Then He Went Home

Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. Then he went home. Mark 3:7-19

Today we hear of Jesus naming the twelve disciples to help him with his ministry. The crowds pressed in on him, for everyone wanted to be made whole. Jesus called them and named them his disciples and then went home. We rarely hear what happens when Jesus goes home, yet, it is terribly important that he does. And as his followers, we too, are called to go home, to go to those places and people that revive us, give us rest and safety. The boat was always at the ready so he could go home when he was overwhelmed, exhausted and hungry. If Jesus couldn't do his best work without going home to rest, how much more should we, who are so fully human, follow our Lord's example and go home and rest.

Gracious Creator, you made the seasons

with varying bright light and deep darkness

so we might find the rhythm of our work

so we might work hard and take our rest.

We think we are strong and able to go without

believing ourselves greater than the Savior

we find out how broken we really are

as we collapse after we fail to love others.

Help us in this season of Lent to follow you

make us humble enough to know our limits

make us faithful enough to be gentle with others

and give us your spirit so we might tend to the weary. Amen.