Jesus Appoints the Twelve
And he went up into the hills, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons: Simon whom he surnamed Peter; James the son of Zeb'edee and John the brother of James, whom he surnamed Bo-aner'ges, that is, sons of thunder; Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Bede, in Marc., 1, 16 - After having forbidden the evil spirits to preach Him, He chose holy men, to cast out the unclean spirits, and to preach the Gospel.
Wherefore it is said, "And He went up into a mountain, etc."
Theophylact - Luke, however, says that He went up to pray, for after the shewing forth of miracles He prays, teaching us that we should give thanks, when we obtain any thing good, and refer it to Divine grace.
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. - He also instructs the Prelates of the Church to pass the night in prayer before they ordain, that their office be not impeded. When therefore, according to Luke, it was day, He called whom He would; for there were many who followed Him.
Bede - For it was not a matter of their choice and zeal, but of Divine condescension and grace, that they should be called to the Apostleship. The mount also in which the Lord chose His Apostles, shews the lofty righteousness in which they were to be instructed, and which they were about to preach to men.
Pseudo-Jerome - Or spiritually, Christ is the mount, from which living waters flow, and milk is procured for the health of infants; whence the spiritual feast of fat things is made known, and whatsoever is believed to be most highly good is established by the grace of that Mountain. Those therefore who are highly exalted in merits and in words are called up into a mountain, that the place may correspond to the loftiness of their merits.
It goes on: "And they came unto Him, etc."
For the Lord loved the beauty of Jacob, [Psalm 46] that they might "sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," [Matthew 19:28] who also in bands of threes and fours watch around the tabernacle of the Lord, and carry the holy words of the Lord, bearing them forward on their actions, as men do burdens on their shoulders.
Bede - For as a sacrament of this the children of Israel once used to encamp about the Tabernacle, so that on each of the four sides of the square three tribes were stationed. Now three times four are twelve, and in three bands of four the Apostles were sent to preach, that through the four quarters of the whole world they might baptize the nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
It goes on: "And He gave them power, etc.", that is, in order that the greatness of their deeds might bear witness to the greatness of their heavenly promises, and that they, who preached unheard-of things, might do unheard-of actions.
Theophylact - Further, He gives the names of the Apostles, that the true Apostles might be known, so that men might avoid the false.
And therefore it continues: "And Simon He surnamed Cephas."
Augustine, de Con. Evan. ii, 17 - But let no one suppose that Simon now received his name and was called Peter, for thus he would make Mark contrary to John, who relates that it had been long before said unto him, "Thou shalt be called Cephas." [John 1:42]
But Mark gives this account by way of recapitulation; for as he wished to give the names of the twelve Apostles, and was obliged to call him, Peter, his object was to intimate briefly, that he was not called this originally, but that the Lord gave him that name.
Bede - And the reason that the Lord willed that he should at first be called otherwise, was that from the change itself of the name, a mystery might be conveyed to us. Peter then in Latin or in Greek means the same thing as Cephas in Hebrew, and in each language the name is drawn from, a stone.
Nor can it be doubted that is the rock of which Paul spoke, "And this rock was Christ." [1 Corinthians 10:4] For as Christ was the true light, and allowed also that the Apostles should be called the light of the world, [Matthew 5:14] so also to Simon, who believed on the rock Christ, He gave the name of Rock.
Pseudo-Jerome - Thus from obedience, which Simon signifies, the ascent is made to knowledge, which is meant by Peter.
It goes on: "And James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother."
Bede - We must connect this with what went before, "He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth."
Pseudo-Jerome - Namely, James who has supplanted all the desires of the flesh, and John, who received by grace what others held by labour. There follows: "And He surnamed them, Boanerges."
Pseudo-Chrys., Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. - He calls the sons of Zebedee by this name, because they were to spread over the world the mighty and illustrious decrees of the Godhead.
Pseudo-Jerome - Or by this the lofty merit of the three mentioned above is shewn, who merited to hear in the mountain the thunders of the Father, when he proclaimed in thunder through a could concerning the Son, "This is My beloved Son;" that they also through the cloud of the flesh and fire of the word, might as it were scatter the thunderbolts in rain on the earth, since the Lord turned the thunderbolts into rain, so that mercy extinguishes what judgment sets on fire.
It goes on: "And Andrew," who manfully does violence to perdition, so that he had ever ready within him his own death, to give as an answer, [1 Peter 3:15] and his soul was ever in his hands. [Psalm 119:109]
Bede - For Andrew is a Greek name, which means 'manly,' from (greek word), that is, man, for he manfully adhered to the Lord.
There follows, "And Philip."
Pseudo-Jerome - Or, 'the mouth of a lamp,' that is, one who can throw light by his mouth upon what he has conceived in his heart, to whom the Lord gave the opening of a mouth, which diffused light. We know that this mode of speaking belongs to holy Scripture; for Hebrew names are put down in order to intimate a mystery.
There follows: "And Bartholomew," which means, the son of him who suspends the waters; of him, that is, who said, "I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." [Isaiah 5:6] But the name of son of God is obtained by peace and loving one's enemy; for, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the sons of God. [Matthew 5:9] And, Love your enemies, that ye may be the sons of God. [see Matthew 5:44-45]
There follows: "And Matthew," that is, 'given,' to whom it is given by the Lord, not only to obtain remission of sins, but to be enrolled in the number of the Apostles.
"And Thomas," which means, 'abyss,' for men who have knowledge by the power of God, put forward many deep things.
It goes on: "And James the son of Alphaeus," that is, of 'the learned,' or 'the thousandth,' beside whom a thousand will fall. [Psalm 91:7] This other James is he, whose wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. [Ephesians 6:12]
There follows, "And Thaddaeus," that is, 'corculum,' which means, 'he who guards the heart', one who keeps his heart in all watchfulness.
Bede - But Thaddaeus is the same person, as Luke calls in the Gospel and in the Acts, Jude of James, for he was the brother of James, the brother of the Lord, as he himself has written in his Epistle.
There follows, "And Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him." He has added this by way of distinction from Simon Peter, and Jude the brother of James. Simon is called the Canaanite from Cana, a village in Galilee, and Judas, Scariotes, from the village from which he had his origin, or he is so called from the tribe of Issachar.
Theophylact - Whom he reckons amongst the Apostles, that we may learn that God does not repel any man for wickedness, which is future, but counts him worthy on account of his present virtue.
Pseudo-Jerome - But Simon in interpreted, 'laying aside sorrow;' for "blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." [Matthew 5:4]
And he is called Canaanite, that is, Zealot, because the zeal of the Lord ate him up. But Judas Iscariot is one who does not do away his sins by repentance. For Judas means, 'boaster,' or vainglorious. And Iscariot, 'the memory of death.' But many are the proud and vain-glorious confessors in the Church, as Simon Magus, and Arius, and other heretics, whose deathlike memory is celebrated in the Church, that it may be avoided.
- text taken from Catena Aurea - Gospel of Mark by Saint Thomas Aquinas, translated by William Whiston, 1842