ABSTRACT
Very early on in his public ministry, Jesus reached out to 12 individuals, inviting them to be his personal disciples. Mark offers two purposes for the selection of the Twelve. First, they were to “be with him” (Mark 3:14a). They ate with him, travelled with him, ministered with him, watched him do miracles, and listened to his teachings; some even observed his arrest, trial, and execution.1 During their time with Jesus, they experienced a rigorous apprenticeship patterned after the approach Judaism took towards the Old Testament.2 Second, Jesus selected the Twelve that he “might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:14b–15). Through the Twelve, Jesus was multiplying his effectiveness. Even more importantly, though, he was preparing them to carry on his work after he was gone.
