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“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 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 Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”
Matthew 10:1-4
The Next Authority
So far, from the sermon on the mount in chapter five to now, Matthew has laid before us the “proof” of Jesus’s authority. He’s shown us his teaching was authoritative and his healing was authoritative. And by now we should be well convinced, but now the focus is going to shift to not just the Lord but now he will send out messengers. We are going to go on a short-term missionary trip here in chapter ten. A mission trip that is to the people of Israel. But first we need to see the team.
The Apostles
These are Jesus’ special representatives. The ones that will go on from here and witness the rest of the ministry of Christ on earth and then as we follow them, will go on to establish the church and write what we now have as the New Testament.
Now Peter, James, and John will be the ones who appear closest to Jesus. If you read first John, you’ll hear him (John) talk about himself as “The one whom Christ loved.” And James is his brother. And of course Peter. We read about him walking to Jesus on the water and then how he later denied Christ. We also have Thomas, who is most known as “doubting Thomas” and of course our friend, Matthew. For the sake of time i’ll leave the rest to address as we move through the gospels.
Now, we also see that the occupations of the twelve and the backgrounds are diverse. We had fishermen, tax collectors, and the sorts. We have a zealot. But mainly, rough men. I love this about Christ. He takes the least likely and uses them to do extraordinary things!
But there’s something more to see with this list and that’s the noticeable trader of the group. He’s here and the obvious must be addressed.
Judas Iscariot
Jesus chooses him to be apart of this group. This is interesting because Jesus knows all things about every man. He knows the character and the intentions. He knew Judas would betray him.
Be sure that the lesson is plain, not everyone who claims Jesus or leads the church is necessarily one who loves Christ and is saved.
And also be sure that just because they are in our service doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of the worst evil. Men often look like they are helping, but again everything is laid bare before the Lord.
We read awhile back to “beware of false teachers.’’ Or “wolves in sheep’s clothing.’’ This is a sobering reminder for us not to pretend and prepare to be hurt by those who seem “genuine”. Many of us have had what most call “church hurt.” Which may have happened from men and woman who are there for other reasons. We can’t assume everyone in church is a Christian. We should be careful not to “throw the baby out with the bath water” when it comes to our hurt. There are “traitors” if you would, in every service.
If we love Christ then we love Christ, but if not we will be found a traitor, also.
We must pray for those we meet in our meeting places. Or church buildings.We must be cautious of the men we call “members.” Even the ones we call “leaders.” This requires a lot of prayer and discernment. It also pushes us to “test” every man before he’s considered “elder” and devours the sheep or wounds the fold. But the lesson is clear, not all is as it seems in our congregations.
Cling to Christ and embrace what these men embrace and learn from them. Christ gave them great authority and a large task that has greatly affected the world, so let us listen to them as we keep reading. Let us love Christ and embrace him as our treasure.
Here’s a good read that I encourage you to take a look at! It’s a few great points on why we should read our Bibles.
