Jesus Sends out the 12
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Sends out the 12 Disciples...
Jesus Sends out the 12 Disciples...
Good morning everyone, I hope you’ve had a great week. I hope you enjoyed time with family and friends, and all the fireworks.
It is great to celebrate our Independence, but while we celebrated our nations freedom and Independence, did you take time to give thanks to God for the freedom we have in Christ Jesus?
And what a joy it is for us to have the freedom to gather and worship as we so desire in our nation.
I want to remind you to please consider helping at the Help Center, we want to get back to our old schedule of Monday and Wednesday morning, but we need helpers to do this, so if you would like to help, see Mary Cole, Bobby or Tiny or myself.
We come back to the Gospel of Matthew today, as we are working are way through the entire book.
And today we are starting Matthew chapter 10 and with it, we are told who are this disciples and with that, Jesus begins to send them out to do the work of ministry in the world.
Now this is important… Do you know why? It illustrates to us that we are also called to go out and do ministry. Listen my friends, we are called to be agents of change in this world, God has saved us, called and equipped us to go out and be his hands and feet for the sake of the gospel.
So let go to the Gospel of Matthew and lets go to chapter 10. And we are going to be looking at verses 1, and verses 5-15 Now I am not reading verses 2-4 since it names the disciples, including Judas who betrayed him. You can read those names yourself.
1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
Matthew 10:5–15 (ESV)
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
So remember what Jesus as done, He has been at Capernaum, And it is there that we have seen several miracles take place, while there we are told he heals those who were sick, and cast out demons and he preached the gospel that the Kingdom of God was near....
And of course people responded to that message. They came to hear this one called Jesus and many received His words and work.
As we open Matthew chapter 10, we see that Jesus is getting ready to send out those 12 He has called to come and follow Him, and in the opening verses we see who those 12 are.... and while the names are important, what Jesus is preparing is greater.
So with that in mind, we will open with this thought this morning...
1. Jesus called and Empowered Them...
As we open verse 1, the Scriptures tell us that He had called His 12 to him. I love this, Jesus had called His 12, these that were chosen for the purposes of God. They like us, are necessary for the furtherance of the Gospel message.
So lets look at verse 1 again...
1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
As as Jesus gathered them we see two things happening here in the text....
A. Jesus called them.... The word there is pros Kaleo’, it means to summon, to call unto service with determination, with a demand that was right. Think of this … Like the gov’t calling a young man or young woman into mandatory service for their country,
So Jesus was calling these men into service for the Lord’s work.. to God’s own army.
Jesus had called them and the had been listening to his teachings and following Him where ever He went.
Can you imagine how wonderful it was to be called by him. I imagine it was truly amazing to see him and what He did, but also to listen to Him as he taught and opened up the Scriptures. absolutely wonderful...
But not only did Jesus call those disciples, But he also gave them power…and authority
2. He gave them Authority..... The authority is a special power of sorts. Remember Jesus has not yet been glorified and the Holy Spirit has not yet entered the world. So what power is this?
So Jesus gave them power and authority by His own command, by the Son’s authority. When we speak of the authority he gave them, He gave them power, or the right to work on the behalf of the Son, on behalf ultimately of God the Father who sent the Son into the world.
And this authority was over or against those things that harmed humanity.
He gave then authority over what?
The Scriptures tell us first over .....
A. Unclean Spirits… these unclean spirits are demons who are created by God as good, but they rebelled and are hostile against God and His ways or anyone who is aligned toward or loves God.
B. To heal every disease and every affliction.... Just as Jesus healed the sick, those who suffered under the diseases and afflictions of life, so would they also in His name heal the sick.
And as he healed those who were suffering under the paralysis they people faced like the person who was let down through the roof and healed by Jesus in Matthew chapter 9, so they would also heal the lame, the mute, the blind and the deaf by the name of Jesus.
Jesus had given then the authority and power to do these things…
Now when you look at the parallel of the Scriptures in Mark 6:7 we see that Jesus sent then out in groups of two. Now this is important. Why?
According to Jewish law, the witness of any event good or bad was based as true on the word of 2 or 3. So the message these men preached were seen as true since he sent them out 2 by 2.
Together they would go out and minister.
These works that would be done by the disciples of Jesus would serve to authenticate the message they preached as Jesus sent them out into the world in groups of two.
And consider us my friends we are the disciples of Jesus as well. And he has called us to go and minister in His name in the world around us.
How you might ask?
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit into the world to indwell us and it is by His power that we are given the means by which to carry the message of Jesus into the world.
You see in every case my friends, the disciples of Jesus are sent to go and minister .
That was their calling and yes, it is our calling as well. He has called and empowered us.
And then the Bibles tells us that Jesus sent them out… and this is my second thought for today my friends.
2. He Sent Them....
Now as you look,the Bible tells us the verses 2-4, exactly who these men are..
Jesus has called these 12....
Peter, Andrew, James, John, Phillip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and the one who betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot.
Now of course we know that later on one falls away. Judas Iscariot hangs himself after betraying Jesus and as we walk through the new Testament God will raise up one more and call him to be an apostle as he minsters across the world, Saul who is called Paul.
And so as Jesus sends them out.... He gives several perimeters for their work..
A. He sent them to Israel only....
Look with me at verses 5 and 6
5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Verse 5 and 6, Jesus sends them out. He tells them to minister to the lost sheep of Israel, and them only… they were not to enter any gentile places and they were not to enter the land of the Samaritans who were part of their own kin folks from centuries past.
Now please understand, Jesus is not keeping these other regions away from the gospel, no..not at all. Jesus himself went there during His gospel travels. He traveled to Samaria and to the land of Gadara.
But at this time.... He has not died on the cross yet, he hasn’t been gloried nor sent the Holy Spirit into the world… thus sending the disciples into the world.
But there would still be a natural order of things if you will, they would take the message to the Jew first and the Greek second.
Paul shares his in Romans 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The message of his death, burial and resurrection was for all people, but at this point before his death, the call was for Israel to turn and repent for the kingdom of God was at hand.
This is the message that God had been sharing with them through out time when they fell away from Him for many different reasons, God was always calling them to come and turn away from their sin and to follow Him once again.
B. Their Message....
7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Jesus tells them to go about preaching the news that the Kingdom of God was near.
This my friends is not a new message, no not at all, it is the message God has sent to Israel through the preaching of John the Baptist and then through Jesus and now it was the message the disciples would carry as well.
Repentance calls for a change of mind, to repent means we see, we recognize our sin , we see the error of its way and we turn away from it and commit ourselves to follow the Lord.
It was a message of God’s love, God calling for His children to return, to come home once again like the prodigal son. to come back to the Father, falling at his feet and telling Him we are sorry for our rebellion.
He told them to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers and cast out demons.
They were to preform the works He had called them too, to authenticate the message they preached.... they were called to go and preach, heal the sick and work for the glory of God.
And as they were doing these things, Jesus gave them instructions for their journey.
C. Instructions for the Journey....
Jesus called on His disciples to live simply, to travel and depend on the generosity of others.
Lets look at verses 8-13 and see what Jesus is telling them.
8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Jesus sends them out to preach and share the message that the Kingdom of God is near, they were to heal the sick and cast our demons… And as they went along their journey, Jesus gives them some instructions for living, acting and serving the communities and people they visited.
So when Jesus says you received without pay, He is referring to the salvation they have received, the gift of having received the good news and with it the benefits of the Kingdom of Heaven.
You were given this as a gift (salvation and new creation in Christ) from God and so we impart it to others freely.
The disciples were to do simply into the world to preach the gospel, as such they were to be totally dependent on God the Father and He worked in the hearts of people they were sent. They were to receive no gift or payment of money for their work, God would supply their every need… They were to go simply, without a bag or extra provision… God would bless them
And then Jesus says…this in verse 11
11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.
Now understand when Jesus speaks to a village or a home being worthy, He is speaking of those who are receptive to the message they brought. And if they received a positive welcome they were to stay in that town and the home that welcomed them.
By staying in the home that welcomed them, they were not to leave it for a better home… that might be viewed upon as favoritism. Jesus wanted them to be free from any accusations or gossip that might hinder their work.
The peace of God would be extended and would rest upon that place. But for those who would not receive you, or listen to your words, you were to shake the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town..
What does Jesus mean by “Shake the dust from your feet”?
If you look back at historically, the Jews would stop after leaving a Gentile land and knock the dust off their sandals, it was a renunciation, a rejection of the people and their beliefs.
To shake the dust off your sandals is symbolic of the rejection of the people have toward the gospel message.
Rejection of the Gospel message is indeed a sin, and according to Jesus even worse than the gross rebellion of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament.
Why?
God’s revelation to the world of his divine love and salvation in the Son, Jesus Christ was present for all to see, and know. it was a clear message. And to reject such a clear message, to reject God’s Son would hold people more accountable, than they sinfulness of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Who… the rejection of Jesus hold a person in greater judgment than the sinfulness of that town.
My friends, I want you to remember that just as Jesus sent out the 12, so Jesus has sent us into this world as well.
Please don’t think we are apostles or anything of the such… but we are simply His disciples, and as disciples we are to share His teaching, His ways, His word, and the life He gives freely with all.
Let us pray..