Mark 3:13-19

¹³ Then he goes up to the mountain, and summons[1] who he wanted, and they went away to him; ¹⁴ and he appointed twelve, so that they would be with him, and so that he could send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have the right to cast out the demons. ¹⁶ [And he had appointed the twelve,] and he attached to Simon the nickname Peter;[2] ¹⁷ and to James from Zebedee, and John the brother of James, he also attached to them nicknames — Boanerges,[3] in other words, ‘Sons of thunder;’ ¹⁸ and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James from Alpheus, and Thaddeus, and Simon the Canaanite, ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him.

nicknames

I have been given a number of nicknames throughout my lifetime. I remember most of them, and some of them I have tried hard to forget. I think nicknames tend to stick when they come from someone close to you, or someone who you consider important. Both reasons rang true for these disciples who were nicknamed by Jesus.

Being close to Jesus was in the job description of the twelve. Also, they were empowered by him to do spiritual warfare the same way he did. But most importantly, they were to preach in all the surrounding villages to accomplish Jesus’ purpose – getting the message out to the masses. I have never felt closer to Jesus than when I was preaching his excellent message.

LORD, bring us close to you, and send us out to preach your word.

[1] προσκαλεω (3:13, 23; 6:7; 7:14; 8:1, 34; 10:42; 12:43; 15:44).

[2] Greek Πέτρος = rock.

[3] probably Aramaic בנירגש