‘And he goes up into the mountain and calls to him those whom he himself would, and they went to him. And he appointed twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to cast out devils.'
The going into the mountain was probably in order to escape the crowds. The mountain was clearly well known to the source of the material. He thinks of it as ‘the mountain'. And normally when Jesus goes into a mountain it is either in order to teach those closest to Him, or in order for something special to happen. And what was to happen here was certainly very special. For Jesus then called to Him a wider group of His followers, selected by careful choice (‘whom He would'), and from among this group He appointed the Twelve. The twelve were initially chosen with a view to a preaching ministry and in order to cast out evil spirits. Note the regular twofold ‘preach and cast out devils'. This was His present purpose, to proclaim the truth and to defeat the Enemy. They were to be heralds of the Kingly Rule of God (fishers of men - Mark 1:17) and victors over the forces of the one who had sinned from the beginning and had been sentenced in the Plain of Eden (Genesis 3:15). For to Jesus His healing ministry was merely incidental, although having its own importance because of His compassion for men. Attempts to make Him simply a healer ignore the evidence. His prime purpose in coming forth was to proclaim the Kingly Rule of God (Mark 1:15; Mark 1:38-39).
‘Calls to Him those who He Himself would.' He wanted all His close followers to be aware of the special status of the Twelve, and that He had chosen them. Luke 6:13 shows that those called here were more than just the twelve. There is a reminder here that no one comes unless drawn by Jesus and His Father (John 15:16; John 6:44). His sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:28).
‘He appointed twelve that they might be with Him.' That is, involved with Him in His ministry once He had trained them, and as His companions in His journeys, and finally with Him in the consummation (John 14:1-3). They were to be His bosom friends, while at the same time recognising their position as learners. Many followed Him regularly, including some women (Luke 8:2-3), but twelve were especially chosen. There were twelve patriarchs and twelve tribes of Israel, so we are justified in seeing these men as somehow representative of the twelve tribes (confirmed in Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:30). They are to be the nucleus of the new Israel, the foundation of the new people of God, the new Temple of God (Ephesians 2:20). It is clear from this that Jesus saw ahead to the foundation of a new ‘assembly' or ‘congregation' of Israel (see Deuteronomy 9:10; Deuteronomy 18:16; Deuteronomy 23:1-3; Deuteronomy 23:8; Deuteronomy 31:30 where LXX translates as ekklesia - ‘church'), the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), something which He confirms in Matthew 16:18, and which will shortly be indicated when He calls those who are faithful His ‘brothers' (Mark 3:31-35).