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;
Apostles... Those who are sent out to proclaim the message. Jesus has gained some notoriety and a considerable following. So much that the scriptures say the disciples had a boat ready for him. I think that this could be an escape route for Jesus. The sick and possessed were "pressing in on him" so that they could touch him. After the crowd scene, Jesus takes his disciples up a mountain, and he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles). The apostles were "sent out" and given authority to proclaim, heal, and cast out demons.
The twelve that he called apostles were sent out. The word "apostle" literally means to be sent. It's also essential that the ones closest to Jesus were those he sent. The scriptures even name them. It might be good to note that they will also become witnesses to Jesus' resurrection and glorious ascension, making them the first apostolic witnesses. So they are witnesses with authority sent by Jesus himself.
In the church, we have a tradition that recognizes this apostolic authority in the office of the bishop. Through the "overseers" (Episkopos), apostolic authority is passed down in succession from a group of bishops (3) to new bishops. This action can be traced back to Simon (whom Jesus called Peter), the one to whom Jesus gave the "keys to the kingdom." (Matthew 16:19 · John 20:23). Through this apostolic authority, bishops exercise oversite of the church's work in their jurisdiction.
Our challenge today is in reading this with modern eyes and trying to figure out the intent of Jesus. My thought is that bishops today should represent the mission of Christ that continues until his coming again. They are "sent out" to proclaim the power of Jesus to all corners of the earth to heal and cast out the demons of this world. That may have been Jesus' intent. Doing that is a way to further Christ and his mission to reconcile the world to God. When we are reconciling the world to God, we are doing the apostolic work and living in witness to the risen Christ.
