Jesus' Team of Slow Learners (1) (Hunch 24)
Jesus went 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 and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
In a Nutshell
Jesus chose 12 of his disciples for special training so he
could then send them out to teach and preach. They had lots to learn.
Questions
Why these twelve? What was special about them?
Yes, I
know what you're asking! These are all men. What about some women? So what is
Mark telling us here? First off, let's recall that this book is written after
Jesus went away to be with His Father in heaven. And what was written here was
about an event before He was crucified and before He had been
raised from the dead. This event occurred as He was beginning to teach and
train His disciples. At this point in time His disciples had no idea about the
work He would want them to do later. They didn't really understand His work.
They weren't a crash hot group. Later on we read that when the going got really
tough these guys could not hack the pace. They wimped off. It was indeed the
women, Mary his mother, Mary Magdalene, Mary's sister, the wife of Zebedee and
the mother of James and John - who stuck around with Him right up until the
very end. They gave the example the men needed if they were to be leaders among
all those following Jesus. John was there, you might remember. Jesus' dying
wish was that John would look after His mother. So before you get too hot under
the collar about there not being any women among the special
"in-group" of Jesus' disciples, just remember that when you see all
the facts presented by the Bible it is not what it seems at first. We wouldn't
have Mark's gospel at all if it wasn't for the special message Jesus gave to
the women on Easter morning. The women disciples played a very important part,
a part that the men could not play.
These
12 were given special teaching by Jesus. Later on He would want them to be the
rulers of a new synagogue that spread the good news. The custom of that time
was that this was men's work. And as far as Jesus was concerned they had a lot
to learn. They had to be taught how to serve, they had to learn what is
important in God's Kingdom and what is not.
Jesus'
close female companions stuck with Him and they wouldn't have stuck with
Him if they hadn't trusted and respected Him. Those who eventually wrote down
the story, like Mark, knew how important they were to Jesus.
Jesus
developed customs of His own. He didn't wait for a crowd to gather and then
drag them off to a synagogue. His custom was to teach people where they met
Him; where they gathered to hear Him. He was a Rabbi who included everyone;
there were men, but also women, boys and girls as well. This was
an important part of how Jesus taught.
One of
Jesus' big arguments with His disciples was about how children have to be given
their place. To forget the children is to miss the boat. Jesus was intolerant
of the way His disciples treated children. They had to change their ways.