SHARING BREAD
1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them
authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Matt
10:1-4 (NIV)
In our verses for today, the Lord Jesus makes Apostles – one
sent forth to represent an official – out of His disciples – a learner, an
adherent, a follower. Jesus often grants
graces by degrees – and so He does here.
It is fitting for men to be tested for a season before proven
trustworthy to be entrusted with greater honor.
11 For
the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good
thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalms
84:11 (NIV)
He had been preparing and readying them for this superior
work as they followed after Him. Taking
them along with Him was their classroom if you will. Certainly, the best preparation for the work
of ministry is communion with the Lord Jesus. Following the Master is paramount in ministry
– why would anyone want to follow our ways?
Only Christ is worthy of following.
Disciples begin by following Him in His humiliation yet later in His glory
and honor. Those who serve Christ must also
sit at His feet as He opens their understandings of the Scriptures - making wise
the foolish and making plain the mysteries of the kingdom as well as empowering
them with His Spirit - enabling them to do His bidding. We can do nothing eternal in and of
ourselves. Teachers must first be
learners and disciples of Jesus must be equipped with His Spirit for the works
He has prepared in advance for us to walk in.
We cannot give what we do not possess:
26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant
also will be. My Father will honor the
one who serves me. John 12:26
(NIV)
“The nearer we get to Christ, the more intensely missionary we
become.” Henry Martyn
These guys had followed Jesus – counting the cost. They had left professions, they had left
family responsibilities and now the Master ordains them to be His ambassadors
bringing into fruition His Word to them – “I will make you fishers of men.”
19 "Come, follow me,"
Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of
men." Matt 4:19 (NIV)
Next He bestows upon them the authority to bring into
submission evil spirits as well as to heal all diseases and sicknesses. Only Jesus Christ can grant such authority –
all power is His without limitation. The
supply of heaven is more than adequate for the demands of this spiritually
deprived world. It was our Lord’s desire
for His disciples to offer that supply to the hungry masses. Jesus came to destroy the devil and his
kingdom and His ambassadors were given power to destroy the works of the
adversary as well. The miracles of
healing would serve to verify and confirm their doctrine – that it was indeed from
God as well as to show the sufficiency of the power of Christ.
“Sin is the sickness of the soul. It is deforming, weakening, disturbing,
wasting, and killing, but, we bless God, not incurable. Jesus Christ is the great Physician of
souls. Wise and good people should be
like physicians to everyone around them; Christ was so. Souls that are sick with sin need this
Physician, for their disease is dangerous; nature will not help itself. No mortal can help us; we have such need of
Christ that we are eternally ruined without Him.” Matthew Henry
The number of apostles was twelve – the same as the number
of the tribes of Israel. It is a great
honor that their names are left on record yet an even greater honor – the Lord
states – that their names are written in heaven. Interestingly, each time the apostles are
listed Peter, because of his prominence, is mentioned first and Judas, the
betrayer, last. Tares are mentioned with
the wheat as well as wolves among the sheep.
They were also listed in pairs as they often were sent out in twos
because two are better than one as they are serviceable to each other and more
serviceable for kingdom advancement. I
love the fact that Matthew humbly calls himself the tax collector – the life
that Jesus took him out of. It is good
for us to remember what we were before Christ called us. There are some we know only by their name on
the list – not all are as celebrated or as famous as others.
"If
God has fit you to be a missionary, I would not have you shrivel down to be a
king." C.H. Spurgeon
What
I glean from this:
· Jesus often grants graces by degrees.
· Only Christ is worthy of following.
· Sin is soul sickness and Jesus is the only remedy.
