Mark 3:14
And he¹ordained² twelve,
that³ they should be with him¹,
and that³ he¹ might send them forth⁴ to preach⁵
¹) Jesus.
²) Literally to make ready, to prepare.
³) In order that.
⁴) To order (one) to go to a place appointed.
⁵) To be a herald, or to officiate as a herald,to proclaim after the manner of a herald. Always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed as done by John the Baptist, by Jesus, by the apostles and by other Christian teachers.
From other translations:
Mark.3.14 - And He appointed twelve to continue to be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach [as apostles or special messengers] [AMP] And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [ESV] He settled on twelve, and designated them apostles. The plan was that they would be with him, and he would send them out to proclaim the Word [MSB] And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, [KJV] He appointed twelve--designating them apostles--that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach [NIV] Then he selected twelve of them to be his regular companions, calling them apostles. He sent them out to preach, [NLT] Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, [NKJV]
Now let us see what this verse is telling us.
He ordained (appointed) twelve
Jesus chose and appointed the twelve to be familiar and well acquainted with him and set them apart to be trained for the office of the apostleship.
This was a second selection out of those invited to the hills and after the night of prayer and after day came (Luke 6:13).
Why he chose twelve we are not told, but probably this is because there were twelve tribes in Israel. It was a good round number at any rate. They were to be princes in the new Israel (cf. Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30; Luke 21:14,15 ).
Luke (Luke 6:12-16) also gives the list of the twelve at this point while Matthew postpones giving the names till they are sent out in Galilee (Matthew 10:1-15)
There is a fourth list in Acts 1:13.
That they should be with him,
To be familiar and well acquainted with him and to learn from Him.
and that he might send them forth to preach
They were not ready to be sent forth till they had been with Jesus for some time.
This is one of the chief tasks of Christ to train this group of men.
There were two purposes in sending them forth
one to preach (herald), the other to have power to cast out demons.
This double ministry of preaching and healing was to mark their work.
The two things are, however, different, and one does not necessarily involve the other.
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Many follow the Lord Jesus in the early days of His actions.
They want to hear Him preach and they want to see His miracles.
But …
▪︎ They don’t want to repent.
▪︎ They don’t want to take up their cross.
▪︎ They don’t want to really follow Him.
What a great need that is!
It is a need that is also found with us.
There are still those who will listen to God’s word, especially when there is spoken of blessings. But when it comes to the penalty on sin, and the need for repentance, it quickly becomes a very different matter for many.
Listening to what sounds good to the ears is okay, but when it comes to repentance, they walk away, and don’t care to listen any further.
The broad way, and the accompanying pleasures and sins, are too attractive. People do not want to turn to the Lord to leave sin, and walk the narrow way.
But then we read of the election of the twelve apostles.
And that is actually a new beginning. The Lord Jesus is going to establish His church, He is starting to call His people together.
It was the Savior’s choice, but they also learn to say yes to that election. The Lord is working that in their hearts. As there were twelve tribes of Israel, so now there are twelve disciples. And these will soon go out to preach the Gospel and to call the people to repentance in the name of the Lord Jesus.
The Gospel came to the world through them.
They have been the founders of the Church.
Have you heard God’s voice in your heart yet?
And did you then also surrender to Him?
The need of preaching is questioned by many in our days. According to them, that can stop now. They claim that preaching has been going on long enough.
In our time, we should roll up our sleeves and work towards a more liveable world; improve this world
▪︎ Stop talking about the Bible, and start working on climate control.
▪︎ Stop talking about repentance, and start working against war, and hunger in the world.
This sounds positive, but even if people could reach it, that the environment is clean again, and that there is no more war, or hunger. What will happen when Jesus returns, or when you die, and you appear before Him with an evil heart, and loads of sin on your back?
You will find out that you ignored the most important.
So do the one, but don’t leave out the other!
Would it be true that preaching is no longer required and that we can do away with preaching? I don’t think so. For who instituted the preaching work? Was that done by a human? By no means.
The preaching was instituted by the Son of God.
In addition to the task of healing the sick and casting out devils, the apostles are commissioned to preach.
We should note that preaching is mentioned first by the Lord Jesus in the text, and only afterwards the healing of the sick and the casting out of devils.
It is not about the latter. These were only to underline the preaching work. So the preaching is the main, and most important thing.
But then what is the content of the preaching?
The content is, that God does not delight in the death of the wicked, but in this, that they will repent and have eternal life.
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