Memorial of Saint Agnes, virgin and martyr

  

The twelve apostles of Jesus, as described by Saint Mark, have two responsibilities: “that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach…. ”

Christians often take more seriously the latter duty and neglect the former, to be with Jesus. Hearing this gospel as apostles, we appreciate the tight rein he kept upon them. Though he sent them out, he called them back together.

In Saint Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is just as hard on his disciples as he is on his opponents. From beginning to end he berates them for their lack of faith and failure to appreciate what he is about. On at least one occasion he groaned, “O faithless generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I endure you? ” (Mark 9:19) There must have been many occasions when it was not fun to be with him as he continually pointed out there shortcomings.

It is fun to preach (I know from personal experience) and great fun to drive out demons (I would suppose.) but these privileges come with a price: we must remain close to him, and to his continual oversight. We must allow him to see and point out our shortcomings.

I can think of no other prophet in the Old or New Testament who is so hard on his disciples. In most cases they are never mentioned. But the discipleship of Jesus is different. We do not simply record his words as Baruch did for Jeremiah, or carry his mail as Onesimus did for Saint Paul. We are Jesus’ living words sent to a world which is desperate to hear his good news, though it is also distracted and disinterested. Being continually close to Jesus we speak with his compassion, patience and authority to the confused, needy world in which we live. That is surely worth the cost of his occasional sharp rebuke.