7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve[a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Question 1
Have you ever wanted to talk to someone, but not been able to get to them because there are so many people around them?
Question 2
Do you have a nickname that says something about your character?
So far Mark has been emphasizing how wonderful it is that Jesus Christ came into the world, showing all the amazing things He was doing. But while it was important that the Son of God come into the world as a man, this posed a problem. Obviously there are only so many people who would be able to come to Jesus at any time. Again in this story we get an idea of how many people needed help. There’s this huge crowd of needy people coming to Jesus in order to be saved from different things. This time, so many of them come that Jesus has to go out on the water in a boat just away from the shore to make sure no one gets hurt and so he can see and talk to them all.
To help solve the problem Jesus calls twelve of his followers to him. He chooses this little group of men so they can spend time learning from him, and then go out and reaching as many people were possible with the good news.
Jesus was making sure that more people than before were going to hear the message and be helped. But it is clear that the apostles are all different from each other. Some of them had nicknames that said something about their character, and they had all sorts of different backgrounds. Yet they are all called to the same work, and to use their different talents and personalities to serve.
Question 3
In what ways has God provided for your needs in the past?
Question 4
How can you use your personality and special talents to reach others?
Pray:
about confidence and opportunities to tell others about Jesus Christ and His message.
