Mark began his narrative with the words: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). Jesus later said that those he would send out as his witnesses had to have been with him from the beginning (John 15:27). Indeed, when Peter claimed the office that Judas vacated had to be filled, Jesus disciples looked out among themselves to choose a man who had been with them from the beginning, from the time of John’s baptism (Acts 1:15-26). It would be logical, therefore, to say this couldn’t mean the Twelve had to have witnessed Jesus’ baptism, for we don’t even know if Andrew, the only one of Jesus’ Apostles, whom we know had been with John, witnessed Jesus’ baptism! Nevertheless, it does mean those numbered with the Twelve had to have been with Jesus before John was imprisoned. Moreover, we can probably conclude they had to have been following Jesus by the time he chose the Twelve from among his larger number of followers. Thus, it should be clear to Mark’s readers that the choosing of the Twelve, including what occurs immediately afterward, marks the END of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
After healing those of the multitude who had plagues or painful diseases and rebuking the demonic spirits (i.e. the psychics and clairvoyants) who sought to profit off his ministry, Jesus went up a mountain (Mark 3:13), and having prayed all night (Luke 6:12), he called out to those whom he wished to ordain as his Apostles (Mark 3:13-14), and they came to him. He had many other disciples, but it was these twelve whom he wished to send out in his name to preach the Gospel, having power (i.e. authority) to heal, including casting out demons (Mark 3:15).
Mark lists twelve men as: Peter, James, John and Andrew (Mark 3:16-18); Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas (Mark 3:18); James (son of Alphaeus), Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas Iscariot, the betrayer (Mark 3:18-19). The three leading Apostles seem to be Peter, Philip and James, the son of Alphaeus. This seems apparent in that their positions never change in the four lists of the Apostles. Nevertheless, while the three Apostles listed after each one of these three leaders vary in their positions, Peter, Philip and James, the son of Alphaeus, never vary outside the group.[1]
The Gospel of John doesn’t list the Twelve by name, but we do find a very interesting development in John’s first chapter. Here we see Jesus telling Simon he would be called Peter (John 1:42), and all the later lists of Apostles show Peter is the leader of the first group of Apostles. Next, Jesus, himself, found Philip (John 1:43) and called him to be his disciple. Immediately afterward, Philip found Nathanael, who also becomes one of Jesus’ first disciples, but who is Nathanael? He is never listed among the Twelve in any of the Gospel narratives, but we do find him once more in John with at least four other Apostles (John 21:2). Moreover, in a second century work, identified as the Epistula Apostolorum,[2] Nathanael is listed among the Apostles in a position where we would expect to find James, the Less, but James isn’t listed with the others in the second century document. All the other original Apostles are listed, but not James (and of course not Judas). If, in fact, Nathaniel is James the Less, we have the Gospel of John showing Jesus calling each of his three leading Apostles from the very beginning of his ministry, even before he did any miracles.
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[1] See Matthew 10:1-4; Mark 3:14-19; Luke 6:12-16; Acts 1:13.
[2] See my earlier study: Jesus’ First Disciples.
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One response to “The End of the Beginning of the Gospel”
Eddy…you do have a way of getting me to think more deeply about the Scriptures.
Today …simply because I hadn’t read any of your blogs recently, I clicked on this one. And because I had written a blog for Easter that reflected on Nathaniel as the Gift of God, I found myself wondering how Nathaniel fits in with James and John. Because Nathaniel and Zebedee are synonymous, James would be the son of Nathaniel.
Nathaniel means the Gift of God. In John 4:10 …Jesus the Son of the Father is speaking to the Woman Jesus called Maria. The Son of the Father says to her…If you knew the Gift of God AND who is asking you for a drink…you would have asked HIM and he would have given you living water.
Knowing the difference between the Gift of God and the Son of the Father is the key point here.
The Son of the Father recognized Nathaniel…as being under the FIG TREE [in the GARDEN of EDEN] and would have been aware that Nathaniel is ALPHAEUS, the TRUE husband of Maria and the GARDENER of John’s Gospel that would change Maria’s life and give her a new life.
For in John 3:29 John the Teacher of Israel called the Baptist says to his disciples…I am not the Christ whom you are looking for he who as the Bride is the Bridegroom…For the friend of the Bridegroom stands (rises) and hears him is full of joy…and now my joy is complete [for I have heard him.]
When Simon the ROCK aka the Father of Alexander and the Red Haired One (Mark 15:21) goes fishing in John’s Gospel…and NETS the BIG FISH numbering 153…Nathaniel appears along with James and John also called the sons of Thunder aka the sons of Zebedee! Zebedee is synonymous with Nathaniel. And by Jove…Thunder in the Bible is often equated with God as it was for the Romans and the Greeks.
Thus I would suggest that John and James are also known as Alexander and Rufus, the twins of Zebedee the Father aka Simon the Cyrene aka all the Simons who finally gets behind Jesus the Woman called Maria and lifts her up as the CROSS, the Amygdala, the Almond Branch…the Nazer and attaches his net to this Branch, his Bride, to bring her safely into his BOAT(relationship) and to the shore on the other side of the SEA.
And I would further suggest that John is the Teacher of Israel who was a Jew named Apollo (Acts 18:24) and was born in Alexander and who born in Alexander proved Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:28) as did the PALL…the Shawl…the Comforter…the Advocate. (Acts 18:5)
In Matthew’s Gospel ….Jesus tells the disciples to go and baptize and make disciples of the nations in the name of the Father, the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit …
Thank you Eddy for your careful reading of Scripture and for lifting up the name Nathaniel and for also bringing Judas to my attention. What do we know about Judas?
Here’s what I think.
Judas was a thief who loved Satan who was also called the Son of Simon because Simon was the Father of the Law and the Oral Tradition (Luke 7:35-50). Judas was called the Son of Simon and because Simon’s love for Judas entered Judas’ heart and brought Judas fully alive.
In Matthew 16:23…Jesus calls Simon Satan and says. “Get Behind Me Satan for you are thinking like a man instead of like God.” because Simon doesn’t want Jesus to go to Jerusalem and be tested by the chief priests and die like a kernel of grain.
Yet…Judas goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and betrays or reveals Jesus to the Authorities with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver…not because Judas cared for the poor…but rather because Judas walked the talk…and knew Jesus the Teacher of Israel and Simon were keeping the LIGHT from the authorities who were exploiting the poor and letting business people and story tellers get rich selling their wares.
So Judas committed suicide and stopped breathing as an unpaid servant robbing herself and others dipping into her own savings and setting an unjust example that kept the poor from developing and governing their own talents and resources.
Judas was the Rich Person…whom the Teacher of Israel looked at and loved…and said go and sell all that you possess and give the money to the poor and then come and follow me.
Simon was the man who was a great MAGUS…a Great KING, a great entertainer who has been called a sorcerer or magician. He was the chief antagonist of Peter…which makes him his own antagonist because he loved the light and the light supported him in his work as he worked in the pubs.
In Acts 8:9 Simon offers the hands of the apostles money for the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. And then Simon rebukes himself as Peter…and condemns himself and others too for giving the Holy Spirit away for free (so others can profit) and for thinking that the GIFT of GOD was and could be bought and sold or given away as if the Spirit was a slave rather than the GIFT of GOD that was in his heart and was the Bride that belonged to him because of the power of LOVE.
Now many might think that love is like a magic penny…give it away and you’ll have so many they’ll roll all over the floor. So people think that priests and Christians should work for free…simply because they love and those who love them will share their resources with them.
Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) didn’t quite see it that way and they held back and they died and were buried together and Ananias became known as the LIAR aka SATAN. Yet Ananias shows up again in Acts 23:3….as the HIGH PRIEST and the Whitewashed ROCK… and Ananias means the cloud of God’s presence.
What a naught, an interwoven character of letters…that is being deliberately held back so that believers will seek and find the truth and find the treasure waiting for them at the end of the age…when all will be revealed for nothing is secret that shall naught be made manifest. This Apocalypse this revelation will bring a great change to heaven and earth and will usher in the New Heaven and the New Earth, the NEW JERUSALEM.
Thank you again Eddy…for loving scripture and for weaving the scripture together to help me untangle the naught for profit and get ready for the marriage of the lamb (Rev.19:70.
Linda