The Gospel According To Mark. Day 15, Jesus Grows In Popularity/He Chooses The Twelve Disciples

After healing the man in the synagogue on the Sabbath, Jesus' fame continues to grow. Everyone is talking about what He is able to do. "Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed." (Mark 3:7) It's going to be very difficult from now on for Jesus to have much time alone with the Father or with the disciples. There will come a point when He and the disciples won't have enough time to sit down and eat, much less get a decent night's sleep.

The Bible uses the word "disciples" most often in reference to the twelve men Jesus is going to choose to be His inner circle of friends, but it also uses the word in reference to a wider circle of sincere followers. Every rabbi had disciples: students who closely studied and followed his teachings. Jesus does too. Today He is going to choose the twelve, but I think when He withdraws to the lake the word "disciples" may include both those He will choose as the twelve and the larger circle of students who are following Him about the countryside.

"When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to Him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. Because of the crowd He told His disciples to have a small boat ready for Him, to keep the people from crowding Him. For He had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch Him. Whenever the impure spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, 'You are the Son of God.' But He gave them strict orders not to tell others about Him." (Mark 3:7-12) Coffman's Commentaries On The Bible says of verse 7, "The place names mentioned here as sending a great multitude to Jesus covered the entire extent of ancient Palestine. Tyre and Sidon were in the northwest, Jerusalem a hundred miles south, Idumea extended from the far south all the way to Arabia, and 'beyond the Jordan' referred to the east." The Bible never tells us exactly how many people Jesus healed, but the extent of His fame at this early point in His ministry indicates He had already healed thousands if not tens of thousands.

Again we find Jesus rebuking the demons for calling Him by name. Some scholars believe the demons called Him by name in order to cast suspicion on His ministry, as we studied earlier in the book of Mark. It isn't going to help Jesus to have the testimony of demons. Satan and the fallen angels are liars, and when they call Jesus "Son of God" it's the only time they speak the truth, but the populace has no way of knowing that. People are naturally going to believe the opposite of what a demon says.

After teaching from the boat on the lake we are told, "Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed twelve that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons." (Mark 3:13-14) In Luke 6:12 we learn that Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before choosing the twelve disciples from among His followers. It's as important for us to study what Jesus does as for us to study what He says because He leads by example. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to pray and seek the Father's will before making a big decision, then we certainly need to pray and seek God's will in our own decisions.

The crowds have gotten so huge that Jesus needs these men to help Him work His way through the long lines of those who are going to come to Him for healing. How precious it is that Jesus humbled Himself, in order to go to the cross for us, to the point of having to deal with the limitations of a human body! Like Moses who needed to appoint some men to help him lead the Israelites in the desert, Jesus needs to appoint some men to help Him minister to those in need. After Jesus is resurrected and has gone to the Father, all but one of these men will continue His work by carrying the gospel to the world. "These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to whom He gave the name Boanerges, which means 'sons of thunder'), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him." (Mark 3:16-18) Simon has already begun using his new name of Peter and Levi has begun using his new name of Matthew. In other places in the Bible Thaddaeus is also called Judas the son of James. Mark is writing his gospel after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, so naturally Thaddaeus would not want to be called by his other name of Judas in order to distance himself from Judas Iscariot. Simon the Zealot is called Simon the Canaanite in other places, but this is no contradiction. Canaan identifies his geographical origin and Zealot identifies his political party.

The book of Mark is action-packed and it is really going to begin picking up speed now as Jesus and the twelve disciples preach the word of God, heal the sick, and cast out demons. Nothing on this level has ever been seen since the world began. The Word of God has been made flesh and now dwells among men. He is going to say things no mere man has ever said and He is going to do things no man has ever done.