An Abortive "Retreat"

An Abortive “Retreat”

This is the only time in Mark’s Gospel that the Twelve are called ‘apostles’. The word means ‘those sent out’, and it describes well the experience they have just shared as Jesus’ emissaries. But having been ‘sent out’, they now return and report back to the one who sent them, and now that they are back with him they will again be described by their more common name, ‘disciples’, that is ‘learners’. It is the balance between learning and being sent out which will be the secret of their effectiveness as Jesus’ task force for mission…