Divide and Be Conquered
I apologize for the delay in my posts. My wife and I had a great time hiking part of the Camino trail in Portugal and Spain for our 20th anniversary. Mark 3:13-19 contains the story/recap of the calling of "The Twelve." While at the surface, these words and names appear to be only a list, their purpose in Mark's gospel is far greater. The Purpose of the List Mark's stories of Jesus' disciples, in part, are meant not only to teach the readers about Jesus' closest followers but also serve as a model for how the early church was supposed to function. The readers of the gospel are to see themselves in the the stories of the 12 apostles. Contrary to popular belief, the 12 should not be seen as some sort of hierarchy of super-followers of Jesus. Rather, Jesus specifically chose them to be apostles. Here the term "apostle" is meant in its simplest form of missionaries who would be sent out to expand the work of Jesus. These 12 are special though ...