The Twelve Apostles
Matthew 10:1-15 “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
Sending Out the Twelve
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
Sometimes we think of Jesus as being the only one who actively ministered during his lifetime; however, that is far from the truth. Here Jesus is empowering his twelve disciples and sending them out “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” A ministry focusing on only one individual dies the day the individual falters or dies. If God has called you to a ministry, you should be doing everything you can to pass on that calling and experience to others. The law of the Kingdom is multiplication, not subtraction. Jesus is already preparing his disciples for the time when he will leave them by sending them out now. If the disciples encounter problems or challenges, they can come back and get direct further instruction; later on, Jesus won’t be with them to physically guide them.
Look at the unusual instructions. “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.” Why is Jesus giving such orders? Jesus wants the disciples to know beyond all doubt that when they are doing God’s work, God will provide for them. Successful results will confirm that the disciples are doing God’s work. Jesus also wants those to whom the disciples are ministering to focus on the ministry and not on what the disciples are wearing. We must leave anything that detracts from the message of the kingdom behind.
How will the disciples know that they are in the right place? “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.” Sometimes people have an undeserved reputation for righteousness. Such people may appear loving and charitable in public; however, things are far different at home. Jesus knows that humans may prove privately to be imposters. As folks in Texas would say, some people are “all hat and no cattle.”
What if God sends you somewhere and the entire city rejects you? “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
How do we reconcile this advice with Jesus’ earlier teachings to “pray for those who despitefully use you”? We can always pray for people, no matter how badly they treat us. But unless God specifically call us to remain in a difficult situation, we are not bound to stay if people refuse to receive either us or our message. We are also not bound to risk our lives unless Jesus specifically orders us to do so.
Remember the Gadarene/Gennesaret mad man/mad men? When Jesus first comes and casts out the demons, the whole town begs him to leave. But the next time Jesus comes, the same people who refused to listen are now running to haul their sick and demon-possessed people to Jesus for healing and deliverance. “When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. And when they came out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.” (Mark 6:53-56) Never underestimate what God can do in people’s hearts.
Pauline Smith and Adeline Wichman were Assemblies of God missionaries in Ghana for 50 years. Polly and Addie once told us that they never lost hope for evil people because they had seen some of the vilest people repent and change completely when God got hold of them.
Steve Jobs is quoted as having said, “If you want to be popular, sell ice cream.” Many times, we choose to settle for popularity in ministry rather than presenting the naked Gospel with its ability to convict sinful hearts. If we present anything less than the Gospel, we do people a fatal disservice, for only the Gospel can change stony hearts to hearts of flesh.
Recently, I saw a short video on Facebook in which a traveling evangelist described witnessing to a man in Alaska who had just learned that he had a medical condition that would kill him swiftly. The evangelist had a plane he needed to catch; instead, he dedicated himself to making certain that this man understood the way of salvation and was truly saved. The evangelist went through all the scriptures concerning salvation and asked the man, “Do you understand?” The man agreed that yes, he understood, but nothing was changing for him. The evangelist then had the man read the scriptures out loud for himself. As the man was reading John 3:16 for the third or fourth time, suddenly the truth of what he was reading dawned on him and he began to weep tears of joy. Instead of being a lovely theory, the good news of Jesus Christ and salvation was now real and this man KNEW that Jesus had died for him and that his sins were forgiven.
We can present the Gospel quickly. Years ago, my husband was working as an EMT and was taking a patient with lung cancer home to die. This man told my husband that he had been all over the world, and now his life was ending. My husband asked the man where he stood with the Lord; whereupon the man said, he wasn’t sure. My husband prayed a simple prayer with this man, and he turned his life over to Jesus. Three days later, the man’s obituary appeared in the paper. God can handle time if we will make ourselves available.
Go where Jesus sends you, stay where he keeps you, be ready to move when he tells you, but also be ready to speak when he gives you the opportunity. Don’t worry about your ability; after all, God once spoke through a donkey, so He can certainly speak through you if you will let Him.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, here we are. Use us and help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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