Sermon Tone Analysis

The Men of the Commission — (Vs.

1-4)

They are referred to here first as “disciples.”

— (Vs. 1)

“Disciple” — Greek (mathētēs) — “learner”

Used of a person who follows after and seeks to learn from another.

A disciple is not only a partaker of information, but also one who seeks to become like his or her teacher.

Discipleship is about modifying one’s entire lifestyle, it’s about learning, growing and molding oneself to be like to imitate the one doing the teaching.

And that’s what these men were doing.

They were first disciples.

They were being taught.

They were learning how to be like their teacher, Jesus.

Secondly, they are referred to here as “apostles.”

— (Vs.

2)

“Apostle” — Greek (apostolos) — “Messenger”

Speaks of someone who has been sent out with a specific message or mission.

In the New Testament it speaks of those who were called into the ministry of sharing the gospel.

Many times, the apostles were given special power or gifts to prove the message they were delivering.

Here, they were given power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease the Bible says.

Thirdly, I want you to notice what’s not said about these men.

Do you see St. Matthew or St. Peter or St. John anywhere in the scripture here?

The answer is no.

What you do see is simply men’s names with the exception of humble Matthew who records after his name “the publican”.

Bro.

Bobby what are you trying to say here?

What I want you to see is that oftentimes we lift these men up on pedestals as if they were 10 feet tall and bulletproof!

We talk about them as if they were perfect people who walked around in white robes but the reality of the situation is that these 12 men, they were ordinary men who lived ordinary lives, I’d dare say most of them less than ordinary, and they worked ordinary or less than ordinary jobs just like you and I.

They were special because they were the first ones called but if they could stand here before you today I believe each and every one would tell you this… “The only thing good about me is Jesus!”

Listen, they were tax collectors and fishermen.

They had egos and attitudes.

They had curious minds and cursing tongues.

They were human just like we are!

They were ordinary men called to deliver an extraordinary message!

These were the men Jesus called to send on mission!

I feel like so many times we read about these men and we immortalize them and yes, don’t get me wrong, they were immortalized but not for who they were but for what they did for God!

And the application I don’t want you to miss here is this…anyone who is willing to devote their lives fully, completely, wholeheartedly, to the call of God and His will for their lives, can be who these men were!

Now, I’m not saying that you will be able to go around and cast out demons, and heal the sick, and raise the dead…these were special powers given to these men by Jesus to accomplish the mission at hand…but, what I am saying is this…

Jesus took ordinary men and made them extraordinary in the eyes of the world because of the life they were willing to live!

A life surrendered and submitted to God!

Jesus said to each of these men, follow me and that’s exactly what they did and if you are willing to follow Him this morning, I assure you that He can take ordinary little ole you and do extraordinary things with you!

Now before I move on, I want you to see one more thing…at what point did these men become apostles?

After they had been disciples.

So many people want to skip to the going before the getting.

You gotta get the getting, the learning, the discipleship portion before you get to the going portion.

It wasn’t until these men had followed Jesus, watched His every move, seen Him in prayer and in action, that He sent them on mission.

If you want to be on mission for God, don’t forget the mentorship portion first!

Get in God’s word, read of Him, learn of Him, meditate on Him and then you will be prepared for the mission at hand!

Now that we know a little bit about the men of the commission, next, let’s look at the mission itself.

The Mission of the Commission — (Vs.

5-8)

When it comes to the mission, I want us to look very briefly at the who, the what and the why of the mission but before we get to that, I want you to see something interesting here.

The Bible says here in Verse 5 that “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them saying.”

This word “commanded” here has a few different very interesting meanings.

William Barclay writes — This word in the Greek has four special usages.

(1) It is the regular word of military command; Jesus was like a general sending his commanders out on a campaign and briefing them before they went.

(2) It is the word used of calling one’s friends to one’s help.

Jesus was like a man with a great ideal summoning his friends to make that ideal come true.

(3) It is the word which is used of a teacher giving rules and principles to students.

Jesus was like a teacher sending his students out into the world, equipped with his teaching and his message.

(4) It is the word which is regularly used for an imperial command.

Jesus was like a king dispatching his ambassadors into the world to carry out his orders and to speak for him.

And so we see Jesus here, He’s called these 12 men to His side and He’s commissioning them with a task, a mission to complete.

Now let’s look at the who of the mission.

The Who — (Vs.

5-6)

This is the first time Jesus has commissioned any of the called to this point.

Thus far, we have seen Jesus do all the healing and preaching and raising from the dead but that’s all about to change.

And even though we are already in Chapter 10 of Matthew’s gospel, we are still very early in Jesus ministry.

Now, one thing I want you to notice here about the mission at hand is who Jesus sends these disciples to.

Who does Jesus tell them to go to?

The Jews, right?

Jesus refers them as “the lost sheep of Israel.”

This first mission was for God’s chosen people.

Notice Jesus tells them specifically not to go to the gentiles or the Samaritans but to the Jews only.

Well does that mean Jesus didn’t care about the gentiles and Samaritans as well?

Absolutely not!

If you will remember, in Johns gospel, there’s a story there of how Jesus made a divine detour through Samaria and met the woman at the well.

Everyone remember that?

And then, at the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus leaves the disciples of then and as an ongoing commission to all disciples down through the ages, the command to go unto all the nations and teach them and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

And then in Acts 1 just before Jesus ascends back up into Heaven, He tells the disciples that once the Holy Ghost comes, they were to be witnesses of Him in Jerusalem, in all Judaea, in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth!

Us gentiles, we’re in that last part, Amen!

We are the uttermost part of the earth!

And Jesus came for us too, Amen!

So, we see the Who of the Mission but what was the What of the Mission?

What was the Mission?

The What — (Vs.

7-8)

The mission was first and foremost to PREACH!

“Preach” — (kēryssō) in the Greek

Means to proclaim and refers to publicly proclaiming a message.

One writer said it means “to make a public proclamation with such gravity, formality, and authority as must be heeded” (Wuest) — Butler Commentary

Their mission was to proclaim a message and to preach it in such a way that people would heed the proclamation!

What was the message?

The same message that Jesus proclaimed when He started His ministry… “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

But what exactly did that mean?

The phrase “at hand” that Jesus uses here is the Greek word (engizō) and it means to come near.

The kingdom of heaven has come near!

And dear friend there will only ever be one other time its any closer and that’s in the very end when a new heaven and a new earth shall be created because the old heaven and the old earth shall pass away and then heaven itself as we know it will descend upon earth and God will make His abode with man forevermore!

The kingdom of heaven is at hand…it has come near!

The one and only Son of God, manifested in flesh, was physically walking, talking, teaching and healing mankind!

I want you to just think of that for a second and let it sink in!

God was walking with man!

The one who the Jews had longed for, prayed for, fasted for was actually here right before their very eyes and what did they do?

They rejected Him, despised Him, beat Him, mocked Him, spat upon Him and had Him crucified!