The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
APPOINTMENT OF THE TWELVE
The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
APPOINTMENT OF THE TWELVE
Lesson Plan:
1. Great Pressure of Work Upon Christ (Mk. 3:7-12)
2. Choice of the Twelve (Mk. 13-19)
3. Kind of Disciple We Should Be (Matt. 5:13-16)
Lesson Setting:
Time: Early summer, A.D. 28.
Place: Somewhere among the hills west of the Sea of Galilee; perhaps on the double-peaked hill called 'the Horns of Hattin'.
Place in the Life of Christ: In the early Galilean ministry, in the middle of the second year of His public life.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Read the lesson, with the parallel passages, Matthew 4:23-25; 12:15-21; Luke 6:12-19.
b. With this list of the Twelve compare those in Matthew 10:2-4; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13.
c. In connection with verse 7 note the eleven times recorded in Mark when Christ withdrew from the crowds: Mark 1:12; 3:7; 6:31, 46; 7:24, 31; 9:2; 10:1; 14:34.
d. On Idumaea (Edom), verse 8, see Isaiah 34:5, 6; Ezekiel 35:15; 36:5.
e. On the giving of new names, verses 16, 17, see Genesis 17:5; 32:28; Judges 6:32; Matthew 16:16-18; Acts 4:36; and perhaps Acts 13:7-9
Christ's Twelve Helpers and the Similar Work We Are to Do (A Missionary Lesson) Introduction: After Moses had led the Israelites from Egypt he was their sole ruler and judge, and all his time was spent in settling their disputes. Then came to him Jethro his father-in-law and urged him to appoint helpers, judges of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands, to hear the minor cases, while Moses reserved his strength for the matters of greatest importance. Moses adopted the wise plan and every most successful leader in any sphere has adopted it. A shrewd maxim, 'Never do yourself that which you can get someone else to do for you.' Deputizing tasks will develop others at the same time that it relieves you.
Why did Christ thus appoint deputies and assistants? – Because of the rapid increase in the work that needed to be done. Because as a man He felt the need of aid, sympathy, co-operation, and fellowship in the work. Because His disciples needed to be set such tasks, that their strength should be developed by exercise and their initiative be brought out by responsibility. And especially because before long Christ was to leave His great work in the world to be carried on by the disciples alone, and they must be trained for that time. Thus, this lesson marks a new and very important step in the development of Christianity. Let us use this outline in studying it: (a) Great Pressure of Work Upon Christ (Mk. 3:7-12) – White harvest fields; The great need of today. (b) Choice of the Twelve (Mk. 3:13-19) – The men whom Christ gets to help Him; A remarkable portrait gallery. (c) Kind of Disciple We Should Be (Matt. 5:13-16) – Salt; Light; Some comparisons; The Light of the World.
Scripture Reading: Mark 3:7-12
1. Great Pressure of Work Upon Christ
What retreat did Jesus make, and why was it wise? – Jesus "withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea" (v 7), which in the Gospels always means the Sea of Galilee, because He would be safer on the open beach, with 'the boat' always in attendance, than in the narrow streets of Capernaum. Remember that after the healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath the Pharisees and Herodians plotted to kill Jesus.
What throng pressed after Jesus? – "A great multitude" (v 7) ... from of Palestine except Samaria, and also the regions north and south of Palestine. These verses show how far Jesus was known at this time. They came from: (a) "Tyre and Sidon" (v 8) ... far to the north and ... "from Galilee" (v 8) ... in the north of Palestine; (b) from ... "Judaea" and "Jerusalem" (vs 7, 8) ... in the center of the country; (c) from Peraea, the part of Palestine "beyond Jordan" (v 8) ... on the east; and (d) "from Idumaea" (v 8) ... in the extreme south. Idumaea, not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, is the Edom of the Old Testament. It denotes the territory occupied by the descendants of Esau, originally Mount Seir, but, after the exile, part of southern Palestine. By our Lord's time the people were practically united in the Jewish nation (Herod the Great was an Idumaean), and Idumaea made part of Judaea.
What precaution against the crowds did Jesus adopt? – He ordered that a little boat should always be in readiness to receive Him, so that He might withdraw to it and teach from it when the crowds became unmanageable; otherwise someone might be crushed in the throng.
Why did the crowds press upon Jesus in such a way? – There were in every Eastern crowd, as still there are, a very large number of poor people afflicted with terrible diseases, plagues, literally, scourges, pestilence or disease being regarded as a stroke from a divine hand. Others had been healed merely by touching Christ's garment or His hand, and why should not they also?
What tribute was paid Christ by the unclean spirits? – They always (the Greek verb denotes repeated action) "fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou are the Son of God" (v 11).
Why did Christ always, on such occasions (the verb implies repeated action) charge the demons not to make Him known? – Neither was this the time nor were these the preachers. Christ would wait for His friends, for such men as Peter and Paul, to make the great discovery and proclaim it.
White Harvest Fields – This scene, the throngs pressing upon Jesus, indicated why He found it necessary to appoint His twelve disciples. It indicates also the way in which, to the seeing eye, the great need of the world is always pressing up against Christianity, calling for the help which it alone can give.
Christianity has been at work for two thousand years; how great is the task yet before it? – To say nothing about the people in so-called 'Christian' countries, there are literally millions of people who have not had an opportunity to learn of Jesus Christ; and where the proclamation of our King has gone, the forces of darkness are arraying themselves against the further spread of feasting Christianity. We have been sitting at the table of the Lord, upon bounties which He purchased for us with His blood, while millions of Lazaruses have lain outside our gates and died there, as though there never had been a Jesus Christ. In India for instance, Christians have increased in the last decade perhaps as much as at any other time in history, yet we must not shut our eyes to the fact that India still lies in darkness; that even if a million souls are reached, hundreds of millions in India still need the gospel. If that is true of India, even worse is the spiritual destitution of China. Especially North China which is perhaps one of the saddest spot on earth. There are more weeping eyes, more sorrowing hearts, more people bowed down, more empty or desolate homes in the city of Peking than no doubt in any other city of the same size in the world. No doubt missionaries everywhere could easily say that about their own field of work.
But what about the immense regions without missionaries? – Anam and Kurdistan, with many million; an immense tract of Africa lying north of the equator; the vast Congo basin, with many more than fifty million; Afghanistan, with many millions. In Tibet, Mongolia, and Arabia the work is slow. Only fragments of the vast populations of China, Africa, South America, have come in contact with the gospel. The Greek and papal churches hold many more than three hundred million under an almost unbroken spell of ignorance and superstition. There are hundreds of millions of deluded Islam followers, and while Christian missionaries have scarcely approached them, they are themselves making new converts to their False Prophet. There has never been a time when Christians might use with greater appropriateness Christ's words spoken just before He appointed the Twelve, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few" (Matt. 9:37).
Scripture Reading: Mark 3:13-19
2. Choice of the Twelve
How did Christ prepare for the choice of the twelve disciples? – Christ had bidden His followers to "pray the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest" (Matt. 9:38). This injunction our Savior Himself followed, as Luke tells us, going up into the hills and spending the night alone in earnest prayer. Fresh from this communion with His Father, early the next morning, He made the momentous selection. This is the way in which we should make the great choices of our lives.
Where did this take place? – Perhaps on the hill known as "Horns of Hattin," a double-peaked hill on the western side of the Sea of Galilee.
Scripture Reading: Mark 3:13-19
What was the process of choosing the Twelve? – The election was a twofold one: First, He called to Him a certain number out of the whole body of His followers, and then from these He chose twelve – with reference no doubt to the twelve tribes. What life-and-death conversations, eternity-long in their influence, must have taken place that morning. For though Christ knew whom He wished to select, they also must choose Him. Do you think perhaps there were some who refused His call? He is making the same call today. Do you know any who are today refusing His call? Are you?
For what two purposes were the Twelve chosen? – First: "that they should be with him," (v 14); Second: that they might not be with Him, but "that he might send them forth" (v 14). Christ was often lonely. He felt the need of companions in His vast undertaking. He feels it still and gladly welcomes the comradeship of the humblest boy or girl, man or woman that comes to His side. But we are His companions for the fight as well as for the campfire and the barracks. "It is a maxim in the military art that the army which remains in its entrenchments is beaten" (Napoleon).
What are Christ's disciples to do as He sends them out? – Three things: "preach, heal sicknesses, and cast out devils" (v 15). They are to be teachers, comforters, and reformers. And there is no one in this class that cannot find someone that knows less than he about Jesus and His truth, someone that needs the cheer and comfort that only He can give, and some wrong that only He can right, some devil that only He can drive out.
Who were the chosen Twelve? Are they like Christians today? Simon Peter: The Headstrong Disciple – He was born in Bethsaida, but had come to live in Capernaum. He was a fisherman, and was married. He was perhaps the oldest of the disciples, and their leader. He was a wave-man, one minute walking on the sea to meet his Lord, the next minute sinking in the water of doubt and despair; one minute flourishing a sword and vowing that though all men forsake Christ, he never will and in an hour running away in the dark and even denying his Lord. But Christ saw the splendid material in him, and so added to His Hebrew name, Simon, the name Cephas (Greek: Peter).
James: The Ardent Disciple – His father was Zebedee, perhaps a man of some wealth; and his mother was perhaps Salome, sister of Mary, which if so, made him a cousin of our Lord according to the flesh. He was a fisherman, partner of Peter and Andrew. He and his brother were called by Christ Boanerges, or "sons of thunder," because they were both quiet, reserved men, with very intense feeling; and when they did speak their silence was sometimes broken so suddenly, and their indignation and ardor burst forth so vehemently, that a flash of lightning from a thundercloud was suggested to the onlookers. For example, when he and John would have fire fall from heaven on the Samaritan village that would not receive Christ (Lk. 9:54). This gives a hint of the reason why James became the first martyr of the apostles perhaps because he had angered the authorities by maybe flaming out against some evil that they had committed.
John: The Loving Disciple – He was "the brother of James," (v 17) and also a fisherman. Though James was the first of the apostles to die, John was the last, living to be nearly a hundred, and therefore he was probably the youngest of the Twelve. He was "the disciple whom Jesus loved," and his Gospel, the world's greatest book, is greatest because it reveals most of the heart of Christ. His ardent nature led Christ to call him also a "son of thunder." In the Apocalypse those which eminently may be called the thunder-voices make themselves to be heard, and do so with a greater loudness and distinctness than in any other book of the New Testament. Only strong natures are capable of earnest love. Love prompts to energy and noble deeds. An apostle of love is ever a son of thunder.
Andrew: The Helpful Disciple – He was Peter's brother, and also a fisherman. He was a quiet, steady, thoughtful man, who has fittingly become the patron saint of Scotland. He was a disciple of John the Baptist, and became the first Christian. He was also the first Christian evangelist, bringing Peter to Jesus; that was worth living for, if he had never done anything else. He also found the lad with the loaves and fishes, and it was he who brought the Greeks to Jesus. His name means 'manly,' and it is appropriate.
Philip: The Slow Disciple – He came from Bethsaida, and his business is unknown. It is the tradition that he was the disciple who, when called by Jesus, wished first to go and bury his father. It was he who laboriously calculated out how much bread would be needed to feed the five thousand, and he it was who saddened Jesus by his slowness of apprehension at the last supper (Jn. 14:8-12). He was somewhat slow of heart and dull in spiritual understanding; yet he had his peculiar aptitudes which justified his election as an apostle. There is room in the Lord's service for the exercise of all sorts of gifts, and it would seem that Philip, being of a practical turn, was charged with the duty of catering for the disciple-band.
Bartholomew: The Quick-witted Disciple – Bartholomew probably means only Bar Talmai, "the son of Talmai," his own name being Nathaniel. He was an earnest Israelite well versed in the Scriptures, and keen enough to deduce Christ's Messiahship from the second sentence our Lord spoke to him. He was from Cana, and was a close friend to Philip.
Matthew: The Reformed Disciple – His original name was Levi, changed to Matthew ("the gift of God") probably when he was converted. He was the son of Alphaeus, and was a tax-collector (publican) of Capernaum. He was the only one of the Twelve, so far as we know, that left a disreputable calling to become a disciple of Christ – the only 'reformed man' among them. Yet, at a word from the Master this extortioner left his business, with its cruelly sure ways of getting wealth, and threw in his lot with the poverty of the Twelve. Matthew gives only one verse to himself in his Gospel, and says nothing about his giving a great feast to Jesus on the occasion of his conversion.
Thomas: The Doubting Disciple – 'Thomas' means 'Twin,' as does his other name, 'Didymus.' Dr. Harrison once referred to him as "...an anatomy of melancholy." His was a strong, silent, reserved, gloomy nature. Very slowly would this man make up his mind, and very severely would he try all the evidence, but where he took his stand he stood, and there also he would die. The characteristic of Thomas is not that he doubted, but that he doubted and loved. He would not believe the resurrection till Christ showed him His hands and His side; yet when he thought that Christ was going to Judaea to be killed, he said, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." It is also of note that Thomas is the very first person on earth to declare that Jesus was, in fact, God the Son.
James: The Obscure Disciple – The Son of Alphaeus. Since his father had the same name, he may have been the brother of Matthew. He was probably not James the Less (or 'the little' in Mk. 15:40), nor is it likely that he was James, our Lord's brother, the author of the Epistle. He was just an obscure disciple, like so many of us, who did his duty quietly, but nonetheless heroically. As Abraham Lincoln said, "The Lord must love commonplace people, he made so many of them."
Thaddaeus: The Narrow Disciple – He is also called Lebbaeus, which is probably another form of the same word, both meaning 'a beloved child.' He is also called Judas, the son (or brother) of James, so that he may have been brother to John, seventh brother among the Twelve. Tradition has it that he was an ultra-Jew and one of Jesus' most bigoted followers. Harmonious with this tradition is the only hint we have of his character, the question in John 14:22, in which this Judas wants to know about the exclusive manifestation of himself that Christ would give to His disciples. Judas may not be liberal; be sure he will be loyal. Judas he is, but not Iscariot.
Simon: The Enthusiastic Disciple – "The Canaanite" (v 18). Simon Zelotes (Lk. 6:15), the name having nothing to do with the geographical name, 'Canaan,' but 'Cananaean' being the Hebrew and 'Zelotes' the Greek name for the Galilean Zealot party, a sect which stood for the recovery of Jewish freedom and the maintenance of distinctive Jewish institutions. Simon's zealotry, purified by the knowledge of Jesus, might readily become true loyalty to the kingdom of God.
Judas Iscariot: The False Disciple – He was probably the only one of the Twelve that was not from Galilee, 'Iscariot' probably meaning 'of Kerioth,' a town of Judah. He was the treasurer of the Twelve, who stole from their slender funds, and finally betrayed our Lord and then committed suicide. He was a man of ability, or he would not have been placed in the position of trust he occupied; and of noble possibilities, or he would not have been called to be a disciple. But Christ cannot force His character upon any man. Judas was to be Jesus' failure.
What does this list show about the kind of men Jesus choose? – (a) There were all kinds of men. It would be hard to find a greater variety of characters and abilities. Clay and granite are needed even more than gold and silver to make up a world. (b) One class of men is unrepresented: no disciple was perfect. These pioneers of Christianity were not conspicuously wiser, truer, bolder, nor, even including Judas, more worldly, false, cowardly, than twelve Christians today. (c) They were all obscure men and mostly poor. Yet these men so poorly gifted and unlearned and weak in themselves could do all things through Christ, who strengthened them. The charcoal needs only a rearrangement of its atoms to become a diamond. (d) There were three sets of brothers among the disciples, perhaps seven brothers in all. Our 'religion' must begin at home. We are to follow Christ in the presence of our brothers and sisters that they also will wish to follow Him. And the world is covered with a network of 'brotherhood.' Let us seek our fellow workers in business; our families; our friends and draw them into the blessed company of the Lord's disciples, Christians.
Scripture Reading: Matthew 5:13-16
3. Kind of Disciples We Should Be
How far are we to apply to ourselves this scene of the choice of the twelve? – From beginning to end. Christ wants every Christian to draw close to Him as the disciples did, and go forth as His representatives like them. In proof of this, to what did Christ compare His followers? – To "salt" (v 13). This implies a grave judgment as to the actual state of society. One does not salt a living thing; but a dead one. That it may not rot.
How are Christians to act like salt? – (a) Having Christ in our hearts, we have salt in ourselves. And as Elisha cast the salt from a new cruse into the bitter waters of Jericho, so shall we contribute to heal the bitter waters of this world which have been made such through sin. (b) Salt must get close to the thing it is to purify and be rubbed into it. In former days men built monasteries, and thought they could lay up in definite places a store of salt for the preservation of the world. We all know how soon the salt lost its savor when it was removed from the actual corruption which it was meant to cure. (c) Salt does its work silently, inconspicuously, gradually.
What is the great danger of the salt? – That it may lose its "savour" (Matt. 5:13) that Christians may become so like the world that they cannot purify it.
What is the remedy? – We are not to push too far Christ's question "Wherewith shall it be salted?" (v 13). The salt cannot regain its saltness, but as Christians, we can repent and humbly return to the source of our savor, regaining our saltness. Where are the churches of Asia Minor, the patriarchates of Alexandria, of Antioch, of Constantinople? The whole of that early Syrian, Palestinian Christianity? Where are they? ...
v 13 ... "Trodden under foot of men." Over the archway of a mosque in Damascus you can read the half-obliterated inscription, 'Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting kingdom.' And above it, 'There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet.' The salt has lost his savor, and been cast out.
To what else did Christ compare Christians? – To light "the light of the world" (v 14). This was a startling assertion, addressed to a company of Galilean peasants. It is addressed also to each Bible school class student.
How are Christians like light? – (a) Their religion radiates out, so that all men see it and are blessed by it. Vain is the thought of hiding the light, unless by putting it out. Religion which is concealed is not Christianity. Every Christian ought to light up the community for ten miles around him. The Church went into the Dark Ages because it turned its candle into a dark lantern and said, 'As long as I may see the light I do not care who is in the dark.' (b) The light shines, not to show itself off, but so that men may see and glorify our Father in heaven. (c) We shall make progress. If we are truly possessed with grace, our path will be as the shining light growing brighter and brighter to the perfect day. What is the real need of the world which Christians are to supply? The need for Christ, the Light of the world; the need of a Savior.
Illustration: Before electric lights, suppose a man places an order in the store for three boxes of candles, saying, 'I am going to have a luminous house,' but then he puts all the candles in the attic, never lighting any of them. What is the use of candles but to burn? So Christ bade His disciples not to put their lights under a grain measure, but on a lamp-stand, the projecting stone in the cottage wall on which the lamp was set.
Illustration: An article in a London newspaper told about a missionary in Africa who for years searched for the word, 'Savior,' in the unwritten language of a particular African tribe. At last he chanced upon it in a story he heard the chief tell about a man who was attacked by a lion, and how he was saved. At once the missionary used the word, applying it to Christ. The chief's face lightened up in the lurid blaze of the camp fire and said, "I understand, I understand now,' It had taken four long years; through fever, heat, cold, hunger, and thirst, but the missionary said, "I would gladly go through the whole thing again, just to know the joy of bringing the word, 'Savior,' into darkness.
How can the great task be accomplished? – Only as each Christian's candlelight can be seen by those lost in darkness, those wandering in the wilderness who need the light of salvation and the love of Jesus, the Gospel. What greater purpose could there be in the life of a Christian?
