Scripture: 1 Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out impure 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.
Observation: Of the eight times Matthew refers to Jesus’ twelve disciples in his Gospel, the first two are in these four verses (and the third is in verse 5). We’ve met some of them through their calling stories. The general company of disciples has been referenced at various times thus far too.
The first time the twelve are named as a group is just as they are being prepared to be sent to extend Jesus’ ministry of healing and driving out demons.
This is the main thing I see today: “gave them authority.” Authority belongs to Jesus. We’ve seen this confession of faith on the part of several people pursuing healing for a loved one. Having power gives one the capability. Authority ranks one over another with the authorization to give commands that are to be followed. We generally think of Jesus having the power to heal, which is true. But we’ve also seen throughout that Jesus has the authority to heal and drive out demons.
In this passage, which stands at the beginning of Jesus’ instructions to the twelve He is sending out in ministry, we see that Jesus has the ability to send others out under His authority to do work on His behalf. He can extend His authority for ministry to His disciples. They do not have the authority on their own to do this work. He is equipping them to do for people what He would do if He were there. Amazing.
All Christians—every one who believes in and follows Him—are called to extend the ministry of Jesus. We all have a role to play in advancing God’s kingdom. The most practical way to do this is to volunteer for a ministry activity or team in our local church. We can minister in our marketplace too, leveraging our work for opportunities to extend the ministry of Jesus to colleagues and others. Marvelous and eye-catching or seemingly ordinary and mundane, we are coming together with fellow disciples to extend the ministry of Jesus to a world that needs it.
Application:
Do you have a regular opportunity for ministry through your church and/or in your marketplace?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, train me up and sent me forth under your authority for ministry in your name. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
If you liked this post from Seeds of Faith, why not share it and/or subscribe?
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
These twelve men were ordinary males.Jesus picked each one of them for apostles.And jesus' changed them all.And they changed the world! And Mathew is a story in it's self,
I am thankful for the ministries in our church and the opportunities to serve the Lord through them.