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We have come in this PODCAST to a monumentally significant section of Scripture.
And yet ironically one of the most ignored.
As we will learn over the next several weeks, here in Mark 6, and its much more complete parallel passage in Matthew 10, we read of something that was for Jesus enormously emotional, and for us incredibly instructional.
Emotional because of its context (Jesus’ compassion for people will shine ever so brightly against dark backdrop of His own rejection); instructional because of its content (that includes wonderfully practical principles we can readily apply).
There is no way for me to overestimate the value of the insights that we will discover together here as we sort of eavesdrop on Jesus as He prepares His men for ministry.
Just to give you a sneak peak of just some of the things that we will learn together as we dissect and digest this that we could call The Master’s Message to His Men, we will discover:
- How Jesus wants His ministers — both then and now — to conduct their ministries;
- How Jesus wants His present pastors to pastor;
- What the template for any ministry that Jesus develops here in Matthew 10 actually looks like;
- Where the lines of the ministry blueprint are drawn;
- Jesus’ purpose statement for all future ministries;
- Jesus’ own philosophy of ministry, and how it translates into our own ministry contexts today.
You could say that Jesus wrote the ministry manual that He intended each of us who dare to minister in His name to follow, and that Matthew 10 is that manual.
A chapter of epic importance that was completely overlooked, and never-once-considered throughout my four years of Bible college, three years of seminary, and five years completing a doctoral program. Never. Mentioned. Once.
I cannot help but to wonder how different the church landscape would look today if we actually taught future pastors what Jesus taught His men. Jesus planted here in Matthew 10 the seeds of ministry principles that will come to full bloom in rest of New Testament.
In short, how we view the ministry and discharge our own ministries begins right here.
So, let’s read Mark 6:7-8 together:
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions…
But, before we dive into these instructions, consider that just before Jesus said these words, He was ran out of His adopted home of Capernaum. Not having anywhere else to go, He went back to Nazareth. Yet, He was rejected and ran out of town there as well, as we read in Mark 6:3 –
“They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.”
And, just a couple verses later, we see Jesus’ reaction to the people who rejected Him:
“…He was amazed at their unbelief.”
So, when we get to verses 6-7 (and Matthew chapter 10), we can somewhat understand why Jesus changed His M.O. Instead of traveling from village to village with the disciples in tow, He decided to send each of them out, two-by-two, without Him. By doing so, He did not reject God’s chosen people of Israel, but pursued them six-fold by sending out His “ministers”, as we read in Matthew 10:5-6
“Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.”
That is compassion personified – not judging but seeking out and saving the lost, even after being rejected by them. So, if the lost sheep were going to reject Jesus, Jesus sent out His apostles to do His work instead. Plus, Jesus knew that there were just too many lost people in need of tending and too few of Him to go around, as we read in Matthew 9:36-38, just before He sent His disciples out.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
So, He sent out the twelve men He personally trained and told them:
“…go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matthew 10:6-7)
The kicker is that Jesus hasn’t stopped pursuing the lost sheep. 2,000 years later and He is still pursuing anyone and everyone who would choose to follow Him.
Now, whom did Jesus send out? Not just any group of people who had been following Him. In Matthew 10, it is the first time that this author lists the names of Jesus’ apostles, almost as if he were offering a roster. A roster with a major promotion! You see, up until this point, the twelve guys Jesus sent were merely referred to as disciples, or followers. Jesus had A LOT of followers. But in chapter 10, Matthew calls them apostles:
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. 2 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 Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
What’s the difference between an apostle and a disciple? Matthew 10:5 draws out the distinction:
“These twelve Jesus sent out…”
The word “apostle” means, “hand-picked people who were sent out, commissioned by God for a unique purpose at a unique time.”
In other words, all of us who follow Jesus today are disciples, but none of us are apostles. The apostles are these guys:
- Peter, whose name means “pebble”, but Jesus called Him the Rock! He was a successful fisherman who gave everything up to follow Christ. He was the most brazen, the most outspoken and de facto leader of the pack… but also the first to deny and disown Jesus. But Jesus wasn’t done with Peter.
- Andrew, Peter’s brother, who was destined to forever live in his brother’s shadow. Yet, of the twelve, Andrew was the first to sign on as a Christ-follower.
- James, also left a lucrative fishing career to follow Jesus, has the distinction of being the first of the apostles to be martyred. He, along with Peter and his brother became Jesus’ “inner three”.
- John, James’ brother, was the only apostle not to be martyred. He also wrote a little (Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation).
- Philip was a man of faltering faith, to the point that on Jesus’ last night with him before being crucified, Jesus asked him, “Have I been with you all this time and you still don’t know who I am?” He set the curve for showing that sometimes it takes more time than you would think to understand who Jesus is.
- Bartholomew, aka Nathaniel, was the one who doubted if “anything good could come out of Nazareth”.
- Thomas was the quintessential “I have to see it to believe it” guy.
- Matthew was a turncoat tax collector who sold out his own people in order to pad his pockets.
- James, the son of Alphaeus, was the “invisible apostle”. He is never listed anywhere in any of the Gospels other than in the listing of the twelve. He’s not even mentioned in the Book of Acts. Not once. Yet church tradition maintains that he was crucified in Egypt where he was dutifully, yet invisibly, preaching the Gospel.
- Thaddaeus was another invisible and anonymous apostle whom we hear nothing of besides the role call.
- Simon the Zealot was a freedom fighter (some may call him a terrorist of his time) who zealously sought for opportunities to overthrow Rome. (an interesting lab partner with Matthew who collected taxes for Rome).
- Then there was Judas Iscariot who will forever be synonymous with betrayal.
Looking at this list, I am filled with hope! If God would choose this ragtag bunch, then there’s hope for a goof like me.
Also, notice that nowhere in this mix is there mentioned any celebrity rabbis. Jesus picked common people like you and me to do His work. And He still does today. And if Jesus could use these guys, think of what He can do with you!