Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him — the mountain setting is significant in Mark as in Matthew: mountains are places of divine appointment. Jesus goes up, which in the biblical tradition communicates drawing near to God (Exodus 19, 24; Elijah at Horeb). The calling is sovereign: he called those he wanted — the election of the twelve is Jesus' choice, not their application. And they came to him: the response to the sovereign call is immediate coming. The appointment of the twelve is the formal establishment of the kingdom community's founding leadership, mirroring the twelve tribes of Israel and establishing the reconstituted Israel around the Messiah.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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