And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.--Mark 3:13 ESVMost of the major things that happen in redemptive history take place on a mountain. Abraham takes Isaac up on a mountain to sacrifice him. God reveals himself to Moses on a mountain. Moses receives the Ten Commandments on a mountain. When Elijah faces down the 400 Prophets of Baal it happens on a mountain. It is a mountain (Mt. Zion) upon which the temple is built. Jesus delivers his most famous sermon on a mount. Eventually he will be crucified on a hill outside Jerusalem. The symbolical meaning of the setting is clear. Something significant is taking place.
And what does Jesus do on the mountain? He calls to himself "those whom he desired, and they came to him."
God has always chosen his people. There is such a contrast here between the previous section where the crowds are flocking to Jesus and Jesus is plotting his escape from them, to this scene where Jesus goes up on the mountain and calls/chooses his disciples and they come. He says in John 6:37:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
The parallels between Israel and the Church in this story are uncanny. Think of Israel. How did Israel begin? It began with the calling of Abram out of idolatry, a summons which he obeyed and in obeying became a type of all God's people everywhere. In Galatians, Paul compares the Gentile believers to Abram in that both were called out of the nations to be formed into the people of God, a people distinguished by their faith. Here we see Jesus calling and men (and women we learn later) responding in faith and obedience. Do they come freely to Christ? Certainly. Did we come freely to Christ? Absolutely. But what made us come? We came because the word came to us in power. This is the effectual calling of grace. We were summoned. Remember what Jesus says in John 6:37:
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
Who will come to Jesus? All that the Father gives to Jesus. Will any of those whom the Father gives to Jesus fail to come? No, all of them will come. And all of them, whoever they are, Jesus will never cast out. God chooses his people.
There's something else here as well. Jesus calls them to himself. There were other itinerant rabbis of the day who had followers. But none of these rabbis called and chose their followers. Their followers chose them as a means to an end. Just as young people graduating high school will choose a college in order to attain a higher education and be prepared for some greater work, so students (disciples) in that day and age would choose a rabbi in order to sit at his feet and from him learn to master the Torah, or law of God. But in this call, the call of Jesus, he calls his disciples to himself, not as the means to a greater end, no, Jesus is the end himself. God chooses his people.
Click here: Mark 3:7-19 - Jesus Chooses His Disciples
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