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Chapter 30—Christ Ordains Twelve Apostles
This chapter is based on
Mark 3:13-35
;
Luke 6:12-16
.
“And He went up into the hills, and called to Him those whom
He desired; and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, to be
with Him, and to be sent out to preach.” RSV.
Beneath the sheltering trees of the mountainside, a little distance
from the Sea of Galilee, the Twelve were called to the apostolate,
and the Sermon on the Mount was given. In training His disciples
Jesus chose to withdraw from the confusion of the city to the quiet
of the fields and hills, as more in harmony with the lessons of self-
abnegation He desired to teach. And during His ministry He loved
to gather the people about Him under the blue heavens, on some
grassy hillside, or on the beach beside the lake. Here He could
turn His hearers from the artificial to the natural. In the growth and
development of nature, they could learn precious lessons of divine
truth.
The first step was now to be taken in the organization of the
church that after Christ’s departure was to be His representative on
earth. No costly sanctuary was at their command, but the Saviour
led His disciples to the retreat He loved, and in their minds the
sacred experiences of that day were forever linked with the beauty
of mountain, vale, and sea.
Jesus had called His disciples that He might send them forth to
declare to the world what they had seen and heard of Him. Their
office, the most important to which human beings had ever been
called, was second only to that of Christ Himself. They were to
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work with God for the saving of the world.
The Saviour knew the character of the men He had chosen;
their weaknesses and errors were open before Him. He knew the
perils through which they must pass; and His heart yearned over
these chosen ones. Alone on a mountain He spent the entire night in
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