3:13–19 Clearly one of the major features of Mark’s Gospel is an interest in the twelve disciples and the associated theme of discipleship. Already Mark has told us of the calling of four disciples (1:14–20) and of controversy over the conduct of Jesus’ disciples (2:18–28), and he has pictured these men as close associates of Jesus in his ministry (1:21, 29, 36–38; 3:7). Here, Mark describes twelve men as chosen by Jesus for a special role in which they are assigned essentially the same activities as Jesus himself: preaching and driving out demons (v. 15). As Mark’s Gospel continues, we will see that these men are often depicted in a surprisingly unfavorable light (e.g., 4:10, 35–41; 6:45–52; 7:17–19; 8:14–21, 31–33). Some scholars have argued that Mark presents the Twelve purely as exampl…