Please read Matthew
10: 1-8 before going on. I am going
to paste the verses in I would like you to read the entire set of verses so you can gather your thoughts and
compare them to mine.
Mat 10:1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them
authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of
disease and every kind of sickness.
Can you imagine that
you have been given the power over sickness, disease and death (Vs.8). How hard would it be
to not feel powerful but not humble? They had to be true followers of Christ
and they had to give him the full credit.
Mat 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Mat 10:3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax
collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
Mat 10:4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who
betrayed Him.
This is the introduction
of the 12 disciples. It is interesting that the two that were singled out for
their actions verses their lineage they were Matthew and Judas. Judas was the
only one that the first and last name was given. It is also important to note
that these were common men, fishermen and tax collector. They were not people
of high authority.
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;
Mat 10:6 but rather go to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus left a lot of
people out of the picture. Why would that be? Romans
1:16 gives us one idea. Another is that you have to have a starting point.
If you scatter the disciples everywhere the seeds they plant would be so widely sown that they
may not have taken root. By keeping it first to the Jew and then the gentile
you can create communities of Christians.
Mat 10:7 “And as you go, preach,
saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Mat 10:8 “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out
demons. Freely you received, freely give.
The last five words are very
important. They were given the gifts without cost and they are to use them
without compensation. Also I noted that Jesus told them to “go, preach saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand” What I
have read on this so far is that Jesus will bring the kingdom of heaven to
them. Without his death and resurrection heaven would not be a place where we
as sinners could go.
Agape
Dave
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