Mark 3:14

ordained twelve Hitherto they had been His friends and disciples in a wider sense, now He formally called them, and joined them in a united band, that (i) they "might be with Him" (comp. Acts 1:21), (ii) that He might "send them forth" as heralds to preach, and (iii) that they "might have power to cast out demons," for the words "to heal sicknesses" are omitted in some of the best MSS.

(i) The number of the Apostles. The number selected, answering to the twelve sons of Jacob, was small indeed as compared with the hundreds who enrolled themselves as disciples of a Hillel or a Gamaliel, and their position in life was humble and obscure, but "the weak things of the world were to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27), and these Twelve were to be the Twelve Pillars of the Church.

(ii) Their calling and training. Observe that the calling and training of the Twelve was a most important part of our Lord's ministerial work. (a) Immediately after His Baptism and Temptation He began to prepare some of them for their future vocation (John 1:35-51); (b) to their training He devoted the greater part of His time and strength; (c) after His resurrection He continued for forty days His personal efforts for their improvement, and (d) at last He bestowed upon them His promised gift of the Holy Ghost.

(iii) Their title. The name also which He gave to them deserves attention. He named them Apostles(Luke 6:13). The word thus rendered means (i) as an adjective, despatchedor sent forth, (ii) as a substantive, the actual delegateof the person who sends him.

(a) In Classical Greek the word was almost entirely restricted to the meaning of a "naval expedition," a "fleet despatched on foreign service," and this meaning entirely superseded any other.

(b) In the Septuagint the word occurs only once, namely, in 1 Kings 14:6, in the sense of "a messenger," "one who has a commission from God," where Abijah says to the wife of Jeroboam, "I am a messengerunto thee of heavy tidings."

(c) With the later Jews the word was in common use, and was the title of those, who were sent from the mother city on any foreign mission, especially the collection of the tribute for the Temple service.

(d) Thus when He employed it to designate His immediate and most favoured disciples, "our Lord was not introducing a new term, but adopting one which from its current usage would suggest to His hearers the idea of a highly responsible mission." In Hebrews 3:1 He Himself is styled "The Apostleand high priest of our profession," with which compare John 17:18. Canon Lightfoot on the Epistle to the Galatians, p. 94.