Jesus appoints the Twelve (Mark 3:13–19)

13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 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, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

In this section, we see Jesus calling a community together. This came at a pivotal point in Jesus’ ministry. He had confronted the religious powers several times. After the confrontation in Mark 3:1–6, a plot was being hatched against his life. Crowds were following him, and yet, these were not close friends. It was a lonely time, a dangerous time. Jesus called twelve men to be his special companions. To them he granted power to perform miracles in his name. He gave them the message of the kingdom of God. If something happened to him—and he knew it would—there would be a band to take his message to the world.

I. Jesus went up on a mountain.

A. The reason Jesus went up the mountain was to pray.

Jesus spent all night in prayer before choosing these twelve men (Luke 6:12). This was an important choice He need to make, so it was necessary for Him to go to the Lord in prayer.

Even the Son of God needed to find a place where he could be alone with God, and there was no quiet anywhere else. Jesus taught us to seek privacy for prayer if at all possible (Mt. 6:6).

B. Jesus went up to a mountain away from the crowds and called twelve of his followers to be with him.

When Jesus calls us to respond to him, his love compels us to follow. These twelve were Jesus’ ‘team’ appointed to work together with him and with one another.

When He selected them, He had three purposes in mind: training them by personal example and teaching, sending them out to preach the Gospel, and giving them authority to heal and cast out demons. These twelve men would thus be able to continue His work when He returned to the Father, and they would also be able to train others to carry on the ministry after them.

II. Jesus appointed the Twelve.

A. The number of the disciples is significant because there were twelve tribes in the nation of Israel.

In Genesis, God started with Jacob’s twelve sons, and in Exodus, He built them into a mighty nation. Israel was chosen to bring the Messiah into the world so that through Him all the nations of the earth could be blessed.

The nation of Israel was now spiritually decayed and ready to reject her own Messiah. God had to establish “a holy nation, a peculiar [purchased] people” (1 Peter 2:9), and the 12 Apostles were the nucleus of this new “spiritual” nation.

B. Jesus called twelve men to be his special companions.

The number twelve symbolizes the new or restored people of God, which later came to be known as the church. The Twelve were the nucleus of this new creation.

He appointed the 12 for two reasons: so they could be with Him and to be sent out by Him to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

It is important to notice that Jesus shared his power with very imperfect humans, like us. Indeed, Mark seems throughout the whole of his gospel to go out of his way to emphasize the imperfections of the Twelve and especially of Peter, who in many ways was the leader. In doing this, Mark was simply describing the facts; he was not trying to belittle the apostles, as some have suggested. It makes God’s grace all the more wonderful that there are no supermen or superwomen in the NT, only sinners saved by grace.

III. The names of the appointed Twelve.

A. Names are subtle but firm reminders of family traditions.

Jesus renamed three of his followers. By itself, perhaps, the renaming of Simon as Peter and the characterization of James and John as Sons of Thunder may appear to be of only minor interest.

Another point that also emphasizes the apostles’ ‘ordinariness’ is that they mostly had nicknames, some given by Jesus himself. In most parts of the world, people are known by nicknames describing their character rather than by their real names. These disciples were real-life people.

B. The first listed among the Twelve is Peter.

In all four listings of apostles, Peter is named first. Peter was anything but “rock-like” in the Gospels. But Peter’s profession of faith became the rock of the church in Acts as his preaching won a multitude of converts to the new faith.

When you compare the lists, it appears that the names are arranged in pairs: Peter and Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew (Levi); James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James, not Iscariot); Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Since Jesus sent His Apostles out two by two, this was a logical way to list them.

It is encouraging to see what Jesus was able to do with such a diversified group of unlikely candidates for Christian service. There is still hope for us!