Message preached Sunday, January 11, 2015 from Mark 3:13-19a
Theme: Jesus met a need that is essential to this world through His choice of the twelve apostles.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Listen to the sermon online!
This morning, we come to a passage in Mark’s Gospel that might be easy for some people to pass by. It is, after all, mostly just a list of names. But if you have believed on Jesus as our Savior, you really can’t just pass this particular list of names by; because it happens to be the names of some men who are very important to our faith.
It’s the list of the names of the twelve men that our Lord Jesus chose as His apostles. And I believe that we can’t stress enough the importance they bear to our faith. It’s through these twelve men that the Lord Jesus has graciously met one of the greatest needs in this world.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; the list is found in Mark 3:13-19 where, in Mark’s record of the early days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we’re told,
And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him (Mark 3:13-19a).
Did you know that the complete list of the apostles is given to us four times in the Bible? The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts all record it. That fact alone—that the Bible repeats it four times—should impress us with the importance of this list. But did you know that there’s even a way that the importance of it will forever be impressed upon those of us who believe on the Lord Jesus and who are saved by His grace? In the Book of Revelation, the apostle John—one of these twelve—tells us this about the glorious New Jerusalem that God promises will come down from heaven:
Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14).
What an important list this is! The names of the men mentioned in this list—the twelve apostles—will forever be etched on the foundation stones of the eternal city. And the men, whose names will be inscribed there, will prove to have fulfilled an unspeakably great need in this world. They will have provided for humanity the authorized, divinely appointed, once-for-all-time eye-witness accounts of the historical acts and words and deeds of the Savior of humanity—the Son of God come in human flesh; so that our faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God will never have to be based on mere speculation, but rather on reliable historic testimony of actual events. I believe the apostle John was speaking for all the apostles at the very beginning of his first letter, when he boldly wrote these remarkable words:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full (1 John 1:1-4).
That’s a great summary statement of what the apostles have done for us; isn’t it? We should be very grateful, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that Jesus called these twelve men to the role of apostles.
You probably couldn’t imagine a more unlikely ‘dozen’ to have been chosen to proclaim the most important message of salvation that the world could ever hear. But these are the ones that our Lord chose; and the history of God’s work of redemption over these past two-thousand years shows us that He chose rightly! Jesus said that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations” (Matthew 24:14); and it will be because of the faithful testimony that was set forth in this world by these chosen apostles that Jesus’ words will be fulfilled. As Paul said in Ephesians 2:20, the household of God has “been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.”
It’s through these twelve men, then, that the Lord Jesus has met an essential need for this dark and fallen world. Through them, He has established in the realms of fallen humanity—once and for all—the official testimony of the soul-saving message of the gospel. And so, we should be very interested in what Mark tells us about this remarkable ‘list’ of men.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let’s look a little closer at this morning’s passage, and notice first . . .
1. HOW THEIR CALLING CAME ABOUT (v. 13-14a).
Mark begins by telling us, “And He went up on the mountain . . .” Where was it that He went “up” from? As the previous passage showed us, He had been on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.
Do you remember the story that we were told in those previous verses? Jesus had healed a man in the synagogue at Capernaum on the Sabbath day; and as a result, the hostility of the Pharisees against Him had became so strong that they plotted together how to destroy Him. And so, He went away from them down to the shores of the sea—and an enormous gathering of people came to Him there. He healed their sick and commanded demons to come out of them. And His disciples were with Him the whole time. They saw with their own eyes all that He did; and they understood, in a very personal and experiential way, what those things were testifying with respect to Him. He was proving to them that He truly was the Son of God.
And it’s then, after they witnessed this remarkable display of His power and authority, that we’re told that He went up on “the mountain”. The mountain was probably one of the elevated hills nearby to the north of Capernaum. Mark tells us, “and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. Then He appointed twelve.”
When the Gospel writer Luke tells us this story, He adds some very important details about what Jesus did when He departed to go up that mountain. In Luke 6, we read;
Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12).
Now; stop and imagine that! When it came time to choose His twelve apostles, our Lord didn’t simply think things through in His own decision-making process, and pick the ones He thought would be best from out of His own initiative. He spent time talking to His Father about it. In fact, He spent the whole night in prayer about it—seeking the Father’s will in the choice; and perhaps praying for each man by name, and asking that the Father give success to their vital ministry of testifying of Him to the world. He said elsewhere that they were the ones that the Father gave Him (John 17:6). And so, that’s what He was doing up on the mountain; having an all-night consultation with His Father about the men that the Father gave to Him before He called them to Himself.
And then, Luke goes on to tell us what happened after our Lord spent that night in prayer,
And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles (v. 13).
Do you know what the name “apostle” means? It means “sent-one”. In ancient literature, it was used to describe a messenger who was sent by an official with a message to be delivered—someone who served as the official representative of the one that sent him. If you look at verse 14, where we read the words, “that He might send them out to preach”, the word “send” is the verbal form of the same word from which we get “apostle”. They were the twelve “apostles”—the official hand-picked messengers of Jesus to the world; chosen by our Lord, in the sight of many other disciples, after a whole evening of prayer.
There’s an important practical lesson for us in all this, of course. Not even Jesus would make such an important decision without much prayer. If He—the Son of God—was so dependent upon the guidance of the Father, and if even He needed to spend a great deal of time in prayer before making such an important choice, then we obviously need to spend time before the Father in making our own choices and decisions in life. How much different our lives would be if we followed Jesus in His example to us!
But that’s really only an incidental lesson to be learned from this passage. I believe the truly great lesson to be learned is that these twelve men were the ones that God the Father led Jesus His Son to choose to be His official messengers to us of the once-for-all-time, established Gospel. There are no other such foundational witnesses today. There are some denominations and churches today in which certain persons in leadership are declared to be “apostles”—or who even dare to declare themselves to be apostles. But we should not respect their claim to authority. Ours, as Jude 3 tells us, is “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints”; and it was these men—with the apostle Paul later added to them, and through the New Testament writings of those who were under their supervision—that gave us that unchanging apostolic faith.
* * * * * * * * * *
So; that’s how our Lord called the twelve. Next, let’s consider . . .
2. WHAT IT WAS THAT THEY WERE APPOINTED TO DO (vv. 14b-15).
I see three things mentioned in the words of Mark’s Gospel. In verse 14, we’re told that it was “that they might be with Him . . .” In Luke 22:28, near the end of His ministry on earth—just before going to the cross for us—Jesus told them, “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials.” They would be with Jesus for three-and-a-half years. They would eat with Him, and walk with Him, and labor with Him. They would see His miracles, and hear His teaching. They would see the opposition He would face, and witness the hardship He bore.
Second, Mark said that it was “that He might send them out to preach . . .” (v. 14). There was a reason why He chose them to be with Him for such a long time and in such a personal way. It was so that they might be able to make an authoritative declaration to the world of what it was that they saw about Him and heard from Him. This may be describing the time to come shortly after this, when He would send them out ahead of Him to the place in which He Himself would preach. But most likely, it speaks of the Spirit-empowered witness that they would bear to the world after our Lord rose from the dead and ascended to the Father. Just before He left them, He told them that the Holy Spirit would soon afterward come and bear witness of Him in the world; and He added, “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:27).
And third, Mark tells us that Jesus chose them “to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons” (v. 15). The translation of the Bible that I’m using has it that He sent them to both heal sickness and cast out demons; while most other translations have it only that He sent them to cast out demons. But in either case, this speaks of the authority He gave them. Think of this in terms of what these chosen apostles had just seen of Jesus along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. They watched as Jesus had healed every sickness that had been brought to Him; and saw how He exercised the power to cast out demons. And now we’re told that He chose them so that He might give them the authority to do the same. And they did so! Jesus sent them out to preach that people should repent of their sins and believe on Him; and their message was shown to have the stamp of His own authority upon it by the fact that they did the works that He Himself did.
I don’t believe that this means, dear brothers and sisters, that we should try to pick up their “authority”; and to do the miracles in this world that only they did. They were given that power and authority by Jesus Himself in order specifically to authenticate the message that He sent them to proclaim; and it would be very presumptuous to think that anyone today is authorized to do what only they were authorized by the Lord to do. But I do believe it means that we can—and indeed must!—pick up their testimony of Jesus and proclaim it to the world as the only authorized and true Spirit-empowered witness of who Jesus is and what He has done.
The gospel alone is—as it tells us in Romans 1:16—the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes! And we can take it up and proclaim it with the complete confidence that our Lord Jesus Himself stands behind the authoritative witness that He gave those apostles to give to us.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; we’ve seen so far in this passage how it was that the Lord called them to Himself for this great work. And we’ve also seen what the work is that He chose them to do. So now, let’s consider . . .
3. WHO IT WAS THAT OUR LORD CHOSE (vv. 16-19a).
Some of them are names that are very familiar to most of us. Some of them are names that we may not know so well. But each one of them were hand-picked by Jesus for the greatest assignment in all of history.
First, we’re told of “Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter . . .” (v. 16). We could spend the whole time this morning talking about this beloved man and never even begin to say all that could be said! Did you know that in every list of the twelve apostles, Peter’s name is always first? His was plainly the lead voice of the twelve. He was a fallible man, to be sure. I say this with all reverence; but it was good that he allowed the Lord wash his feet because, as we know, he ended up with his foot in his mouth more than once. (I can identify with him in that, though; can’t you?) But one of the most important of all the many things he said correctly was when Jesus and the disciples were discussing the various things people were saying about Him. He asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:16-18).
Jesus called him “the Rock” because he ended up being a solid, reliable witness for our Lord. But I believe that the real “rock” on which Jesus built His church was that testimony that Peter gave of Him. He truly is “the Christ, the Son of the living God”. That’s the authorized apostolic message we declare to the world. How grateful we should be that Jesus called Peter!
Jesus also called Peter’s fishing partners, “James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of Thunder’ . . .” (v. 17). What a powerful pair they were! The Lord’s nickname for them may have been given because they were—at times—hard to reign in. Do you remember how Jesus and the disciples once tried to pass through Samaria, and the Samaritans wouldn’t let them? James and John said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” (Luke 9:54). They once even tried to beat the other apostles out by asking the Lord if they may sit at His right hand and at His left hand when He took up the throne in His kingdom (Mark 10:35-40).
But I tend to think that Jesus gave them this nickname because of the zeal with which they later testified of the Lord. Read John’s Gospel and his letters. What a thunderous testimony they give of the Lord Jesus! Read the Book of Revelation he wrote; and you can almost hear the thunder! Think of James—one of the earliest martyrs of the faith. Acts 12 tells us that King Herod Agrippa killed him with a sword; and his thunderous witness for the Lord Jesus may have had much to do with it.
Then, we’re told that Jesus called “Andrew” (v. 18), who was Peter’s brother. He was the one who first introduced Peter to the Lord. He was also the one who went and brought the little boy to Jesus who had the five loaves and the two small fish. There were some Greeks who wanted to speak to Jesus, and it was Andrew who first sought to tell Jesus about their request. Andrew stand out as the ‘go-get-em’ apostle. He’s the one we often find bringing people to Jesus.
Jesus called “Philip” (v. 18). You might call him the “come and see” apostle. He was the one who Jesus called upon and said, “Follow Me”; and after he began to follow, he told his friend Nathanael that he had found the Messiah—Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael said, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” And Philip answered wisely—“Come and see” (John 1:46). He’s the one who once told Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us”; and who, as a result, gave us that wonderful answer from the Lord, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father . . .” (John 14:8-9).
We’re told that Jesus called “Bartholomew” (v. 18); and there’s good reason to believe that he is the same man as Nathanael, whom Philip introduced to the Lord. If so, then he’s the one to whom, when he met Him—Jesus told him, “Before Philip called you, when you were sitting under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael was awestruck that the Lord knew so much about him; and having become convinced that Jesus truly was the Messiah, he gave that marvelous testimony—“You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:48-49). That was Nathanael’s testimony for the rest of his life! What a gift that testimony has been to the world!
Jesus also called “Matthew” (v. 18)—and what a remarkable calling it was! Matthew is also known to us in the Bible as Levi the tax collector. He as a notorious sinner who had become wealthy by his sin. But he left all that wealth behind to follow Jesus; showing us that no one is too far gone in their sins that Jesus cannot save them and put them into His service. He gave us the Gospel that bears his name—the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of the King.
And He called “Thomas” (v. 18). He is also called “the twin” or “Didymus”. In John 11, Jesus set Himself to go to Jerusalem; and the disciples thought He might be killed if He did so. But Thomas said to the others, “Let us go, that we may die with Him” (v. 11). And yet, Thomas was the disciple who later wouldn’t believe the others when they told Him that Jesus had risen from the dead. He wouldn’t believe unless he could touch the prints of the nails in Jesus’ hands, and touch the wound in His side. Jesus appeared to Him and offered to allow him to do so. All Thomas could do was fall to the ground before Jesus and declare, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus told him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). What a witness it is that Thomas has left for us! He has been an encouragement and help to sincere doubters ever since!
Jesus also called “James the son of Alphaeus” (v. 18)—probably so named in order to distinguish him from James the brother of John. He was also sometimes called “James the Less”. James’ mother Mary was one of the women who watched from a distance as our Lord was crucified (Mark 15:40).
And Jesus called “Thaddaeus” (v. 18). He has the surname Lebbaeus. He also appears to be the same man as the apostle sometimes called “Judas the Son of James”. He was the one who once asked the Lord Jesus a very good question: “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” (John 14:22). As it turns out, he himself proved to be the answer to his own question—and was one of those who manifested to the world what he came to know about Jesus.
Jesus also called “Simon the Canaanite” (v. 18), or as he is sometimes called, “Simon the Zealot”. He was a former member of a strongly anti-Roman political movement that sometimes even crossed the line into terrorism! But even he was called by Jesus. And just think—he became a follower of Jesus along with Matthew the tax collector! You couldn’t find to people more politically and ideologically hostile to one another than Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector. But together, they gave the world a testimony of the unifying power of Jesus!
Finally, we’re told that Jesus called “Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him” (v. 19a). We should recognize that it was no accident that Jesus chose him. It was intentional. Jesus even once told all the apostles—early on after He had called them—“Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). Jesus knew what Judas would do all along. I don’t believe Judas was a redeemed man, of course. Jesus called him “the son of perdition”—that is to say, “son of utter destruction”. But because of Judas’ notorious act of betrayal, our Lord was handed over by the authorities to the death of the cross; where He died for our sins and became our Savior. And even Judas served the purpose of our Lord in declaring the message of salvation to the world; because Judas himself bore witness of the Lord to the world when he later repented and told the officials, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). We can confidently say that even Judas—the betrayer—served the sovereign purpose of our Lord in being called as one of the twelve.
* * * * * * * * * *
So, dear brothers and sisters; this is no mere list of names. This is nothing less than a description of the gracious provision that the Lord Jesus has made to this world of a solid, unshakable eye-witness account of His own saving life and teaching and ministry.
These twelve have given us a solid testimony of who Jesus is. Let’s take that testimony up with confidence, and declare it to the world!