Defining Jesus' Call to Discipleship - Mark 3:7-19

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

As we worked through the narratives in 2:1 - 3:6 in Mark's gospel the consistent theme was the opposition that Jesus was beginning to face from the religious leaders of the day, like the scribes and Pharisees.  The text takes us away from the opposition in 3:7-19 and focuses instead on Jesus' interaction with other groups of people.  Each group has a it's own unique interaction with Jesus and while none of them are interactions of opposition or hostility it seems quite clear that there are some important distinguishing markers.  So the question we challenged ourselves with this week was to think about what kind of interactions/responses Jesus looks for from others.  And I argued that in this particular passage of Scripture we see three EXPLANATIONS of what Jesus' call to discipleship is and is not.

The first explanation of Jesus' call to discipleship is that Jesus' call to discipleship is NOT simply a call to fall on Him.  To see this point demonstrated in our text let's begin by examining verses 7-10.  Mark begins this narrative writing that "Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea."  Although the text doesn't give us an exact reason for Jesus' departure to the sea, we can draw some inferences from the context.  In the last several verses Jesus has been under great criticism from the religious leaders.  They had questioned His practices, His authority, and were even looking for opportunities to destroy Him.  It is quite possible that Jesus was removing Himself from this particular environment in order to both refresh Himself from their constant attacks and to stay on mission with what the Father had sent Him to do.  (While Jesus could use these times of opposition to teach and preach salvation and faith these conditions couldn't have been the most ideal teaching environment.  There most have been fewer distractions in a less hostile environment.)  But as Jesus attempts to move on from the opposition of the religious leaders here in verse 7, He is unable to withdraw from a crowd of people.  Verse 7 says that a great crowd followed Jesus - and it was an impressive crowd.  Not only was the size of the crowd impressive, but the cultural make-up and geographic footprint of the crowd were impressive as well.  That some of the crowd was made up of individuals from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem isn't all that surprising.  These individuals were probably all Jews and none of them had to travel to extensively to find Jesus.  But consider Idumea and those coming from beyond he Jordan.  These individuals represented cultures that were a mix of both Jews and Gentiles and they had traveled great distances to be a part of this crowd (Idumea being 120 miles south of Capernaum).  There were also individuals in the crowd from Tyre and Sidon, both around 50 miles north of Capernaum and both made up almost entirely of Gentiles.  Many pastors today would take great pride having a congregation like this one.  Who wouldn't want a big congregation with lots of diversity and people who had traveled great distances to hear you?  We would be proud of ourselves and proud of the ministries we were leading if that were us.  We would write books and host seminars on how to lead great congregations.  But it appears from the text that Jesus wasn't all that interested in large crowds.  Look at what verses 9 and 10 say, "And He told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they crush Him, for He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around Him to touch Him."  This crowd, though great in size, cultural diversity, and geographic footprint, wasn't made up of true believers and disciples of Jesus.  This crowd was made up of individuals who only wanted to fall on Jesus for His healing and provision.  Jesus doesn't frown on coming to Him with for healing or for the needs in our life - but this clearly isn't the only thing that should mark the life of a disciple.  Consider the story Luke tells in Luke 17:11-19 about the ten lepers whom Jesus heals.  Jesus commands all of the 10 lepers to "go and show yourselves to the priests."   Along the way the text says that they were all cleansed.  But only one of the 10 comes back to give Jesus thanks and praise.  Jesus looks at the man and then asks, "Were not ten cleansed?  Where are the nine?"  Think about that question.  Why did Jesus ask that question?  If Jesus was delighted in people simply coming to Him so that He could meet their needs and provide what they don't have then there would have been no reason to ask the question.  He would have been delighted enough in their request for cleansing.  But Jesus was bothered that the others had not returned like the one.  It bothered Him to think that He had shown them great love and compassion and that they had no interest in Him any longer.  I would argue that there are many 'Christians' today who look and act a lot like the individuals in this crowd in Mark 3 and the nine lepers in Luke 17.  If you asked them if they were 'Christians' they would tell you "absolutely."  But if we were bold enough to ask them what evidence they had their only response would be that they pray.  If we were even more bold to ask them about the frequency and content of their prayers we would find out that they only pray when their health is bad, when the health of a loved one is bad, or when they have some financial need that they are concerned about; and the content would be for healing or financial provision.  Many today call themselves 'Christians' today because they call on Christ when they have a need.  But the text seems clear that simply falling on Jesus for healing or provision is not real discipleship.

The second explanation of Jesus' call to discipleship is that Jesus' call to discipleship is NOT simply a call to fall before Him.  This point is made in verses 11-12.  In verse 11 we find that some of the individuals in the crowd are possessed by unclean spirits.  When these unclean spirits found themselves in Jesus' presence they would cause the individual whom they possessed to fall down prostrate before Jesus and to call out, "You are the Son of God."  While I wouldn't say that this was an act of worship on the part of these unclean spirits (although I do think it was intended to get the reader thinking in terms of acts of worship) it was clearly a sign of them recognizing Jesus' supremacy and authority over them.  These individuals, possessed by unclean spirits, were willing to recognize Jesus' supremacy and to participate in a practice that clearly demonstrated that - but no one would consider these individuals disciples of Christ (primarily because they were possessed by unclean spirits).  But what if we took their words and behavior and put them on religious looking people?  Consider another story in Luke 18:18-25 about a rich young ruler who came before Jesus and asked the questions, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus replies, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good except God alone.  You know the commandments: ''Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother."  Then the rich young ruler responds to Jesus, "All these I have kept from my youth."  Then Jesus replies, "One thing you still lack.  Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."  While we could get into a lot about this exchange I want you to notice a few things.  First, this rich young ruler was willing to acknowledge Jesus' supremacy and authority over him - he begins his question by calling Jesus, "Good Teacher."  Second, notice His willingness to be involved in 'religious activities.'  He tells Jesus that He has done and kept all of the commandments that Jesus mentions.  But Jesus doesn't then turn around and say "Man, that's it!  You've done it!  You're a disciple of mine!"  His response is that he still lacks one thing - he doesn't treasure Jesus above all else.  So Jesus tells the man to sell his possessions, give the money away, and then come and follow Him (an act that would clearly demonstrate whether or not he really treasured Christ).  But instead of doing that, the rich young ruler becomes sad.  He was willing to acknowledge Jesus' supremacy and he was willing to do things, but he didn't really want and treasure Jesus above all else.  This rich young man was doing exactly what the individuals possessed by unclean spirits were doing.  But none of them were disciples of Christ, because Jesus' call to discipleship is not simply a call to fall before Him.  There is another big group of individuals today who would call themselves 'Christians' and disciples of Christ who look just like the individuals in this story who were only willing to fall before Christ.  Our churches are filled with people today who believe in God and who are willing to acknowledge His supremacy.  They will even come to church and participate in singing and other church activities.  And they believe on the basis of these activities that they are disciples of Christ.  But there are so many that don't really treasure Christ.  They don't love Him.  And their acts are really acts of worship, their just religious activity.  Consider this quote from John Piper, "In other words, Jesus says that external actions - even religious ones directed toward Him - are not the essence of worship.  They are not the essence of love.  What happens in the heart is essential.  The external behaviors will be pleasing to God when they flow from a heart that freely treasures God above all things."

The third (and perhaps the most helpful) explanation of Jesus' call to discipleship is that Jesus' call to discipleship IS a call to follow after Him.  Mark demonstrates this point in verses 13-19 as he teaches his readers about "The Twelve Disciples".  Verse 13 says that Jesus went up on a mountain and that He "called to Him those whom He desired."  A key point about discipleship is that it is a call from God/Jesus.  We don't enter into discipleship with Christ by our own choosing.  We begin following Christ after He has first called us to Himself and when we respond in obedience ("and they came to Him"  [vs.13]).  Mark then elaborates more on the calling by showing His readers the purpose of the calling.  In verse 14 we see that the first purpose of Jesus' call to follow Him is "so that they might be with Him . . ." (vs. 14).  That's amazing!  Jesus calls disciples to Himself because He longs for them to be with Him.  But since chapter 2 verse 1 we haven't found many that have this mark.  We've seen those who want to oppose Jesus, those who want to destroy Jesus, those who want to use Jesus, and those who simply want to acknowledge Jesus.  But Jesus calls us to follow after Him so that we might be with Him.  Discipleship is above all else a relationship.  Then we see the second purpose of Jesus' call to follow Him, "so that . . . He might send them out . . ."  Not only does Jesus want us to be with Him, but He wants to use that time with Him to equip us with His message and mission so that He might send us out on His behalf, to do the work of ministry in His Name and in such a way that His glory and splendor will be put on display.  Disciples of Jesus are to both speak in His Name and to act in His Name (vs. 14-15).  This is what the rich young ruler missed.  Jesus wanted him to understand that there was more than acknowledging His supremacy and doing religious activities.  And so Jesus called the rich young ruler to "come, and follow me."  The call was there.  Jesus' desire was for the rich young ruler to be obedient to the call, to spend time being with Him, and to be equipped to be sent out on His behalf.  But the rich young ruler chose a different response.  Jesus defines discipleship as following after Him.  It means that we respond to His call, we spend time in His presence, and having been equipped we go out in His Name proclaiming His message and serving in His Name.  Amongst all the different ideas of what discipleship is, Mark helps us discern what Jesus' call to discipleship is really all about.    

Questions for Small Group Discussion

1. Read Matthew 28:18-20.  The primary command of the Great Commission is what?  If our responsibility as individuals, a small group, and a church is to "make disciples" why are there so many individuals who are confused about discipleship?

2. Read Mark 3:7-10 and Luke 17:11-19.  What has led to so many believing that being a disciple of Jesus is simply falling on Him for healing or provision and nothing else?

3. Read Mark 3:11-12 and Luke 18:18-25.  What has led to so many believing that being a disciple of Jesus is simply falling before Him acknowledging His authority and participating in religious activities?

4. Read Mark 3:13-19.  What do we need to do differently or better to help individuals understand that true discipleship is about responding to Jesus' call, being with Him, and being sent by Him to proclaim His message and serve in His Name?

5. What step of faith does this passage of scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?