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Call of the Twelve

Daily Devotional • January 20

“Twelve Apostles,” Vigoroso da Siena

A Reading from Mark 3:7-19a

7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; 8 hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. 9 He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him, 10 for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” 12 But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

13 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out to preach 15 and to have authority to cast out demons. 16 So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder), 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who handed him over.



Meditation

Sitting on the mountain, awaiting his call

Being of a certain age, I well remember when Jesus Christ Superstar became a hit. The musical, to be sure, doesn’t tell the whole story. It leaves out the Resurrection! But Superstar’s sheer energy does capture one reality about our Lord: Jesus was a hit in his day. “A great multitude from Galilee followed him … they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon.” Superstar indeed! 

Yet Jesus was always cautious about crowds. “He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him … so that they would not crush him.” He healed the sick and cast out demons, but didn’t let things get out of hand. When departing demons cried, “You are the Son of God!”, he “sternly ordered them not to make him known.” Otherwise the crowd might prematurely proclaim him Messiah. It was best to keep things quiet for the time being.

In fact, it was on a select group, “whom he also named apostles,” that Jesus focused most of his energy. As a colleague once observed,  and I’ve never forgotten: Jesus fed thousands, healed hundreds, and trained twelve. In the end, these Twelve were to be the ones “to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.” Jesus’ long-term plan was to prepare followers to carry out his kingdom work after he ascended to the Father.

This plan began on the mountain, where he singled out twelve ordinary, garden-variety people, but includes you and me. Like the Twelve, we are ordinary, garden-variety Christians, and there are few superstars among us. Yet Jesus uses us to accomplish his purposes. As we sit with Jesus on the mountain and await his call, how is he beckoning us to serve him today?

The Rt. Rev. Edward S. Little II was bishop of Northern Indiana for 16 years after serving parishes in Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Joaquin. He is the author of three books; most recently: The Heart of a Leader: St. Paul as Mentor, Model, and Encourager (2020).

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The Diocese of Lesotho – The Anglican Church of Southern Africa
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