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Book of Mark

Mark 3: 13-19, 20-34

Jesus Appoints the Twelve
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve[b] 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.

Note:
Here we can learn from Jesus’ leadership. If Jesus continue to heal people by himself alone, then Jesus will always tie down by all the healing work. By giving the healing power to the 12, Jesus spread the load. I think Jesus also choose the right time to pass this healing power. He did not do this in the beginning. Jesus wants to see who he can trust and faithful and has the heart. And Jesus also wants to train and prepare them. After all these, it is the right time for Jesus to entrust them with the authority to drive our demons and the healing power.

Jesus also know the have the “Business Continuous Plan (BCP)”. In the corporate world, it is important to make sure that there are BCP. Without BCP, if there is anything happens, business or operation could be able to continue and this is a BIG thing. Here, Jesus knows that his time is short. Jesus knows that very soon he need to be crucified, resurrected and back to God in heaven. Besides sending the Holy Spirit to the disciples, he also make sure that they are spiritual leaders around and these 12 are them.

Without having a clarify who are the spiritual leaders, the first century church can be a havoc. They won’t know who to look up to. But having this clarify of knowing who are their leaders, it helps the organization of the church.

Jesus style of leadership consists of many ways. He teaches by words (preaching), he show how to do certain things, example how to cast out certain demons, how to preach, how to heal, how to deal with certain difficult people or situation or problems. Effective leadership training should consist both teaching (direct) and showing it and walk the talk (indirect). A preacher might preach a very powerful sermon but if the preacher could not show it by his life, people will not be inspired. Jesus started this kind of training to the 12 right first in the beginning. He said “Follow me”. The phrase “Follow me” is a big keyword to leadership. It means “Follow me and I will show how to do it”.

So, if I were to be given a chance say a bible talk leader, I also need to imitate Jesus, to train and prepare the Christian to become a small group leader or a bible talk leader if case I am not around or any changes to me in the future.

This is also applicable to in my career as well if I was given a chance to hold the management position like team lead, manager and etc.

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family[c] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven all their sins and all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”

30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Note:
Why did Jesus choose twelve disciples? Because this is the foundation of the new chosen people, and as Israel had twelve tribes, Jesus would have twelve apostles

It seems that the names of the twelve disciples are usually arranged in pairs. “Since Jesus sent His Apostles out two by two, this was a logical way to list them.” (Wiersbe)

  • Peter and Andrew.
  • James and John.
  • Philip and Bartholomew (also called Nathanael in John 1:45).
  • Thomas (his name means “twin”) and Matthew (Levi).
  • James, son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus (also called Judas, son of James in John 14:22).
  • Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

Why did Jesus choose Judas?

  • It wasn’t because Jesus didn’t know how he would turn out. Jesus told His disciples that He chose them, and knew one of them was a devil.
  • It wasn’t because He no others to choose. He could raise up followers from stones, so He could easily have found someone else.
  • It wasn’t because He wanted a scandalous person, or a “bad boy” – we read of no scandal surrounding Judas during Jesus’ ministry. The other disciples did far more stupid things during their three years with Jesus.

A man once asked a theologian, “Why did Jesus choose Judas Iscariot to be his disciple?” The teacher replied, “I don’t know, but I have an even harder question: Why did Jesus choose me?”

Why would some from His own people think that Jesus was out of His mind?

  • He left a prosperous business to become an itinerant preacher.
  • The religious and political leaders plotted to murder Him, but He did not back down (Mark 3:6). They were afraid for Jesus’ sake.
  • Huge crowds began to follow Jesus, and they knew how such fame and attention and celebrity can go to someone’s head (Mark 3:7-8).
  • He showed spiritual power and ministry He had never really shown earlier in His life (Mark 3:9-11). Was something very wrong?
  • He picked such an unlikely group of disciples that His judgment could fairly be questioned (Mark 3:13-19).
  • But there was one last straw: the pressures of this incredible ministry made Him miss regular mealtimes (they could not so much as eat bread).

The opinion of these teachers of the law carried a lot of weight with many people. It is just like an opinion from a Pope in today.

This wasn’t the only time Jesus was insulted like this.

  • “He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?” (John 10:20)
  • “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (John 8:48)
  • “We were not born of fornication.” (John 8:41)
  • “A glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ (Luke 7:34)
  • “You have a demon.” (John 7:20)

Jesus counter back the attack by stating a logical argument because the attack has illogical argument.

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