A mixed bag (Mark 3)

There's a lot to talk about in this chapter. We could, for example, discuss the episode where the mother and brothers of Jesus show up, apparently motivated by concerns about our Lord's sanity. There's also a story about how hardhearted religious folks can be. But I'm sure we'll swoop through here again someday. So, let's look at the odd company Jesus selected as the foundation stones of His new civilization:

Mar 3:14-19 İsa bunlardan on iki kişiyi yanında bulundurmak, Tanrı sözünü duyurmaya göndermek ve cinleri kovmaya yetkili kılmak üzere seçti. Seçtiği bu on iki kişi şunlardır: Petrus adını verdiği Simun, Beni-Regeş, yani Gökgürültüsü Oğulları adını verdiği Zebedi'nin oğulları Yakup ve Yuhanna, Andreas, Filipus, Bartalmay, Matta, Tomas, Alfay oğlu Yakup, Taday, Yurtsever* Simun ve İsa'ya ihanet eden Yahuda İskariot.

And, a few words:

• on -- ten. iki -- two. on iki -- twelve.
• yurt -- homeland. sevmek -- to love. Yurtsever -- patriot. Turkish foreign policy -- and I wish it was ours -- is pretty simple. Yurta suhl, cihanda suhl. Peace at home, peace abroad.
  

It's interesting to note how these disciples are identified in varying detail. Some, like Taday, Tomas, and Matta, just have their names listed. Alfay's family is mentioned. We know who his daddy is. Yakup and Yuhanna come with their nicknames attached, in Aramaic and Turkish, as well as their paternal connection. They are simultaneously the sons of Zebedi, and the sons of thunder. (Did their irate father explode when his lads walked away from the family business? Or did Jesus comment on their hot-headed character? Or both?)

People have always had different approaches to dealing with the culture around them. Simon belonged to a nationalistic party that yearned to purge the land of Greek and Roman influences. On the other hand, Philip was named for the father of Israel's Greek conqueror, Alexander the Great. Imagine the charisma it took to make a cohesive team out of such contrasting personalities. Imagine the lively they conversations they had around campfires!