More Than the Twelve

Mark 10:17-18

I know we are skipping back a bit today, but there is something about our reading from last week that has captured my mind. We didn’t talk about how the rich man addressed Jesus when he first saw him. The man called Jesus “Good Teacher”. This doesn’t sound like anything out of the ordinary to us today, but it was enough to capture Jesus’ attention and have him focus on the greeting before answering his question. “Good teacher” sounds to us like a compliment; however, the original language changes it. The expression, ‘good’, was never applied to a person because it signified sinless and perfectly pure. No person could claim that title, except Jesus. To this degree, the man was correct in calling him good. Jesus gave the man an opportunity to declare the divinity of Christ when he responded, “No one is good but God alone.” I have to wonder if there was a pause after that statement. Was Jesus giving the man an opportunity to boldly profess that Jesus was, not only the Messiah but, the Son of God?

This account of the rich man comes right after the crowd of people brought their children to Jesus. If you remember from that devotion, we talked about how the situation was more than a group of people asking Jesus to wish their children well. They were offering their children to Jesus as an offering and asking him to consecrate them to the work of God’s kingdom. These parents, like the rich man, saw Jesus for more than simply a man with the ability to change water into wine.

Luke 10:1-12, tells us of Jesus sending out 72 of his followers to prepare people to receive their Christ. These men were given the power to heal the sick, preach that the kingdom of God had come, and even cast demons out of people. Obviously, more than 12 men understood who Jesus was.

We tend to think of the disciples as the only ones who followed Christ around. We know crowds came to see Jesus, but somehow we see them only as people who came for a show. I don’t know that is completely wrong either. If the thousands who followed Jesus’ every move had all believed he was the Son of God, would they have deserted him? Maybe. People are weak creatures, afterall. Even the 12 chosen ran away and hid in fear. Still, there is plenty of evidence I often overlook that Peter was not the only one to declare Jesus was the Messiah.

What does that mean for you and me 2,000 years later? I have been thinking of this all weekend. What has been impressed upon my heart is that things are not always the way I think they are. I thought only twelve men and a handful of women understood who Jesus was before the resurrection. I was very wrong. I look at our world today and I believe it is too far gone for revival to ignite a fire that changes everything. Maybe I am wrong here too. Nothing is impossible with the Lord. There are more of us who love and obey Him than we might think. For me, that encourages me to be bold in my conversations about God. If I live like everyone I meet wants to talk about my Savior, I will either tell someone who doesn’t know or meet and encourage someone who does. If nothing else, understanding the true impact of Jesus’ ministry before his crucifixion encourages me to walk boldly, believe unswervingly, and declare the truth even if people think I am crazy.

(Written by Keegan Harkins.)