I’ve just published the 12th part of the Learn to read the Bible series on Mark’s Gospel. This week we are looking at Mark 3:13-19, when Jesus calls the twelve disciples.
For those who are coming to this new, the idea behind this series is not for me to simply explain everything to you, but rather to give you things to think about yourself. This is about training you to read the Bible for yourself, rather than just giving you all the answers!
See this page if you’d like a few pointers for how to use these videos. Don’t forget to pray!
You can read the passage online here (although I’d suggest it’s better in a physical Bible). You may also want to have a pen and paper handy to jot down notes and things you want to look into more.
Key points from Mark 3:13-19
- There were many people who followed Jesus. Here, Jesus calls twelve people to him to be with him so he could teach them and give them a special job to do.
- What’s the significance of the number twelve? – you might want to look up the tribes of Israel. Do you think Jesus is making a statement about what he has come to fulfil?
- He called the twelve to preach and cast out demons. Those are things that we’ve seen Jesus do already in Mark’s gospel. Our lives are supposed to look like Jesus’, and Jesus gives us tasks to do. What is God calling you to do? How can we preach the gospel and help other people be free from the sin and evil which affects them?
- Jesus gave a nickname to James and John – the ‘Sons of Thunder’. Jesus had real, human relationships with people. He knows all about us as well – warts and all. Does it help to think that Jesus knows all about us and loves us (even if we need to change)?
- Jesus called Judas Iscariot, who (as the text reminds us) “betrayed him”. Think about how God was working even here. God is able to work in our lives even before we know he’s working, or even when it seems like things go wrong. Think about that in relation to what’s going on in your own life right now.
Looking for more?
You can see the rest of the videos in this series on the this page. If you’d like a more focussed series teaching the Christian faith, check out the teaching programme.
You might also want to see the previous episode in the series on Mark 3:7-12.
