Mark 3: 13-19
August 1, 2009
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve [a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Mark 3:13-19
I think it is safe to say that when Mark writes that Jesus was up on the mountain he is telling his audience that Jesus was in communion with the Father. Luke’s version adds “to pray”. Matthew paints Jesus as the new Moses who is with God on the Mountain. In other words I think it is extremely important to notice that the appointment of the 12 was birthed out of prayer and intimacy with God. “Appointed” is literally “he made.”
Jesus appoints the 12 with a double assignment; “to be with him and to be sent out”. At first these two assignments appear to be mutually exclusively (and we sometimes still treat them this way), but I don’t think the disciples need to choose between being with Jesus or being sent out. Joseph Ratzinger writes, “They must be with him in order to get to know him; in order to attain that intimate acquaintance with him that could not be given to the “people”-who saw him only from the outside and took him for a prophet, a great figure in the history of religions, but were unable to perceive his uniqueness (Matt. 16:13).”
Being with Jesus and being sent by him clearly belong together. The Apostles have to learn to be with him in a way that enables them, even when they go to the ends of the earth, to be with him still. Being with him includes the missionary dynamic by its very nature, since Jesus’ whole being is mission.”
The first task they they are given is preaching. to announce the Good News of God’s in breaking kingdom. However, the preaching of God’s Kingdom is never just words, never just instruction. It is an incarnational event, just like Jesus, God’s Word is person.
In your experience has “being with Jesus” been fused together with “being sent out?”
How have you been able to keep from separating worship and evangelism?
Can the two even be separated without damaging the integrity of both?
For more thoughts along these lines check out Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger.
Comments
1 Comment to “Mark 3: 13-19”
Got something to say?
-
Subscribe To MO
“Can the two be separated without damaging the integrity of both?”
No!
So often we do. How do we keep from it? Being In leads to wanting to be With and that leads to wanting to be For.
How we perceive what he does To us when we are being with Him makes a difference. If we perceive being with him as strictly for our own sake the missional aspect is not likely to happen. If we are with him for the joy of being with him and the joy of serving him, we are attentive to obedience to him. I go with him and for him in obedience.