1. Mark 9:35 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What kind of call is this?

Mark 9:35 (ESV)

35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

He calls (ἐφώνησεν) the twelve: the verb this time does not suggest a calling together of a meeting (προσκαλέω) but a calling together by name (see John 10:3; John 12:17). This personal invitation to come forward has caused excitement. Who among the disciples is the greatest? When that question now arises, it is precisely Simon, Andrew, James, etc. (all twelve of them) who are to come forward. Are these twelve the greatest among the disciples?1