The recruiting of the twelve disciples is now complete. Jesus has chosen a group of unlikely candidates - fishermen, tax collectors, unsophisticated Galileans, and others - to communicate the good news to the world that he is the Messiah. Training these people for their task is the second phase of this operation. Jesus takes the disciples away from the crowds for an educational retreat on the side of a nearby mountain. Their three-year training session begins with a lecture by their teacher and master, Jesus.

Jesus sat down and assumed, by that action, the formal role of the rabbi, the teacher. He could have paced back and forth, or simply stood in one place, but if he walked around, stood, or, alternately, sat and stood, the character of the occasion would have been changed. Jesus wanted…