In the early 1700s in Germany there was a small village of around 300 people called Hernhutt. If you were scouting out a place from which God was going to launch a movement that would impact the world, you probably wouldn't have guessed that it would start in that little village.
The people there weren't famous pastors or exceptional theologians. They were refugees. They had fled persecution, lost their homes, and carried deep wounds. To make matters worse, they couldn't even get along with each other. They argued over doctrine, worship, and personalities. It looked like the community was headed for failure before it had really begun.
But then something changed.
As they humbled themselves before God, confessed their sins, forgave one another, and committed themselves to pray, God met them in a profound way. That little village became known for an around-the-clock prayer movement that continued for generations.
And from that tiny, forgotten community, of ordinary people, carpenters, craftsmen, and famers began leaving for the ends of the earth with the gospel. Historians now recognize the Moravians as one of the great missionary movements in church history. Their influence reached across continents and inspired generations of missionaries who followed.
Think about that. God didn't start that movement in the largest city or through the most influential church. The genesis of that movement was a small group of overlooked refugees in a village most people had never heard of.
And there are many, many other examples of God working like that throughout history.
The question we will encounter in our study today is not whether a person is impressive enough for God to use. The question is whether a person is available enough."
When we study the bible, one of the things that is so obvious is the distinct, massive, profound difference between God and the people He chooses to use. In the bible and throughout history, God almost always chooses unlikely people to accomplish His purposes through. And as we study the gospels, we see that in a group of men that we know as the 12 disciples of Jesus. They were common. They were not nobility. They were not influential at the time of their call to follow Jesus. They were not made up of a collective group of wealthy men. They were normal men. As it is said in the book of Acts, the religious leaders looked at them and recognized that they were uneducated and untrained men.
And out of the 11 disciples that remained faithful to Jesus, we see very clearly that God equips those that He calls into His service. God doesn’t require up front, polished, perfect followers. He will equip and use those who are humbly available to be used by Him as willing vessels.
We will see that in our text today in Mark 3:13-19.
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1.The prerogative of God (13-15)
What does prerogative mean? Here is a dictionary definition of prerogative: an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege given to a person, group, or office. And when we use that word related to God it means: the exclusive rights, supreme privileges, and absolute authority that belong solely to God.
And we see the mysterious prerogative of God in the calling of His disciples. In fact, the word for summoned in verse 13 when it says that Jesus summoned those to Himself that He wanted….the word used for summoned is a word that was constructed in the original Greek language is such a way that it means that Jesus acted completely according to His own will in choosing these specific men. We are not given the reasons why but Jesus wasn’t influenced by others to choose these men. He simply chose to choose them according to His own will.
Now, to this point, Jesus would have already called 7 disciples. We saw 5 back in chapters 1 and 2 when He called Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Levi (AKA as Matthew). And John’s gospel tells us that He had also already called Philip and Nathanael.
Why did God choose those men and not different, perhaps more qualified men? Because it is God’s prerogative to choose whom God chooses. And that might not be a satisfactory answer to some. Because within our system of thinking as finite, limited humans, we tend to think that there has to be more to it than that! We might think that there had to be some special merit or some special gifts or reasons why Jesus chose those 12 men.
But remember who Jesus has called and how He called them so far. Listen to Mark 1:16-20.
“As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 19 Going on a little farther, He saw [l]James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away [m]to follow Him.”
Remember how He called Levi, the tax collector back in 2:14: As He passed by, He saw [g]Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He *said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him.
Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. Levi or Matthew was actually on the opposite end of the social spectrum. He would have probably had a financially comfortable life as a corrupt tax collector. But because of his profession working for the Roman government, he would have been deeply disliked and looked down on by His own Jewish people. He would have been an outcast from his own people.
In other words, these were not the kind of people that most would have chosen to start a movement with. They were just the opposite, in fact. So, why did Jesus choose them? Because He did! Who understands the mind of God but God alone? And His prerogative is His prerogative.
Now, I think a strong case can be made biblically that God normally chooses people like that to be used in extraordinary ways so that God gets the glory as weak vessels are used in amazing ways.
Still, the disciples didn’t turn in resumes to Jesus. They didn’t find Jesus on a job board and apply. They certainly weren’t posturing or politicking for a position close to Jesus. But Jesus called to them and what did they do? They obeyed! Without much info, they followed! They stepped out in faith to answer the call of Jesus! And it was a life-altering, eternity changing yes that they put on the table! And it was a yes that has resonated throughout time as through their obedience many people have been reached for Jesus.
You see, no one deserves to be chosen by God. That’s why it is called grace. God offers us His grace! God calls us and invites us to be a disciple. And a person will either respond by humbly receiving that gift or he will respond by pridefully rejecting that offer of God’s grace.
If you have heard the gospel, how have you responded? Have you obeyed and surrendered to Jesus? Have you called out to Jesus to save you and to give you His righteousness and remove your sins? Or have you rejected that call in order to pursue your own way?
Now, once discipleship has been established, once a person has repented and believed in Christ, what then must happen for that person to become, not just a disciple of Jesus, but an effective disciple of Jesus? In other words, what precedes effective ministry for Jesus?
2.Effective disciples must be close to Jesus (14-15)
Jesus chose 12 men to be His closest disciples. And if you remember, these ordinary men would go on to be instrumental in the early church and her doctrine, even up to today.
Listen to Eph 2:19-20, Paul wrote this: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the [p]saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
Jesus chose these men to be used in a special, unique way in history. He was going to use them, as Paul wrote, to be key people through which the early church would be established with Christ as the chief cornerstone.
But what preceded that? I want you to notice something of utmost importance here. It says that He called them, first of all, to be close to Himself. Notice the wording here in verse 14. “So that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out the demons.”
To be effective disciples we must first be intimate disciples of Jesus. In other words, we must walk in close communion with Him in order to be effective servants in the Kingdom of God.
We must be near and close to Him. We must understand that our source and our strength do not lie in our own gifts or talents. Our source and our strength lie in close relationship to Jesus, the Lord who calls us unto Himself.
Notice here that Jesus didn’t call His disciple to first preach or cast out demons. He called them first to simply be with Him.
I think there is a great tension here for all Christians. Some want to do nothing of significance in the world and they would, instead, shield themselves from the world in an effort to be closer to God. And while that is a noble aspiration, Jesus commissioned His people to go out and make disciples! To work hard for our Lord.
On the other hand, there are some who exert so much effort doing and working that they forget to rest and be with the Lord as well. And both are detrimental. There must be good balance for Christians. Be with Him and serve Him.
And, again, the reason for that is because effective ministry for the Lord flows from intimacy with the Lord. Now, even though Jesus called 12 distinct men to be His closest disciples at that point in human history, the reality is that all Christians have been called to be disciples of Jesus. We certainly don’t have the same, specific calling of the 12, but a call from Jesus is a call to discipleship. It is a call to be close to Jesus. To walk in fellowship with Him as we go through life. And this is very important for many reasons.
And one of the reasons that this is so important is because busyness as a disciple of Jesus without fellowship with Jesus will usually lead to one or two places. Busyness with fellowship will lead to burnout. Or it will lead to legalism. Or sometimes both. And both are bad places.
--So, how does the Christian today stay close to Jesus? The 12 disciples literally spent time with Jesus in the flesh. We can’t do that. So, how do we stay near to Him today?
Quite a few ways.
--We stay close to the Lord through His Word (II Tim 3…inspired by God. Hebrews 4…alive and active. Proverbs…leads us to wisdom, we learn about who God is and what He has done. We learn what He is like and how we can know Him and pursue Him better.)
--We stay close to the Lord through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as we live for Him. He lives in us and illumines Scripture to us. It’s really remarkable but Jesus told His disciples that it was to their advantage that He would depart from the world.
John 16:7-8: But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
--We stay close to the Lord through prayer. Being dependent on Him.
--We stay close to the Lord through obedience (not just being hearers of the Word, but also doers)
--We stay close to the Lord in other ways too.
In other words, we stay near to the Lord by spending time with Him.
--think of this in light of our earthly relationships. EX: Imagine a person gets married and spends time with their spouse once or twice a month or once or twice a year! What would happen? That relationship would grow distant and it would grow cold. Other relationships would probably become more important. And we know that! Yet, sometimes we can begin to believe that we will magically grow in our relationship with God over time by maybe reading the bible a couple times a year, praying once a week or so when we need something.
--We know that we can’t grow in love and friendship in our relationships in life without time together to bring us closer.
--It’s so important that we stay close to our Lord. Because effective disciples must be near Jesus.
3.Ordinary men, extraordinary God (16-19)
Let’s go through this list really quickly and talk about a few things we know about the disciples. Because we will encounter these men throughout the rest of our study various times. Therefore, it’s good to know some background.
·Simon: To whom Jesus gave the name Peter. Petros, which means rock, is the GR equivalent to the Aramaic kepha. So, sometimes you hear Peter referred to as Cephas and that is why. Peter was a fisherman from Galilee. He was often the spokesman for the disciples. He was passionate, often loud and boisterous, and usually not thinking before he spoke. He became a key leader in the early church.
·James: brother of John. He was also a fisherman. According to Acts 12:2 James became the first apostle martyred for following Jesus. Listen to Acts 12:1-2: Now about that time [a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. 2 And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword.
·John, the brother of James: Also a fisherman. Peter, James, and John were the three disciples that were closest to Jesus. They were at the transfiguration as we talked about in chapter 1. John in one of my favorite people in the NT. He was once fiery but later became known as the apostle of love. He would go on to write several NT letters, including Revelation. He was the only disciple to die of natural causes, thought he was exiled and persecuted.
· to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”: James and John were called this likely because of their zeal and passion.
· Andrew: Peter’s brother. He was a faithful missionary and evangelist.
· Philip: Was from Bethsaida, which was also the hometown of Peter and Andrew. He answered the call and then invited Nathanael to meet Jesus. Which leads to the next person on the list.
· Bartholomew: AKA, Nathanael. Church history teaches that he preached the gospel all over in his missionary efforts, even as far as India, where he was martyred.
· Matthew: AKA, Levi. The tax collector.
· Thomas: AKA, doubting Thomas. He wouldn’t believe Jesus has been raised from the dead until he felt the nail holes in Jesus’ wrists. Like Bartholomew, Thomas would go on to be a martyred missionary as well.
· James the son of Alphaeus: Known as James the less, not because he was unimportant, but because not much is known about him. He certainly wasn’t as prominent as James, the brother of John.
· Thaddeus: Not a prominent disciple but would become a missionary doing work in places like Spain and Mesopotamia.
· Simon the zealot: Simon was a man who prior to following Jesus hated Roman rule and was an insurrectionist against Roman rule. Not a lot is known about him other than he surrendered to the call to be Jesus’ disciple.
·Judas Iscariot: The one who betrayed Jesus.
So, in the list of disciples we have fishermen, a hated tax collector, a political zealot, some relatively unknown men, and even one who would later betray Jesus.
One thing that is often overlooked in the calling of the disciples is that Jesus not only chose unlikely people; He also knit together unlikely friends. Most of the disciples probably wouldn’t have otherwise been close friends outside of Jesus knitting them together in mission and calling. But since they had commonality in the gospel they grew close.
Let me give you a clear example of this. Matthew, the tax collector who worked for the Roman government and Simon the zealot who hated Rome and anyone who worked for or aligned with Rome! But after encountering Christ, their lives were transformed and their whole mission in life was transformed too. And they began to work on the same team together. That’s what the gospel does! The gospel that is truly believed brings reconciliation, whether it is a broken marriage or a racially charged person, or personality conflicts….the gospel truly believed brings all sorts of people together in gospel mission and in relationship.
Isn’t that a beautiful thing?
And God still does that today.
He uses all sorts of people:
·imperfect parents
·hurting and struggling believers around the world
·quiet servants, those that serve behind the scenes not wanting any sort of spotlight or recognition
·ordinary church members
But even with that, the focus on this passage isn't on the greatness of the disciples. It's on the greatness of Jesus who transformed a rabble of men from different walks of life into a mighty force for the gospel. But they had to first step out in faith and surrender in order to be used by Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable. To be a disciple often places God’s people in a place of discomfort whereby God stretches us in order to grow us and make us more like Himself! And to use us in deeper, more significant ways in His Kingdom. Let us be so bold as to attempt hard things for God!
Now, everything I just said is absolutely contrary to the mindset of the world. The world says be comfortable at all costs. Biblical Christianity teaches to risk being uncomfortable for the greatness of Jesus.
The disciples were about to embark on a journey that was going to make them very uncomfortable! But they would do so because they were willing to simply follow Jesus. And they would soon find out that Jesus is faithful and Jesus is enough.
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Before you answer that in your own heart, listen to this quote from a theologian I was reading:
--“Discipleship is being an intimate follower, having an intimate relationship, following to the point where you would go as far as death out of love. There's no question about the fact that the only message Jesus ever proclaimed was a message of discipleship. The call that Jesus gave was a call to follow Him, a call to submission, a call to obedience. It was never a plea to make some kind of momentary decision to acquire forgiveness and peace and heaven and then go on living anyway you wanted. The invitations of Jesus to the lost were always direct calls to a costly commitment.”—MacArthur
Let me press into that question a little more. I often ask, do you know Jesus? But I want to think about it like this. Is there the fruit of discipleship in your life? Do you follow Jesus? Is the pattern of your life one of obedience to Jesus or disobedience?
That is a great question for us to all ask today.
Let’s bow our heads.
1.Are you a disciple? Have you surrendered to Jesus? Is your life different?
2.How can grow deeper as a disciple? What disciplines need to increase in your life in order to be closer to Jesus and thereby be a more effective disciple?
3.Who do you need to tell about Jesus? Who do you know that isn’t a disciple that you could bring to Jesus?