7. And He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits;
8. and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff--no bread, no bag,
no money in their belt--
9. but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics."
10. And He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave town.
11. "Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of
your feet for a testimony against them."
12. They went out and preached that men should repent.
13. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
(1 of 3) preview: pairs are sent to preach to the populace.
jesus sends out the twelve to proclaim the gospel to the area.
they are supposed to receive money from the people they preach to, and go on the belief that this is how it will work.
when they arrive to a village, they should look for a hospitable person to take care of them; if the place won't receive them,
they move on.
they are supposed to preach repentance, validating their message with miracles.
(2 of 3) parallels: other gospels
matthew 10 (as typical of matthew, more of jesus' words)
luke 9 (jesus also sends out 72 in luke 12; the 12, plus the broader group of disciples that )
(3 of 3) problem: staff or no staff?
mark's account tells them to take a staff. lukes says not to. matthew says not to 'acquire' a staff.
???
the short answer is that we're not quite sure what is happening here.
augustine for his part says that the luke/matthew bits are basically hyperbole, noting that he
says not to take sandals in matthew. basically, jesus is saying don't take anything, get provision
from the people.
mark on the other hand is being more specific on the actual packing list.
(1 of 4) proclamation: god usually does so through humans
jesus is still on earth
he could have visited these cities before going to jerusalem to die.
or...he has supernatural powers; he could speak to them.
jesus is sending his followers instead.
this is biblically normal:
- we've talked about this in progress...in sermons, etc...
- god consistently speaks through people. instead of direct communication, he uses moses, prophets, writings, etc...
the important thing to note here is that though the communication is indirect, it is still divine.
- same for us today. we have indirect, written communication; but we need to respect it as from god.
(2 of 4) proceed in pairs
yes. jesus invented the buddy system.
the apostles were not sent out alone - they were awesome, but they still weren't sent out alone.
a few thoughts on this...
- this is useful for support, accountability, and encouragement.
- christians need fellowship.
(3 of 4) provision: pick it up in place (travel lightly)
jesus commands the disciples to take only what they need immediately - not to plan for the needs they'll have on the trip.
v8,9 "and He instructed them that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff--no bread, no bag,
no money in their belt--but to wear sandals; and He added, "Do not put on two tunics."
- this doesn't seem to be true for all time, but this is the normal practice.
- this is how jesus sent out the 70 in luke 10 as well...
- other examples...paul worked in corinth.
- also, notice that money is provided for ministry
- jesus took money for his ministry (luke 8)
- jesus commands his disciples to take money
- salina street; we don't take money, but it's more frequently biblical to do so than not to.
(4 of 4) problems? walk away from the uninterested
- people not interested? walk away.
when the disciples enter and aren't received (because of a lack of hospitality? because people won't repent?),
they are supposed to walk away.
&nbps;
other possible options:
- highlight the good parts of your message.
- be patient. stay there and work on becoming liked and accepted.
that is not not the advice in this case.
- people not interested? shake the dust off your shoes
shaking the dust off of your shoes is understood to be showing that you want no part of them.
you don't even want their dust to be on your shoes.
- this is not always the case biblically
consider isaiah's calling:
isaiah is told at his calling that the people will not listen to him:
9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’
10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
what's different about isaiah?
- different situation. in many ways isaiah is a witness against israel; a last call before judgement.
how do we know which we are to do? condemn? or walk away?
wisdom? prayer?
not quite sure. but you need to be thinking about this.
provision: god provides
if god says he will provide for you, then don't worry about it.
participate: understand your role in the spread of the gospel and speak up.
god speaks through us.
it's a weird thing that god chooses to not do things so that we have a real role to play in what actually matters...
honestly...we tend to like the idea of being a part of the spread of the gospel, and helping people find the mercy of god.
but how much effort do you put forth on this?
most things take effort. you want to watch a lot of football, you get a big tv and the nfl package.
you want to be ripped like don, you work out like don.
you want to be a part of the spread of god's love, you wait for someone to ask you about jesus. weak.
show some effort
the disciples were sent...and had to walk around and preach.
not much different for us. but we are sometimes less than active in our fulfillment.
please take this task on more strongly. if you're not sure what to do, jeff and i would love to talk with you.
popularity: not in your cards
you are not responsible for the response of others.
don't feel guilty if people do not respond to the gospel.
hurley talked about rejection last week;
jesus calmed the storm, freed the demoniac, healed the bleeding woman, and raised jairus' daughter...
and people still didn't believe.
not everyone is going to believe.
in fact, most people won't.
matt 7:14 - narrow is the way and few are they that find it.
what to do with that?
1. relax. it's not your problem; don't make it yours emotionally.
2. be confident. if you are preaching repentance, it is not you who are being rejected. it's christ. (note that
he was rejected first)
3. stay on task. keep spreading the gospel, keep preaching repentance.