Matthew 10:1 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. 2 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; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax
collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. 5
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. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The
kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Heal the sick,
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you
have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold
nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor
bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is
worthy of his food. 11 Now whatever city or town
you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon
it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 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. 15 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! 16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of
wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
The nature of the call of Jesus is supernatural.
Otherwise, it is not a true calling.
How could Jesus better demonstrate this fact than in the
lives of the men He chose to call? Had he chosen among the Hebrew seminary
students at Jericho, I suppose we may have thought their actions were the
result of their piety.
Had Jesus chosen among the great orators of His day, or
perhaps among those noble or of those who were powerful, perhaps we may have
thought their actions were the result of their keen intellect.
But Jesus called His closest followers from among the
flotsam and jetsam of life. (These men, by the way, were the only ones He
directly called to follow Him. The rest of His followers came to Him by word of
mouth of men.) But the men Jesus specifically called were special in no way
except for their calling.
Only Judas Iscariot carried the credentials which would
have made him appear to be worthy of his calling. The rest were young fisherman
and laborers, with a tax collector and a political revolutionary thrown in for
good measure.
How then, would these men cast out demons and heal the
sick? Would it be a special incantation, or an elixir which would do the trick?
Who would empower them to preach the gospel – and to prepare entire towns to
receive Jesus Christ? And Who would provide for the cost of their travels?
Here we clearly see Jesus’ intent is to demonstrate to
the whole world the power of God in Christ is to be worked out in feeble, (and
perhaps the feeblest,) men. And perhaps, just perhaps, these men were even too
feeble to refuse the calling. How about you? It’s a fearful thing isn’t it?
(Fearfully wonderful – that is.)
-Pastor Bill
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