A. You all are very familiar with the Beatles. Right?
1. By 1966, the Beatles had become international stars and had achieved unprecedented levels of critical and commercial success.
2. Their popularity caused John Lennon, the 26 year-old member of the Beatles to tell a London reporter: “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now…”
3. How’s that for an example of allowing popularity to go to your head?
B. By chapter three in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ popularity had also reached incredible heights, but our Lord and Savior did not allow His popularity to go to His head.
1. Instead, as we will see in our study today, Jesus “stayed the course.”
2. Jesus knew what His mission was, and He knew the dangers and the traps of popularity.
3. Jesus would have agreed with what one person said about popularity: “I don’t want everyone to like me; I should think less of myself if some people did.”
4. And Jesus would have agreed with an English politician from the 1980s who said, “I do not care one straw about popularity, for I know that it is generally purchased by a sacrifice of the truth.” (Hensley Henson, elected Head of the Oxford House in 1987)
C. Last week, we noticed that Mark showed us a number of encounters that Jesus had with the religious leaders and how Jesus stood strong in the midst of the controversies.
1. In spite of the miracles Jesus had performed and the authority with which He taught, the religious leaders were growing more and more resentful toward Him.
2. Jesus forgave the paralytic’s sins and then healed him, and they accused Him of blasphemy.
3. Jesus called the tax collector named Matthew to follow Him, and then ate a meal with Matthew’s friends who were the outcasts of Capernaum, and then the Pharisee’s questioned why Jesus would eat with sinners.
4. Then they questioned Jesus about why His disciples weren’t fasting, and why His disciples picked grain on the Sabbath, and why He healed on the Sabbath.
5. The pressure on Jesus must have been immense and intense.
6. Jesus’ every move was watched by His enemies and the worst interpretation was placed on everything He said and did.
7. Jesus knew what awaited Him at their hands, and He knew that they were quickly trying to bring about that end, but it wasn’t that time yet, so Jesus withdrew from Capernaum to the countryside along the seashore.
D. But in spite of the fact that Jesus was despised by the religious leaders, He was adored by the general population.
1. The crowd was amazed at what Jesus was doing and His fame and popularity were increasing.
2. Mark wrote: 7 Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a large crowd followed from Galilee, and a large crowd followed from Judea, 8 Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to him because they heard about everything he was doing. (Mk. 3:7-8)
3. Mark wanted his Roman readers to know that Jesus was not just a local Messiah or one who was only honored by His own people, so Mark gave a more complete list of where the people were coming from than did the other Gospel writers.
a. We would expect that a large crowd from Galilee would follow Jesus since Galilee is where Jesus had been spending His time.
b. But Mark pointed out that there was another large crowd from Judea and Jerusalem which is south of Galilee.
c. But then Mark added that people were coming from Idumea, which is a desert region south of Judea, and others were coming from beyond the Jordon, meaning east of the Jordon river outside of the nation of Isreal.
d. Finally, Mark concluded the list with people from Tyre and Sidon, which are Phoencian cities along the cost of the Mediterranean Sea north of Galilee.
e. Surely this diverse crowd included Jews and Gentiles.
E. Then Mark described the reason the large crowds were coming and what precautions Jesus had to make for His own protection.
1. Mark wrote: 9 Then he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. 10 Since he had healed many, all who had diseases were pressing toward him to touch him. (Mk. 3:9-10)
2. Can you picture the scene? Can you feel the press of the crowd as people clamor to get near Jesus?
3. Crowds can be scary and dangerous.
a. We’ve all seen the news stories of people who have been crushed or killed in a crowd stampede.
b. We experienced a scary moment in a crowd in a hallway at the Carrier Dome a few years ago when no one could move in one direction or another and everything got tighter and tighter as everyone was pushing forward.
c. Jesus knew that the crowd posed a threat to Him and His disciples, so, He had them get a boat ready for escape.
4. We can understand why the crowd was so intent about getting to Jesus – He was a healer and so many needed healing.
a. Although the text doesn’t go into detail, we assume that Jesus did offer healing on this occasion.
5. Mark concludes the telling of this story this way: 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And he would strongly warn them not to make him known. (Mk. 3:11-12)
a. This is not the first time that Mark has told us that the demons knew who Jesus was, and like before, Jesus did not allow them to make His identity known.
b. Jesus exercised His authority over them and would not allow them to speak, not because they were saying things that were wrong, but because Jesus didn’t need or want demons to testify about Him.
F. This short episode that Mark reported revealed that Jesus stayed on course – meaning that Jesus kept to His primary mission.
1. He knew the right timetable and the right means for revealing His identity.
2. And Jesus knew that His main mission on earth was not a physical humanitarian mission, but a spiritual humanitarian mission.
3. Jesus did not come to remove all the suffering from this world, rather He came to suffer so that He could take us to our heavenly home.
4. Like Jesus, we must be sure that our main mission of seeking and saving the lost doesn’t get sidetracked and overtaken by other more minor aspects of our ministry.
G. The next thing Mark reported was that Jesus was able to leave that crowd behind and get away.
1. Mark wrote: 13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. (Mk. 3:13)
2. If Jesus was all about playing to the crowds and basking in His popularity, then Jesus would have stayed with the crowds, but He left the crowds because He had other important business.
3. In Luke’s gospel, we are told that Jesus spent the night in prayer before He called the 12.
4. If spending time in prayer before making a major decision was a necessity for Jesus, then it must be even more a necessity for us. Amen!
5. This was one of the most critical moments in the life and ministry of Jesus.
a. The cross and the resurrection were certainly the most important events.
b. But the choosing of the 12 apostles had to rank pretty highly after that.
c. When Jesus’ earthly ministry ended, then others had to be ready to carry on His work.
d. Without them and their faithful efforts, what Jesus had started would never be extended throughout the world.
H. And so, Jesus prayed, and then He chose the twelve.
1. Mark wrote: 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 He appointed the Twelve: To Simon, he gave the name Peter; 17 and to James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, he gave the name “Boanerges” (that is, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 Andrew; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. (Mk. 3:14-19)
2. So, Jesus appointed the twelve apostles…why twelve?
a. The number “twelve” had great significance for Israel because of the twelve tribes who descended from Abraham.
b. The number 12 comes up a lot in the Old Testament because of the 12 tribes of Israel.
1. There are 12 loaves of bread in the temple.
2. There are 12 pillars with an altar at Mount Sinai.
3. Elijah made an altar with 12 stones.
4. The book of Revelation describes the New Jerusalem having 12 foundation stones and 12 gates attended by 12 angels (Rev. 21:14, 12, 21).
c. The church is the new Israel, so it makes sense that the new Israel would be led by 12 apostles.
d. Matthew recorded these words of Jesus: “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Mt. 19:28)
I. Before we go into Jesus’ reason for choosing these twelve, let’s talk about who these men were.
1. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke each give us a list of the 12 apostles.
2. In each of the lists, the men are organized into the same 3 groups of 4 men in each group.
a. The first group is comprised of 2 sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John.
b. The second group is comprised of Philip, Nathaniel (Bartholomew), Matthew and Thomas.
c. The third group is comprised of James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
3. Although the order of the names changes slightly from list to list, they are always in the same subgroup and the name that starts the group is always the same.
a. Peter always leads group 1, Philip always leads group 2, and James, the son of Alphaeus always leads group 3.
b. This may suggest that each of these subgroups had its own leader.
c. We know the most about the men in group one, and then we know increasingly less about those in groups 2 and 3.
d. But in all of the lists, Peter is always first, and Judas Iscariot is always last and identified as the one who betrayed Jesus.
4. The two things that stand out the most from the 12 apostles is the fact that they were a diverse group and that they were just ordinary men.
a. Think about how diverse a group they were: we don’t know about all their backgrounds and occupations, but we do know that there were 4 fisherman, 1 tax collector, 1 zealot.
1. They were very different from each other, even natural enemies, but Jesus unified them into a powerful team.
2. We too are a diverse group of Christians, but we can and must allow Jesus to mold us into a unified and powerful team!
b. And think about how ordinary they were.
1. Jesus could have picked the most well-known, educated or powerful people of Israel – like a religious leader named Nicodemus, but He didn’t.
2. Jesus chose just ordinary men and invested in them.
3. But isn’t this the way God often works?
c. To the church at Corinth, Paul wrote: 26 Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one may boast in his presence. (1 Cor. 1:26-29)
d. I like the saying: “God doesn’t call the qualified, but He qualifies the called.”
e. In the end, God works this way so it is obvious that God has accomplished what is accomplished and all glory goes to God.
J. So, Jesus chose these twelve men and appointed these twelve, whom He also named apostles.
1. An apostle is someone who is appointed and sent on a mission, often with the authority of the sender.
2. Then Mark described the two-fold purpose of appointing the twelve: first, that they could be with Him; and second, so that He could send them out to preach and have authority to drive out demons.
3. These 12 men would spend almost every minute of the next few years with Jesus.
a. Jesus was inviting them into His life so that He could mentor and train them.
b. These 12 men would eat with Him, walk with Him, listen to Him and learn from Him.
c. They would observe first-hand and be eyewitnesses of everything He said and did.
d. They were apprentices and would receive on-the-job training.
4. By being with Jesus, they would understand His mind, catch His spirit, learn to trust in His Father, and develop His passion to seek and save the lost.
a. There were so many things they needed to learn, but it all started with simply being with Jesus.
b. Later, when Peter and John stood before the Jewish Sanhedrin and defended themselves and the Lord Jesus whom they served, the Sanhedrin was amazed at their courage and understanding in spite of the fact that they were unschooled and ordinary men, and concluded “that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
5. This is a very important part of our first steps and our ongoing steps in discipleship, we too must be with Jesus.
a. We must immerse ourselves in the Gospels and observe and understand our Lord.
b. Our ability to give depends on how freely we have received from Jesus.
c. The amount of our lives that are transformed into Jesus’ likeness depends on how much we have been with Him and know and understand Him.
d. Our ability to share Him with others depends on how much we know Him ourselves.
e. For a person cannot give what they do not have, and they cannot introduce someone whom they do not know.
f. We must make it a priority to be with Jesus.
g. What ultimately makes us different from the world is not our morals, or our religion, rather it is our relationship with God – our relationship with Jesus.
K. The second purpose in appointing the twelve was so that Jesus could send them out.
1. Being sent out is the meaning of being an apostle, an ambassador of the one who sends.
2. Up until this point in Jesus’ ministry, He had been the one doing all the teaching, healing, and casting out of the demons, but that was about to change.
a. Jesus would send them out and when they returned they would process what had happened.
b. Eventually, Jesus would return to heaven and leave them to carry out the mission.
3. As they went out they were to preach the Gospel.
a. Jesus was giving them the words of life that they were to take to the world.
b. How wonderful it is that we too, as His disciples, are His ambassadors and that we have great news of God’s love and grace that we get to share with the world!
c. How sad it would be for us to have found and received the salvation that comes through Jesus, and then to keep it only for ourselves and not share it with others.
d. Surely no one who discovered a cure for cancer would not share it with others, and how much more important and greater is the spiritual cure that we have found in Jesus?
3. So, Jesus appointed them so He could send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
a. In order to authenticate their position as His representatives, Jesus gave them authority over both the physical realm (over disease) and over the spiritual realm (over demons).
b. Like Jesus Himself, their message was confirmed by the supernatural signs that they performed with His power.
c. Even though demons are not inhabiting people today like they were allowed to in the time of Jesus, people are still broken and trapped in sin and need to be set free from that imprisonment.
d. As Jesus’ representatives today, we bring the good news of Jesus that heals their broken lives and sets them free from sin.
L. So, what do you think of Jesus’ plan? Did His plan to reach the world through those 12 men work?
1. Yes, of course it did! We wouldn’t be here today if His plan had failed.
2. Jesus chose those 12 ordinary men and invested in them.
a. It took a lot of patience and grace, and He had to repeat Himself, over and over again.
b. But Jesus never gave up on them and He didn’t abandon them.
3. From a human standpoint, those 12 men were odd choices, because they were uneducated, untrained, and didn’t have positions of influence.
a. But from God’s standpoint, they were the perfect choice – weak and imperfect individuals through whom His power could be displayed.
b. The fact that Jesus could use such ordinary people to so such extraordinary things underscored His sovereign purpose and His supernatural power.
c. Before the lives of those 12 were over, they literally turned the world upside down.
4. Think about the amazing plan of Jesus and how His whole method involved employing people.
a. Jesus didn’t attempt to build any earthly, physical, materialistic things.
b. Jesus didn’t accumulate money, build physical structures, or businesses.
c. All Jesus did was choose men and women to be His disciples and He poured His efforts into their training and sent them out to serve the world.
M. And guess what? Jesus’ method is still the same.
1. God’s way of reaching the world is still through His disciples – through each one of us!
2. Each of us is honored to answer God’s call and become a disciple of Jesus.
3. Our mission is to be with Jesus and be equipped for the ministry of seeking and saving the lost.
4. The mission and method of Jesus is to make disciples who will make disciples.
5. That’s what Jesus did with the 12 apostles and then that’s what the apostles did.
a. The baton of the Gospel is handed off from generation to generation of believers.
6. For example: The Gospel went from Jesus to Paul, then from Paul to Timothy, and then from Timothy to reliable men who would train others.
7. That’s what Paul said in his letter to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:2): What you have heard from me in the prese nce of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
8. I pray that all of us will be faithful in picking up the baton of discipleship and that we will stay the course and not be deterred or distracted from the mission of Jesus.
9. I pray that we will be serious about following Jesus and will help others do the same.
10. I pray that the chain of discipleship will continue as we make disciples who make disciples.
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Popularity Problems, Sermon by David Owens
• The Servant’s Servants, Sermon by Nate Shinn
