Matthew 10:1-4

Introduction

Years Ago When I was a Member of the Whitson Chapel Church in Cookeville

We Took a Church Retreat to Fall Creek Falls

And We Played a Bible-Based Team Game…

Where You Had to Complete Challenges and Answer Bible Questions as Fast as Possible

One of the Questions was “What are the Names of the 12 Apostles”

I Burst Out with “Matthew, Mark, Luke, John…”

And Before I Could Go Any Further, They Said, “Wrong”

It Took Me a While to Realize that Mark and Luke Weren’t Apostles

We are Going to Meet the 12 Apostles of Jesus for the 1st Time in Matthew this Morning

So to Begin, We are Going to Sing a Song in Order to Memorize Them

Jesus Called Them One By One

Peter, Andrew, James, and John

Next Came Philip, Thomas Too

Matthew and Bartholomew

James the One They Called the Less

Simon, Also Thaddaeus

The 12th Apostle Judas Made

Jesus was By Him Betrayed

Yes, Jesus Called Them - x3

And They All Followed Him

Now if You’re Ever on a Church Retreat at Fall Creek Falls Playing a Bible-Based Team Game…

And the Question “What are the Names of the 12 Apostles” Comes Up…

You’ll Be the Hero for Your Team that I Never was for Mine

Recap

We Saw Jesus Begin His Kingdom Ministry By Being Baptized By John in Chapter 3

After Being Tempted in the Wilderness, He Began Preaching, Healing, Casting Out Demons, and Gaining Followers in Chapter 4

Then Chapters 5-7 Gave Us an Example of His Kingdom Teachings

Then Chapters 8-9 Gave Us an Example of His Kingdom Ministry (Miraculous Healings, Exorcisms, etc.)

The Last Thing We Read was Matthew 9:36-38

Matthew 9:36–38 (NASB95)

Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

This was Leading Us into the 2nd of Jesus’ 5 Major Teaching Discourses in Matthew’s Account

That 2nd Major Teaching Discourse is Found in Chapter 10

Matthew 10:1-4

Jesus Told His Followers to Pray for More Workers in the Field

To This Point, Jesus Had Been Preaching and Working Miracles Alone

Now it’s Time for Jesus’ Ministry to Multiply

Jesus is Going to Delegate His Kingdom Ministry to Some of His Faithful Followers

They Were Witnesses to His Words and Works, His Message and Miracles

Now it was Time for Them to Spread the Words and Works as Well

For the Next Several Weeks as We Study Jesus’ 2nd Major Teaching Discourse…

We’ll See Jesus Disciple His Followers…

Teaching Them How to Make His Ministry Their Own Ministries

That’s My Hope for Us as We Study This Chapter as Well

My Goal is that We Will Grow in Our Own Discipleship and Ministries as Well

Matthew 10:1 (NASB95)

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.

There’s a Lot of Interesting Things to Learn From This Verse

This is the First Mention of 12 Distinguished Disciples

At Some Point in the Past, Jesus Chose 12 of His Disciples to Form an Exclusive Group

Mark and Luke Tell Us About Jesus Choosing the 12, But Matthew Doesn’t

These 12 Will Later Be Known as “The Apostles”

The Number 12 is Not Random

The 12 Specially Chosen Disciples Represented the 12 Tribes of Israel

They Represented the Renewal of the People of God that Jesus was Fulfilling

Just as the 12 Children of Israel Were the Foundation of the Nation of Israel…

These 12 Disciples Will Be the Foundation of the New Community of God’s People (Eph. 2:20)

Jesus Then Gives These 12 Disciples Authority

This Authority Enabled Them to Do the Miraculous, Compassionate Works that He Had Been Doing

His Mission was Becoming Their Mission

Matthew 10:7–8 (NASB95)

“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”

For Most of My Christian Life, I Had the Wrong Idea About Jesus’ Ministry

I Got the Idea that His Teachings and His Miracles Were Separate Things

His Teachings Were the Important Part…

And the Purpose of His Miracles was Only to Prove His Teachings to Be True

I Think that’s the Wrong Idea

Jesus’ Teachings About the Kingdom and His Miracles Were More Connected Than That

He Proclaimed the Kingdom Through His Teachings and Demonstrated the Kingdom Through His Miracles

The Kingdom of God = The Reign and Rule of God

He Told People About God’s Reign and How They Could Submit to it

That was His Teachings

Then He Showed People the Outcome of Submitting to God’s Reign

That was His Miracles

His Miracles Were a Small Foretaste of What Life Will Be Like When God’s Reign is Complete

When Jesus Returns and the His Reign Comes to its Fullness/Completeness…

Evil Spirits Will Be Cast Out

The Blind Will See

The Deaf Will Hear

The Mute With Speak

The Lame Will Walk

The Dead Will Be Raised

Sin Will Be Forgiven

Everything that Sin Has Corrupted Will Be Made New

His Miracles Weren’t Just Proof that His Kingdom Teachings Were True

Did They Prove His Message/the Gospel to Be True?

Absolutely

But That Wasn’t Their Primary Purpose

His Miracles Were Examples of What Will Happen for Those Who Submit to His Reign

Matthew 10:2 (NASB95)

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;

This is the Only Time this Group of 12 are Called “Apostles” in Matthew’s Gospel

In Fact, This is the Only Time the Word “Apostle” is Used in Matthew

Matthew Calls Them This Because of What They Were Being Called By Jesus to Do

Jesus was About to Send Them Out to Take Part in His Ministry

Apostle = One Who is Sent

An Apostle is a Representative Who is Sent to Do Something On Behalf of the Sender

And the Apostle is Given Full Authority to Act On the Sender’s Behalf

When the Apostles Proclaimed the Gospel or Performed a Miracle…

It was as if Jesus Himself Had Done it

It was in His Name, By His Authority, For His Glory

Mark’s Account Tells Us that Jesus Sent Them Out to Minister 2 By 2

Jesus Never Expected His Followers to Work Alone

As With Anything, There is Power in Numbers

Christians, We Need Each Other

Matthew Lists Out Their Names:

Simon Peter is Always the First in the List of Apostles

As You Read the Gospel Accounts, it’s Easy to See Why

He is Seen as the Leader of the Apostles, if There Were Such a Thing

Then We See Andrew, Peter’s Brother

He was the First-Known Disciple of John the Baptizer to Begin Following Jesus

Then We Have James

He Would Be the First Apostle to Be Die for the Faith

Then We Have John His Brother

He Would Go On to Write the Gospel According to John, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Also Revelation

He Along with the First 3 Apostles Mentioned Were All Fisherman

And He was Also a Part of the Inner Circle of the 3 Disciples Closest to Jesus

His Brother James and Peter Being the Other 2

Matthew 10:3–4 (NASB95)

Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

Philip was One of Jesus’ Earliest Followers

Bartholomew is Probably Nathanael From John’s Gospel Account

He was Invited to Meet Jesus By His Friend Philip

Unfortunately, We Know Thomas By “Doubting Thomas”

But Thomas was a Brave and Faithful Man By All Respects

We Met Matthew the Tax Collector in Chapter 9

We Know Very Little About James and Thaddaeus From the NT

Simon was Known as a Zealot

This Could Refer to His Zeal for the OT Law

Or This Could Specifically Refer to a Later Known Political Group By the Name Zealots

They Were Jewish Revolutionaries Who Hated the Romans

They Would Engage in Assassinations and Terrorist Activities Against the Roman Government

And Finally We Have Judas Iscariot

He’s Always the Last On Every List

Matthew Knew His Readers Would Know Very Well Who He Was

He was the Betrayer of Jesus

Applications

I’ve Got 2 Points From this Text that I Believe are Important for Us to Take with Us

1.) Carry On the Ministry of Jesus

What was the Ministry of Jesus?

To Proclaim the Kingdom and to Demonstrate the Kingdom

What Does that Look Like Today?

Be Generous to the Poor

And Tell Them What God is Going to Do for the Poor of His Kingdom

Visit and Care for the Sick

And Tell Them What God is Going to Do for the Sick of His Kingdom

Show Kindness and Compassion to the Outcasts, Broken-Hearted, Hurting

And Tell Them What God is Going to Do for the Outcasts, Broken-Hearted, Hurting of His Kingdom

While You Do the Works of Jesus, Tell People About Jesus

Be Kind, Loving, Compassionate, Friendly, Encouraging, Helpful

Then Tell People Why

Tell Them About the One in Whose Footsteps You are Following

Act Like Jesus Then Tell About Jesus

Jesus’ Mission is Our Mission Now

Jesus Isn’t Just Interested in Saving Our Souls… He Wants to Make Us His Disciples

His Mission is Supposed to Become Our Mission

He Proclaimed and Demonstrated the Kingdom

We are to Do the Same

2.) The Mission Doesn’t Depend On You

Jesus Didn’t Choose Qualified Leaders and Teachers

He Chose Average People

Sometimes We Feel Inadequate for the Mission We’ve Been Given

Well, I’ve got Good News

The Apostles We’re Inadequate

God Doesn’t Need Outstanding, Qualified, Extraordinary People

All He Needs are People Willing to Trust Him and Do What He Says

God Loves Using People Who Recognize Their Insignificance

There’s a Saying: God Doesn’t Call the Qualified, He Qualifies the Called

God Uses Ordinary People to Do His Extraordinary Work (It Points to Glory to Himself and Not Us)

Our Mission From Jesus Doesn’t Depend On Us…

(Who We are, What We Do, What We are Capable of)

Our Mission is About Him

When We Recognize That, the Fears and Insecurities Begin Melting Away

Let’s Go Proclaim and Demonstrate the Kingdom

People Need to Know What Jesus Has Done for Them (Death, Resurrection for Sins)

They Need to Know What Jesus is Currently Doing for His People (High Priest and Advocate)

They Need to Know What Jesus is Going to Do for His People (Restore All Things)

Let’s Tell Them That, and Then Demonstrate a Little Taste of That

Let’s Show Them What it Looks Like When God Reigns

Joy, Patience, Kindness, Grace, Help, Love, Humility, Compassion

And While We Proclaim and Demonstrate the Kingdom…

Let’s Remember that it’s Not About Us

It’s About Him