Disciples Go

Disciples Go

Matthew 10: 1 – 10.

Introduction

I have often heard that the Christian faith is always one generation away from extinction.  The point is that if we fail to share our faith, Christianity will end with our generation.  This is one reason why it is important for us to live up to Jesus’ words in the Great Commission—make disciples by going, by baptizing and by teaching.

Several weeks ago, our ministers were in a meeting and were asked to guess the top three excuses Christians give for not doing the work of evangelism.  We were able to guess the number two answer and the number three answer.  But, we did not guess the number one answer.  Number three is, “I am afraid of rejection.”  Number two is, “I don’t know how to share my faith.”  The number one answer surprised us.  It is, “It’s not my job to evangelize.”

That number one answer doesn’t sound like Baptists.  I have been a part of Baptist churches since I was an infant.  And, I have heard preachers and Sunday School teachers tell me all my life that Christians are supposed to tell others about Jesus.  Jesus has left us with instructions to spread the Gospel around the world.  If we don’t do it, who will?

One of the places where Jesus tells us to do the work of evangelism is in Matthew 10.  This is the second of five long discourses spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.  The first one is known as the Sermon on the Mount.  This one could just as easily be called the Sermon on Mission.

Matthew 10: 1 – 10.

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.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.

6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.

7 As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.'

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

9 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts;

10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.

(NIV)

The word “disciple” is a very interesting word.  Most of the time, we automatically associate “disciple” with the twelve men who accompanied Jesus during his earthly ministry.  However, Jesus didn’t invent the word “disciple,” and “disciple” is not a word reserved only for Christian men and women.

“Disciples” were very common in the ancient Greco-Roman world.  Scholars have found references to many different types of “disciples.”  Writings outside of the New Testament use the term “disciple” to refer to religious disciples—like the disciples of Jesus and the disciples of John the Baptist that we read about in the New Testament.  There were also disciples of philosophy and one reference to a disciple of music (learning how to play the flute.)  In each of these cases, disciples were students.

“Disciples” in the ancient world were a little different from students in our world today.  Students today usually sit in a classroom of 30 or more students, change classes to learn different subjects, and go home at the end of the school day.  Ancient “disciples” associated themselves with only one teacher.  “Disciples” left their homes and lived daily with their teacher.  They didn’t simply learn a subject from their teacher.  They learned how to live life.  They didn’t learn by receiving information and taking tests over the material.  They learned by imitating their master-teacher.  They observed the master-teacher performing his craft.  Then, they were allowed to practice the same craft under the watchful eye of their master-teacher.

Diversity

I think we could learn a lot by observing the diversity of Jesus’ twelve disciples.  The disciples did not come from the families of preachers and rabbis.  They came from all walks of life.

For example, at least four of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen.  Peter and Andrew, James and John were all fishermen.  They probably were expected to follow in their fathers’ footsteps.  Their fathers were business owners and even owned their own boats.  Yet, each of these men walked away from their family businesses to follow Jesus as his disciples.

Another disciple (Matthew) had worked as a tax collector.  The nation of Israel had lost their identity as a sovereign nation when they became part of the Roman Empire. The Romans provided military security and an elaborate system of roads.  These kinds of services required money.  As a result, the Romans taxed almost every aspect of life.  Some tax collectors sat in roadside tollbooths, collecting taxes from people as they traveled.  Other tax collectors sat on the banks of the Lake of Galilee, assessing taxes on the fish that fishermen caught from the lake.  (If Matthew collected taxes from fishermen, I find it remarkable that he was able to get along with Peter, Andrew, James and John.  Nobody likes the tax man.)

One of Jesus’ disciples was a “Zealot.”  While this term could be used to describe religious zeal, it was also used in a technical sense.  It referred to a group of Jewish men who were so opposed to the Roman government that they would do whatever was necessary to drive the Romans out of the land of Israel.  (Again, if Matthew worked for the government as a tax collector, and Simon was a member of the Zealots, it is remarkable that they were able to worship and serve together as Jesus’ disciples.)

And, then there was Judas Iscariot.  Perhaps there is nothing more to say about Judas than what we read in verse 4…he was a traitor.

Just as Jesus called a diverse group of disciples in the First Century, Jesus has also called a diverse group of disciples in the Twenty-First Century.  He calls teachers and nurses, doctors and lawyers, businessmen and businesswomen, people from all walks of life.  Jesus calls each of us to enter into a daily relationship with himself, to observe the way he lived his life and then to imitate him.

A Subtle Shift

Living with Jesus and imitating Jesus is not all he calls us to do as his disciples.  We see this in a subtle shift between verse one and verse two.  In verse one, the twelve were referred to as “disciples,” or students.  In verse two, they are called “apostles.”

We typically think of disciple and apostle as meaning the same thing.  After all we use both words to describe the twelve disciples or the twelve apostles.  But there is a difference between the two.  Disciple means “student” or “apprentice.”  Apostle means “someone who has been sent.”

An apostle is sent on behalf of someone else, and they have the authority of the person who sent them.  In my mind, this is similar to the job of the Secretary of State of the United States of America.  The current Secretary of State is Hillary Clinton.  She is sent around the world by the President of the United States.  She does not speak by her own authority.  She speaks by the authority of the President and by the authority of the citizens of the United States.  She does not work for herself.  She works for someone else.

In the same way, Jesus did not send out his apostles on their own authority.  They carried the authority of Jesus and his Father.  They did not work for themselves.  They worked for Jesus and his Father.

Matthew tells us that Jesus gave them authority to perform three jobs on their mission.  They had the authority to drive out evil (or unclean) spirits.  They had the authority to heal all kinds of sickness.  They had the authority to preach the same message Jesus preached, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Some people believe the apostles drove out evil (or unclean) spirits and healed the sick as a demonstration of power.  They believe that when people saw they had the power to perform miracles, those people would become more receptive to the Gospel message they were preaching.  Of course, that raises a problem for me.  I have never cast out demons or healed the sick.  Yet, I preach the same message of the same Gospel today.

Others believe the apostles drove out evil (or unclean) spirits and healed the sick to show people that they cared about them before they preached the Gospel.  And this makes a lot of sense for us in the Twenty-First Century.  Mission agencies don’t usually send out only preachers.  They send out medical missionaries, agricultural missionaries, educational missionaries and disaster relief missionaries.  We show people that we care about them first.  That opens the door for us to share the message of the Gospel.  The same is true for us locally.  People are more inclined to listen to our message once we have met their immediate needs.

There may be something else at work here.  Jesus sent the apostles to do the same kinds of ministry they had seen Jesus doing in the early part of his earthly ministry.  He cast out evil (or unclean) spirits and he healed all kinds of sicknesses. 

Each of the people Jesus healed had something in common.  They had many different kinds of symptoms, but they had one common problem.  They were considered “unclean” by the Temple and the Jewish Law.  As long as they were sick or possessed by a demon, they were excluded from the people of God.  When Jesus healed them, he was bringing them to a place where they could be included in the people of God.  In other words, Jesus was doing what neither the Temple nor the Law could do.  Temple and Law were very good at excluding people.  Jesus is very good at including people.

The same is true for us.  We have been given the assignment to be students of Jesus.  But, we are not supposed to stay among people just like us.  We are to engage the people of the world.  Many of the people we engage are suffering.  We must be willing to meet genuine needs and preach the message of the Gospel.  And, we are to be inclusive in our mission.  We are not to leave anyone out.

Location, Location, Location

In some ways, it does sound like Jesus was being exclusive in his instructions to his apostles.  In Matthew 10: 5 – 6, Jesus said, “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.  Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”

This verse raises at least two problems that we have to address before we can understand what Jesus is saying.  On one hand, we need to figure out who are the “lost sheep of Israel.”  On the other hand, we have to figure out if Jesus is only concerned about the Jewish people.

We can figure out who are the “lost sheep of Israel” by looking back to the way Matthew introduced this passage.  In Matthew 9: 36, we read: “When (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” 

“Sheep without a shepherd” is a reference to an Old Testament image of the people of Israel when their leaders had abandoned them.  One example is Ezekiel 34.  God said the people were without shepherds, because the ones who were supposed to take care of the people were only taking care of themselves.  Therefore, God said he would send the Messiah to become shepherd of Israel.

In this context, it seems obvious that Jesus is referring to the entire nation of Israel.  Their leaders have refused to do their jobs.  As a result, Jesus has come to be their shepherd.  He does this by sending his apostles to all the lost sheep of Israel that they might recognize Jesus as their true Shepherd.

However, Jesus has not come only for Israel.  Jesus came for all the world.  That is hard to see in these instructions to the apostles.  It is hard to see, because the time is not right.

At this point in history, Jesus had a particular ministry to a particular people.  In the person of Jesus, God has fulfilled his promises to Israel.  Jesus is the Son of David, who came to gather the true Israel and help Israel to fulfill her God-given mission to be the Light for all nations.  But, the time was not right until the crucifixion and resurrection.

This is not the only time Jesus sent out his apostles.  He sent them out again before the ascension.  Matthew 28: 19, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…”

Now.  The time is right.  God sent Jesus to Israel to restore Israel and to redeem Israel and to help Israel fulfill her God-given mission to be a Light for all nations.  The True Israel has been saved through God’s plan of salvation—Jesus the Messiah.

Conclusion: Answer to Prayer

If it is true that the Christian faith is always one generation away from extinction, then what are we supposed to do about it?  I guess we could pray about it.  I suppose we could pray that God would send some modern day apostles to preach the Gospel to the community around us.  And prayer is always a good idea.  But, be careful what you pray for…

Matthew 9: 37 – 10: 2, “Then (Jesus) said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’

(Jesus) called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles…”

Did you see what happened there?  Jesus told the disciples to pray that God would send someone.  They prayed.  Then, Jesus sent them to do the work.  They were the answer to their own prayer.

I don’t want you to think I’m saying you should answer your own prayers.  Instead, I am saying that if you pray for God to send someone to do the work of evangelism…God is going to send you.

He sent fishermen, tax collectors, Zealots and traitors.  Today, he sends teachers and nurses, students, doctors and lawyers, businessmen and businesswomen.  He sends people like you and me.