He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach — the two-part purpose of the twelve is: to be with him (permanent companionship, formation through proximity) and to be sent out to preach (mission, the proclamation of the kingdom). The order is significant: being with Jesus precedes being sent from Jesus. The disciples must first be formed by Jesus' presence before they can effectively represent his message. The word for sent out (apostellō) is the root of apostle (apostolos) — the twelve are the apostles, the sent ones, but their sending is conditioned on their prior formation through intimate proximity to Jesus.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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