⁷Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; ⁸hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. ⁹He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; ¹⁰for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. ¹¹Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” ¹²But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

¹³He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, ¹⁵and to have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); ¹⁷James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.  Mark 3:7-19a

If you stop and really consider this passage, it is amazing.  Here is Jesus, the Son of God who has healed people of diseases and chased away evil spirits.  He has all the power, and yet He shares the ministry.

Jesus takes his disciples up the mountain and then names twelve as apostles (which, in the Greek, means “one sent out”).  He gives them the authority to preach the gospel, to heal and to cast out the demons.  Please note verse 19.  Jesus even shares the power with one who will betray him.

So, let’s review – the Son of God (God Incarnate), the one with the power, shares it with some of his followers so that they, too, may do the ministry.

Did you see this?  Even Jesus is not to do the ministry alone, rather He shares it with others.  Nobody, not an Elder, not a Deacon, not a Priest, Pastor, Preacher or anyone else is to do the ministry alone, for it is a shared ministry.  If that is good enough for Jesus, that should be good enough for His church.

As you journey through this week, consider what ministries you are doing.  Are you sharing the opportunity?  Are you sharing the power?  Jesus did.

Peace,

Pastor Bill