The Gospel of Mark 3:7-19 - The 12 Apostles

His life threatened by the Pharisees, Jesus does not back down but He does withdraw to another area and appoints the 12 Apostles to begin working with Him on His mission to restore and redeem Israel.

Text

“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 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. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: 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, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

Mark 3:7-19 (ESV)

Discussion:

- Jesus withdrew

“Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea…”

Mark 3:7a (ESV)

The context of Jesus withdraw to the sea must be seen with the previous verse which showed that the Pharisees and Herodians were already plotting against Jesus, as the Greek word for “withdraw” often indicates a threat of some kind (Marcus 2008, 257).

“The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.”

Mark 3:6 (ESV)

Reading the story of Jesus, one who faced the extreme torture of the cross, we must not see fear in this withdraw. Instead. I believe it was because “His time had not come yet” and He was not ready for a full confrontation with the Pharisees. Thus, seeking not to stir up more trouble at this time, Jesus went to a more remote location, probably away from the cities. Yet it was more than wanting to avoid conflict avoidance. Matthew explains that Jesus did this out of His gentleness and humility.

“Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Matthew 12:15-21 (ESV)

Now, having withdrawn, Jesus was near the sea of Galilee. Being on the sea offered Him a chance to get away quickly via boat if things got to dangerous. It seems that here the greatest danger however wasn’t the Pharisees but the pressing of the crowd. It is easy to see if thousands of people had surrounded Him and were all trying to touch Him, that He was in danger of being crushed to death. An accidental death would not have served His purpose. Jesus did not fear death, but He did seek to fulfil His purpose!

- A great crowd

“… and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 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. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”

Mark 3:7b–10 (ESV)

The crowd that is mentioned is of interest because of the diversity and also regions that were not mentioned. The crowd came from “from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon” which all had large Jewish populations (Guelich 1989, 146). Of note though, there was no mention of Samaria or the Decapolis, non-Jewish areas, which were made up mostly of Samaritans and Gentiles respectively. It seems then that the point of mentioning these regions and leaving out others was to imply that this multitude was mostly Jewish and consisted of the area of Israel and it’s surrounding regions. There is a myth that the Jews rejected Jesus. This is not true! Indeed, the Jews followed and loved Jesus, it was the Jewish leadership that rejected Him. If the Jews had rejected Him en masse, then salvation could not have come to the Jews first (Romans 1:16). However, it is clear from the Gospels that the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and even the Chief Priests rejected Jesus (although later many priests came to believe in Jesus, see Acts 6:7).

- Unclean spirits fell down

“And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”

Mark 3:11–12 (ESV)

Here we see the multitude clearly believed that Jesus could heal them, however, the irony of the situation is that only the demons knew who Jesus really was (Lane 1974, 129). The demons freely confess that Jesus is the Son of God, not only a Messianic claim, but also a claim of divinity (in my opinion), which was “Mark’s Christological designation for Jesus” (Guelich 1989, 148). However, as Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge point out, Jesus wouldn’t allow the demons to speak or acknowledge who He was (Collins and Attridge 2007, 213–214). Thus we can see that Jesus was working as quietly as possible, choosing to walk in humility and not desiring to be known or seen. This is a stark contrast to many who seek to serve Him today, for there is a strong desire by some to be seen and known by as many as possible. In a world where we measure success by likes, follows, and views, it is of note that Jesus actively avoided such attention.

- Up on the mountain

“And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.”

Mark 3:13 (ESV)

Although the “mountain” that Jesus went up was probably technically a large hill, we in Oklahoma know how close a hill can get to a mountain. The Greek word that Mark used is for a mountain not a hill (Edwards 2002, 111). This shows us that there is a theological significance here. Why is Mark using the word for mountain? We have seen that John used themes to compare Jesus to Moses, and I believe that Mark is doing that here. The importance of this is not the giving of a law, but instead the appointment of the disciples as Apostles. We can immediately see a comparison then of Moses and the Elders of Israel when they went up on the mountain and ate with God and saw Him.

“Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel.”

Exodus 24:9–10a (ESV)

The Apostles were seen not only as the foundation of the church, but also as elders (see Ephesians 2:20, Revelation 21:14, 1 Peter 5:1, and 2 John 1:1). Thus it seems that Mark is making the comparison of Moses and elders of Israel to Jesus and the Apostles. They were being appointed on a mission as Jesus worked to restore Israel. It is important to see here that Jesus was not working to replace Israel, but to restore what had been lost (Amos 9:11-12). The church is not a new Israel, it is not a replacement for Israel, but it is a restoration of the broken shards of Israel. The church is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel where God promised that He would raise up Israel out of the grave and give it new life (Ezekiel 37:1–14).

- He appointed twelve

“And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve…”

Mark 3:14-16a (ESV)

We can see the theme of the restoration of Israel again with the appointment of the 12 Apostles, a clear reference to the 12 tribes of Israel (France 2002, 158-159). Yet the Greek word for “He appointed twelve” is interesting, as James R. Edwards points out, it is more accurately translated as “He made Twelve” which is clearly a reference to Israel (Edwards 2002, 115). We have previously said that Jesus is not creating a new Israel, but is restoring Israel as was promised. So why would He need to make 12 Apostles, doesn’t that imply that He is creating a new thing? No. Remember that spiritually Israel was dead. Thus, when restoring Israel Jesus would need to create them. A good analogy to this would be the resurrection. When Jesus resurrects us, we will not be a different person, we will be ourselves, however, in order to resurrect us He will have to form us, for our body will be dead and gone. In the same way, Jesus formed in the 12 Apostles the foundation of the 12 tribes, thus, restoring Israel from death to life.

- When Jesus appointed the Disciples to be Apostles, to go out preaching He also gave them authority over the enemy.

When Jesus appointed the Apostles He did so with a mission in mind. He was sending them out to do spiritual warfare, that is, to cast out demons from His people. They were going to clear out the nation of Israel of all the unclean spirits and thus make clean His people and prepare them for the ultimate cleansing that the blood of Christ would offer.

- Jesus named him Peter, compare to Moses changing the name of Joshua.

“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, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

Mark 3:16b-19 (ESV)

Jesus named Simon “Peter”, which led to him being known as Simon Peter later in church history. This is significant, as Peter means a stone or rock (Lane 1974, 134). The same Greek word is used in the Septuagint in Judges 8:31; 2 Kings 24:17; Nehemiah 9:7 [2 Esdras 19:7]; and Daniel 1:7 (Guelich 1989, 161). However, it immediately reminds me of Moses when he gave Joshua the name Joshua from Hoshea (Numbers 13:16). Thus, we can see yet another comparison to Moses, clearly painting Jesus as the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).

Summary

After the plotting of the Pharisees Jesus withdrew to the sea of Galilee and continued to minister. While doing this ministry the demons saw Him and feared Him, bowing down to Him in clear deference to His authority and power and confessed that He is the Son of God. Going up on a mountain He appointed the 12 Apostles to begin the restoration of Israel. During this process He gave Simon the name Peter, thus forever marking him as unique and perhaps as the leader of the church.

Life Application

If Jesus appoints you to minister then He will give you power and authority. All too often we believe we have a calling from the Lord, whether to minister publicly or to just speak to someone about Him. Yet it is easy to forget that when He appoints us to minister He also gives us authority to do His will. We do not have this authority to parade ourselves, to seek greatness, but to walk in humility as His servants, doing as He wills. We must not seek our greatness, but instead, we must seek like John the Baptist that He would increase and we would decrease.

Questions to Consider

• When we minister to others do we believe that God’s power will be with us?

• Do we minister out of humility and a desire to see His name be made great or do we work to make our own name great?

Connections

• Matthew 10:1–4

• Luke 6:12–16

Outline

• Great crowds followed Jesus from all over Israel and the surrounding region.

• Jesus has to preach in a boat because of the crowds.

• Jesus has to silence demons because they are crying out that He is the Son of God.

• Jesus appoints the twelve Apostles and gives them authority to cast out demons.

References-

• “Most of the NT usages of this verb refer to a withdrawal from danger or other undesirable circumstances (see e.g. Matt 2:12, 13, 14, 22; John 6:15), but the word can also indicate mere departure (e.g. Matt 9:24) or search for privacy (e.g. Acts 23:19; 26:31; cf. BAGD, 63). Withdrawal from danger would certainly fit our context, where a murderous conspiracy has been mentioned in the previous verse, and Jesus could be presumed to know about it through his supernatural insight (cf. 2:8; 3:2, 4–5).”

  Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 257.

• Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1–8:26, vol. 34A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 146.

• William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 129.

• Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1–8:26, vol. 34A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 148.

• Adela Yarbro Collins and Harold W. Attridge, Mark: A Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2007), 213–214.

• “Although the setting of the call of the Twelve was probably the western hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee, “the hills” is an inadequate translation of Gk. oros (“mountain”) in v. 13. Mountains are often in Mark sites of revelation or significant junctures in Jesus’ ministry (3:13; 6:46; 9:2; 11:1; 13:3; 14:26), as they are sites of revelation in the OT.2 Jesus’ ascent of a mountain to call the Twelve has the significance of Moses’ ascent of Mt. Sinai to receive and transmit the Ten Commandments (Exod 19:1–25; 20:18–20).”

  James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 111.

• R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 158–159.

• “In v. 14 the Greek reads literally, “he made Twelve,” a curious wording since Twelve is something one counts or numbers rather than “makes.” The phrase indicates a fixed, complete unit or college.11 The number Twelve, of course, recalls the twelve tribes of Jacob (Gen 35:22–26; 49:1–28). Jesus’ summons of the Twelve in fellowship and service to himself signifies a reconstituting of Israel. According to Matt 19:28 and Luke 22:30, the Twelve are not only an extension of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but their function extends beyond time when they will sit in judgment over Israel. The call of the Twelve was surely significant to Mark’s first Roman readers, both Gentiles and Jews. For Gentiles, it is a reminder that “salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22), that is, that the only savior proclaimed to the world is the one prepared for in Abraham and now present in Jesus. For Jews, likewise, the Twelve is a reminder that Israel fulfills its destiny only in the fellowship and service of Jesus.”

  James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 115.

• William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 134.

• “The expression, “gave him the name …” (ἐπιτιθῆναι αὐτῷ ὄνομα), occurs only here (3:16–17) in the NT. It does have a parallel in the LXX (Judg 8:31; 2 Kgs 24:17; Neh 9:7 [2 Esdr 19:7]; Dan 1:7) where in each case an individual was either given a name or renamed. Read against this LXX background, “Peter,” though a translation of “Cephas” (Stock, Boten, 29–30; cf. O. Cullmann, TDNT, 6 [1968] 101) would have been perceived in this listing to be a proper name and not simply a nickname. Thus, this listing declares that Jesus actually gave Simon a new name, a name which the Church came to use with regularity in place of or along side of Simon (cf. “Simon Peter” in John 1:41; 6:8, 68; 13:6, 9, 24, 36, etc.), and not merely a nickname. Thus what may have begun as a nickname given by Jesus (Lampe, NTS 25 [1979] 227–45; cf. Jesus’ consistent use “Simon” in the Gospel tradition) is now perceived as a new name.”

  Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1–8:26, vol. 34A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 161.