Mark 3:7-21
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For today we’re covering a lot of ground as we walk through Mark 3:7-21. These are two stories who really don’t have a lot to do with one another. But the first gives us a summarization of what we have been reading and reminds us of a few things. But it also gives us some details that really isn’t all that needed. We’ll talk about that in a sec.
The second is this time of putting together the 12 disciples/apostles. Calling those who He desires. Calling a community together We’ll mainly break that piece of scripture down tonight.
But let’s take a quick look tonight at the first half of our scripture for the night.
The Popularity of Jesus
The Popularity of Jesus
7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And he would strongly warn them not to make him known.
Now we read this part of scripture, and if you’re like me, you may have read some of that and think to yourself, why did Mark put that detail in there.
There is not need for us to know about the fact that the crowd followed him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. Telling his disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that He wouldn’t be crushed.
Why are we told of these details here.
Something to make a note of here is that Mark is showing us how faithful of a reporter he is. You see, one of the marks of a eyewitness account is sometimes “irrelevant detail”.
A biblical scholar tells us that a composed fictional story contains details that move the narrative along or convey a message that the author wants to get across.
But eyewitnesses record many details simply because they remember them.
THIS IS GREAT FOR US who are reading God’s Word to know that ok, Mark is bringing up some details JUST BECAUSE HE (or peter) REMEMBERS THEM.
These details gives us assurance that this is eyewitness testimony being recorded, and not just some fictional made up story. Paise the Lord for small irrelevant details in God’s Word.
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We also gather here that His reputation had obviously grown so far as to include Gentile regions.
Even if the religious authorities didn’t want to acknowledge Jesus’ miracles, the common people were taking note. Jesus’ popularity is growing and growing.
The people here are following Him, but their devotion to Him does not go beyond what He can do for them. All they are seeking is a miracle worker. This is a perception that many Christians struggle with. Even some of the disciples thought of Him as a tool to release the Jews from Roman rule.
At the end of this passage I do also want to know how interesting it is that even the evil spirits call Him by His messianic name.
“YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD.”
This is not a I know your name of out commitment type thing though. This is more of a I know your name out of fear type thing. And maybe even trying my best to show you I have power over you type thing. (Some thought that if one knew and used the name of a divine being, he or she could control that being.)
This being a reason Jesus refused to let the demon use a title that is actually appropriate.
The Call of the 12
The Call of the 12
Like I said earlier. In this section, Jesus is calling a community together. A community that would foreshadow the NT Church.
This came at a pivotal point in Jesus’ ministry. He had confronted the religious powers several times. After the confrontation in Mark 3:1-6, a plot was being planned against HIs life. Crowds were following Him, and yet these were not close friends. It was a lonely time maybe, and a dangerous time.
Jesus here calls twelve men to be His special companions.
To them he granted power to perform miracles in his name.
He gave them the message of the kingdom of God.
If something happened to him—and he knew it would—there would be a band to take his message to the world. Luke 6:12 informs us that before Jesus appointed the Twelve, he spent the night in prayer. So you know this was a very important matter on His heart.
I believe this passage can tell us some things about how Jesus calls, who Jesus calls, and how He uses those who He calls.
Let’s dive into the second passage for tonight.
13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, he gave the name Peter; 17 and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 20 Jesus entered a house, and the crowd gathered again so that they were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard this, they set out to restrain him, because they said, “He’s out of his mind.”
Someone once said, “Our problem with following Jesus is we are trying to be a better version of us rather than a more accurate reflection of Him.” Following Jesus is not about being a better you, because you have to die to yourself, it’s about being more like Him. He must increase and you must decrease.
When Jesus calls you He is calling you to leave things behind.
To leave your old self and embrace your new self.
When Jesus calls you He is calling you into a life of transformation that begins to chisel the hard, selfish, prideful, lazy, and greedy you off of you to reveal His Spirit in you.
When Jesus calls you He is calling you to a purpose that involves His kingdom and that has eternal ramifications.
He is calling you into a spiritual war that you cannot fight in your own strength and win.
You must fight in His power, His strength, and in His way. Victory is guaranteed if you do it His way.
Within this passage there is evidence of Jesus calling, Jesus training, Jesus appointing, and Jesus sending the 12. And He does the same to us.
Jesus calls you
Jesus calls you
13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him.
If this has never happened to you… when Jesus calls you, You are going to feel this call down deep in your soul toward Jesus. There is this tug to want to know Him, learn of Him and be like Him. You feel this pull away from the world and toward something different that only Jesus can give. This is Jesus calling you.
We see here in this passage that Jesus called average people.
These twelve men were normal, average, and nothing special when it came to their resume. These men were all different: different personalities, different backgrounds, different religious upbringing, different skills, different strengths and weaknesses. Yet they were all chosen to serve Jesus in a unique and special way.
None of them were Bible scholars, none of them really knew what they were doing. But they were “called out” by Jesus because He had a plan for them.
Notice also though that these men “came to him”, Jesus can call yo, but it’s your will that has to come to Him and bow to Him.
Jesus appoints you
Jesus appoints you
Mark tells us that Jesus appointed the 12 to be apostles.
Now, you won’t be appointed to be apostles… but here’s the deal, You may be appointed to be a pastor, missionary, godly dad, godly mom, godly single person, a representative of Jesus at school, a good witness at work.
You have been appointed by God to be an ambassador where you live and with whom you live. You have an assignment.
Jesus “appointed twelve.” Why twelve? There are several reasons, but I want to give you one.
The nation of Israel was made of up of 12 tribes and the nation had rejected Jesus. The nation of Israel was spiritually decayed.
The religious leaders misrepresented the Old Testament, corrupted the people, and produced sons of hell (Matt. 23:15). They had substituted the traditions of men for the truth of God (Mark 7:6-13). Though they convinced themselves that they were pleasing to God their father, they were actually children “of [their] father, the devil” (John 8:44). It was not Jesus who was of Satan but them.
Clearly they needed to be removed and a change had to happen. So, Jesus chose twelve men. The number twelve was not accidental.
By selecting twelve apostles, Jesus was sending an unmistakable message to the leaders of Israel that they were spiritually disqualified.
Jesus was going to start a new nation, a spiritual nation. Peter referred to this later when he wrote in 1 Peter 2:9, “You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession” (NLT). Jesus was starting something new and very different with these twelve.
The old wineskins were out and the new wineskins were in.
Jesus trains you
Jesus trains you
Mark tells us that after Jesus called them, They were to accompany him.
This is significant. By constantly spending time with Jesus, the Twelve would be personally mentored and trained by Jesus Himself. They would be trained as His apprentices.
These twelve men would be responsible for the spread of the gospel and the establishment of sound doctrine, laying the foundation of the church (Eph. 2:20).
19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.
For the remainder of His earthly ministry, Jesus intensely invested Himself in preparing them.
It is imperative that we spend time with Jesus, in close fellowship with Him, to receive the wisdom and instruction we need to be effective in the work He has given us.
I believe Jesus is demonstrating a disciple-making strategy that we should follow. Selecting a few people and pouring our lives into them and helping them prepare and grow as believers so they can equip others to do the same.
Jesus sends you
Jesus sends you
Jesus calls you.
Jesus appoints you.
Jesus Trains you.
Jesus SEND YOU.
He does all these things so that He might send them out to preach.
These twelve men were entrusted with the essential responsibility of preaching the gospel to others. They would be the first generation of gospel preachers, following in the footsteps of their Lord, who Himself proclaimed the gospel of God (1:14).
This would not be easy. Many of them would be imprisoned for their faith and preaching the gospel and all of them would be killed for their faith in Christ and sharing the gospel with others. The only one who would not be is Judas who hung himself for betraying Jesus.
Not everyone is called to be preachers, pastors, teachers, evangelists, or missionaries who go overseas.
However,
We are all to be sharers of the gospel. We are to be ambassadors of God’s good news.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”
Jesus empowers you
Jesus empowers you
15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
1 Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness.
In order to authenticate their position as His apostles, Jesus gave them authority in both the physical realm (over disease) and the spiritual realm (over demons).
Like Jesus Himself, their message was confirmed by the supernatural signs that they performed by His power (cf. John 3:2; 2 Cor. 12:11-12).
In referring to the apostles,
Hebrews 2:4 says,
4 At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to his will.
Whatever God wants you to do, He is going to empower you to do it. He is going to equip you to minister to the people in your life.
Don’t become obsessed with casting out demons and healing diseases and illnesses. That is not the primary goal of your ministry.
Your primary goal is to share the gospel and let God bring about a transformation in their heart and lives that will last for eternity.
Are there going to be times where it’s needed to address a demon, a disease, or an illness? Absolutely.
But there are also times when you will need to address a life, a false belief, or a false gospel in the hearts and minds of people.
God will empower you with the truth and words to say at that time.
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Remember what I said at the beginning...
Following Jesus is not about being a better you, because you have to die to yourself, it’s about being more like Him.
He must increase and you must decrease. Part of that decreasing includes Jesus calling you, appointing you, training you, sending you, and empowering you.
As that happens in your life Jesus will increase and you will decrease.