Election of the Twelve Apostles - Mark 3: 13-19
"And he went up into the mountain, and called unto him whom he desired, and they came unto him: and he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to send them to preach, and to have authority. to heal diseases and to cast out demons: to Simon, whom he called Peter, to James the son of Zebedee, and to John the brother of James, whom he called Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder, to Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Mateo, Tomás, Jacobo son of Alfeo, Tadeo, Simón the cananista, and Judas Iscariote, the one that delivered to him, and they came to house. "
The Lord forms his new town
- Jesus climbed the mountain.
There is a clear allusion here to God's great decisions for his people, taken almost always on the top of a hill (Ex 19:20) (Ex 24: 12-18).
Perhaps another reason to climb a mountain was so that everyone could see what Jesus was going to do and be as public as possible.
- Then the Lord called to Himself those whom He wanted and established twelve
In principle this raises some questions. Why only twelve if there was more to choose as we know from (Acts 1: 21-22)? Is there any intentionality in the number "twelve"? In the answers to these questions are the keys to understanding the importance of what Jesus was doing.
Behind putting a number to this group of disciples, there is also a clear intention; limit your number But on the other hand, it can not be denied that the number twelve has deep roots in the history of Israel. The symbol is obvious to any Jew. Its origin is in the number of the sons of Jacob from whom the twelve tribes that constitute the whole of Israel are derived. In Matthew and Luke the reference to Israel is explicit when Jesus promises the Twelve that they will sit on (twelve) thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28) (Lk 22:30). In Revelation the relationship between the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles reappears. The apostles as foundations of the new Jerusalem, the wife of the Lamb and the twelve patriarchs as the gates of the city (Rev 21: 9-14).
In conclusion, we can say that the importance of this passage lies in the fact that Jesus was forming a new people, and that in the same way he had once done with Israel, choosing the twelve patriarchs, now he chose twelve apostles for the formation of his church, his new spiritual people.
What are the characteristics of this new town?
If really these Twelve were the first stones that the Lord chose for his new building, we can think that in some way the others should keep some resemblance. What were these characteristics?
They shared the Master's intimacy. They were called to "be permanently with him" (Mark 3:14).
They had believed in the kingdom of God that Jesus announced (Mk 1: 14-15) and had made the decision to be a part of it. The renunciation of everything they had to be by their side is the clearest evidence.
They were formed by the Lord about the mysteries of the Kingdom. Jesus gave a different instruction for those outside and those within (Mark 4: 10-11).
He gave them a mission in front of the outsiders. Jesus instituted Twelve to send them to preach with authority to cast out demons (Mark 3: 14-15).
They were servants of Jesus. We have already seen how they collaborate with concrete material tasks, such as procuring a boat (Mr 3: 9), a donkey (Mr 11: 7), looking for and preparing the room for Easter (Mr 14:16); they help Jesus distribute bread (Mr 6:41) (Mr 8: 6).
He gave them authority to do the same thing he did.
The Church is founded on the apostolic foundation
It is a mistake to reduce this affirmation to "the apostolic doctrine", since these men also taught us the kind of relationship that God wants to have with his people.
Special characteristics of the Twelve:
They had to serve as a link between the Person and the Work of Christ and the men he had come to save. During his earthly ministry, Christ had repeatedly spoken to them of the necessity of his death, his resurrection and the departure of this earth. It was necessary, therefore, to appoint witnesses to gather and guide the church after their own physical departure.
They would be in charge of transmitting to the later generations all the truth about the Person and Work of Jesus. Behind all the New Testament is the apostolic authority. Behind the apostles is the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They were to be the human foundation of the Church that is built on the cornerstone of Christ.
(Eph 2:20) "Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone."
(Rev 21:14) "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb."
The appeal
"Jesus called to himself those whom he wanted"
The work of the Twelve begins in the sovereign will of the Master, which lends him great authority and efficacy. The apostle of the New Testament is a chosen man, not for the community, but for Jesus himself. The Lord's call was not based on any merit in them, but by his grace. None deserved to be among the apostles. If they were, it was because of the mercy of Christ."And they came to him"
The call of God works together with the free will of the men willing to listen to it. They chose him only after he chose them. The night he was arrested, he said to his disciples: (Jn 15:16) "You did not choose me, but I chose you ...""To be with him"
There was nothing wonderful about men themselves; It was their relationship with Jesus that made them great.
At the same time, we can say that there is no effective service that does not arise from a personal relationship with the Lord. When calling them, the Lord did not send them immediately to the work, that did not happen until (Mr 6: 7). First he wanted them to be close to Him, to learn from Him.
He called them to accompany him constantly and uninterruptedly. Others could come and go, the crowds could be present today and absent tomorrow, others could be irregular and fluctuating in their adherence to Jesus, but these twelve men had to identify their lives with the life of Jesus. They had to be with him all the time from that day.
The mission of the twelve
"To send them to preach"
The disciples who have learned of Christ become apostles who go forth to proclaim the riches of the gospel in his name. Those who receive must become givers. The missionary character of the election is underlined."He gave them authority"
They received supernatural power that would serve to bear witness before men that God was speaking through the apostles.
(2 Cor 12:12) "Nevertheless, the signs of an apostle have been made among you in all patience, by signs, wonders and miracles."
The authority he gave them was so real that Jesus even said:
(Mt 10:40) "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me."
By giving them this authority, the Lord was indicating that he was inviting them to be partakers of his ministry, as collaborators in the task of proclaiming the Kingdom. What a tremendous privilege! The mission of the Twelve is a participation in the mission of Christ."And that they had authority to heal diseases"
As their Master they had to manifest the character of the Kingdom by restoring the poor bodies of the sick to their normal state of health."And to cast out demons"
The devil had established his authority over men through sin. By casting out the demons, the Lord and the apostles demonstrate in a palpable way that the victory over the power of Satan is near.
The characteristics of the group
Surely these men were quite young. Most of them were still in their twenties when they went after Jesus.
The group was very heterogeneous, in it there were two extremes: Mateo was a tax collector, he was a renegade and a traitor to his compatriots. Simon the Canaanite, whom Lucas rightly calls the Zealot, was part of a group of ardent and violent nationalists who committed themselves to committing crimes and murders to rid their country of foreign yoke.
They were Galileans. A region to which the Jews of Jerusalem looked with enough contempt.
They were ordinary people. His activities were developed in the everyday world. They had the problems of ordinary people.
They were men without any social advantage. They were not rich, nor did they have special social status.
They did not have a high culture. They did not have a special theological preparation or an elevated position in Judaism.
At times they showed their many weaknesses and awkwardness. It is that Jesus never sees what a man is, but what he can become.
They had very different characters. Jacobo and Juan, the children of thunder. Pedro was the kind of person who first acted and then thought.
Their lives and ministries were very different. Jacob served very little time, and was the first apostle to reach heaven; Juan served many years, and was the last to reach heaven.
They had something special: They loved Jesus. They had decided that Jesus was their Teacher. They wanted to follow Jesus despite the conflict with the religious leaders.
The list of the Twelve.
With slight variations, this list of the names of the apostles is equal to that of (Mt 10: 2-4) (Lk 6: 14-16) (Acts 1:13). It seems that the names are presented in groups of three, forming the first three an intimate circle that accompanied the Lord on some occasions that the others did not. The case of Judas constitutes an enigma.
What do we know about these men?
Andrew: He was the brother of Peter and who brought him to the feet of the Lord (Jn 1: 41-42). His name is Greek; comes from the word, "aner", which means "man".
Philip: Another of the first followers of Christ (Jn 1:43). It was also from Bethsaida, the city of Peter and Andrew. He was the person that Nathanael brought to the Lord (Jn 1:45). His name is Greek, and means "horse lover".
Bartholomew: Another name for Natanel (Jn 1:45), who was from Cana in Galilee (Jn 21: 2). His full name was "Natanael Bar Tolomai".
Thomas: Also known as "Didymus" (Jn 11:16). Both names mean, "twin"; the first in Aramaic, the second in Greek. This was the disciple who expressed doubts about the resurrection of Christ.
Jacobo son of Alfeo: Known as "Jacobo the Younger" (Mr 15:40), perhaps because he was younger in age than the other Jacobo (others suggest that he was shorter). Although Matthew (Levi) was also "son of Alphaeus" (Mark 2:14), he does not seem to have been the brother of this Jacob.
Tadeo: In (Lk 6:16), he is called "Judas brother of James." "Tadeo" could have been his last name.
Simon the cananista: The word "cananista" should not be confused with "Cananeo" (an inhabitant of Canaan). The term comes from the Hebrew word, "kana", which means "jealous" or "fanatic". The Zealots were "zealous" or "fanatical" by the law of God, and they attributed the right to punish people who broke the law. Subsequently, this group offered tremendous resistance to the Romans. We do not know anything else about this character. He is the only disciple of whom we do not read anything out of the list of the twelve apostles.
Judas: The name, "Iscariot", means "the man of Kerioth", which was a village in Judah. An important question is, what led a man, chosen by Christ, and endowed with spiritual authority, to betray the Lord? It was probably frustrated dreams, of wanting to undermine the power of the Romans. Possibly it included a strong selfishness, and greed. What is clear is that of all the disciples, this was the most egocentric.
Why, then, did the Lord choose Judas?
The main reason is because that was the will of the Father. Judas had to be among those closest to Christ, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled (Acts 1: 16-19).
Some affirm, too, that in choosing Judas, the Lord was teaching us that there will always be false teachers, occupying positions in the church.
"And they came home"
Jesus with his apostles retired to the house. Thus they began to be more closely united and better grouped together, giving evidence of the effectiveness of their calling.
Link with the following events.
By calling these people to his side, the Lord was distancing himself from his own family (Mark 3: 20-21) (Mark 3: 31-35).
conclusion
It is amazing that the Lord Jesus Christ chose a group of men so common, full of weaknesses and edges, with little education, plagued by jealousy and envy to be their representatives on earth. But certainly, the Lord did not choose them for what they were at the moment of being called, but for what they were going to be after. The life of each one of those men, with the exception of Judas, demonstrates what the grace of God can do with ordinary men. The same leaders of Israel recognized him when they saw "the boldness of Peter and John, and knowing that they were men without letters and the common people, they marveled, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13). Those men were transformed by the power of the Messiah. Their sins were forgiven and their lives filled with the Holy Spirit so that they proclaimed the message of the Kingdom first to the nation of Israel and then to the rest of the world.