago and it still exists today.
These men were faithful followers of Jesus. Peter would proclaim the Gospel on the day of Pentecost where 3000 people would be saved and then it was a domino effect of people sharing the Gospel with others that results in the church existing today. Whenever I say church, I mean Christians all over the world.
Just as Jesus called these men to follow Him and share His Gospel. He commissions us to do the same.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Once we place our faith in Jesus, we are then commissioned to share the Gospel just as these men were commanded to do. So students, for those of you who are Christians, the call is for you to be taking the Gospel every where you go. And understand this, each of the disciples that Jesus called faced persecution. So, whenever tough times come upon you or you lose friends because of Jesus. Understand that it is their reject of Jesus not you. You must simple share the Gospel and as persecution comes, draw closer to Jesus and keep on going serving Him.
If you are not a Christian: share the Gospel.