Mk 3:13-19

The Mission of the Twelve

Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted and they came to him. He appointed twelve whom he also named apostles that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach and to have authority to drive out demons: he appointed the twelve: Simon, whom he named Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, whom he named Boanerges, that is sons of thunder; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son Alphaeus; Thaddeus, Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.

MOUNTAIN: Any time anything is portrayed as taking place on a mountain, the reader is being invited by the writer to take notice. So, when Mark situates Jesus on a mountain and Jesus summons and appoints the twelve (another text marker), the writer wants the reader to focus on this part of the Gospel.

            In order to get the point, three clues need to be considered. First, a mountain is a place of God’s revelation. Moses received the Law on the mountain. Later, in Mark’s account, Jesus will be transfigured on a mountain with Moses and Elijah being present.

            Second, “the twelve” indicate the beginning of a new group of people. It was out of the federation of the twelve tribes of Israel that God initially formed for himself a people. From these twelve (otherwise called apostles), Jesus will form for himself a new group of believers.

            Third, only Mark calls hi work a “Gospel.” Gospel is not a religious term; it is a political one. Literally, it means good news, and often is used to refer to the message regarding a victory in battle; the enemy has been defeated.

            By calling his work a “Gospel,” Mark is expanding the meaning of the word to cover the whole life of Jesus, and he is foretelling the victory that is connected to his theological narrative about Jesus. In a way, Mark’s Gospel is an extended homily, an act of preaching, a proclamation of “good news.”

            When these clues – the mountain, the twelve, and the Gospel – our all combined, the reader should be inclined to ask certain questions: What is the victory? Where is the victory to take place? Who will enable the victory to take place? Who is the victor? These are precisely the questions the writer wished to arouse in the hope that the readers would continue to look for the answers in his work.