<p>3:14 <em>And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach</em>- It is simply so, that when we witness, the words we speak are in effect the words of Jesus. Our words are His. This is how close we are to Him. And this is why our deportment and manner of life, which is the essential witness, must be in Him. For He is articulated to the world through us. And it explains the paradox of Mk. 3:14, whereby Jesus chose men that they should &ldquo;be with him and that he might send them forth to preach&rdquo;. As they went out to witness, they were with Him, just as He is with us in our witness, to the end of the world both geographically and in time. And this solves another Marcan paradox, in Mk. 4:10: &ldquo;When he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked him&hellip;&rdquo;. Was He alone, or not? Mark speaks as if when the Lord was away from the crowd and with His true followers, He was &ldquo;alone&rdquo;- for He counted them as one body with Him. This was why the Lord told Mary, when she so desperately wanted to be personally with Him, to go and preach to His brethren (Jn. 20:18), just as He had told some of those whom He had healed- for going and preaching Him was in effect being with Him.</p><p>The idea of course may also be that they were firstly to be with Him, trained by Him; and then sent out alone to preach.</p>