BE WITH HIM – SEND THEM OUT

“Jesus sent up on a mountainside and called to Him those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” Mark 3:13,14

Although these few verses read as an everyday event in Jesus’ life, they were one of the most significant moments in His public ministry. According to Luke, He spent the night in prayer before He chose the men to whom He would entrust His friendship, His love and the entire future of His mission on earth. If there were any bad apples in this box, His mission would be in jeopardy.

What about Judas Iscariot? What about Peter, James, and John whose characters He knew so well that He gave them nicknames? What hope did He have of moulding this bunch of ordinary men into disciples – learners and imitators of Himself? How was He going to persuade them that His yoke – gentleness and humility, love compassion and mercy – was more powerful than the yoke of the other rabbis in Israel whom the Pharisees followed slavishly?

Mark mentions His strategy in a single sentence. “The plan was that they would be with Him, and He would send them out to proclaim the Word and give them authority to banish demons.”  Mark 3:14,15 (The Message). Simple, yet effective. The key was “that they would be with Him”. They would accompany Him day and night. They would listen, watch, follow, copy until His thoughts became their thoughts and His ways became their ways – it was no easy task as their behaviour, words and questions revealed just how ignorant and ordinary they were.

Jesus often became frustrated with them because of their faithlessness and their slowness to learn. But with great patience and infinite love He gave them opportunity after opportunity to practise what they saw Him doing. He had faith in them even though, at that time, they didn’t seem to merit it. He knew that His Spirit in them would energize all they learned and practised so that they would become powerful imitators of their Rabbi. His call was a simple one. “Follow me,” but held in it a world of possibilities.

We don’t know much about most of the disciples but Peter, James, and John, who were closest to Him, always had a lot to say, especially Peter. Peter was the big mouth who kept opening it to put his foot in! James and john were the aggressive ones whom Jesus called “the sons of thunder”. What would it take to change these men?

The secret was in the first part of Jesus’ strategy, “that they might be with Him”. Spending time with Jesus gave them first-hand experience of who He was. This was very important for them, and it is just as important for us. If we don’t spend time with Jesus, we will never get to know Him and His ways. Without knowing Him intimately, we cannot faithfully represent Him to the world.