Scripture: Matthew 10:1–25
Observation: Jesus chose his disciples and now is sending
them out as apostles. An apostle is sent to
deliver or spread teachings to others.
We can say that all apostles were disciples but all disciples are not
apostles. Jesus’ disciples had spent
time with Him and now they were ready to do their special task or work – to go
out and teach the good news. While they
were ordinary men and even some of the gospels refer to them as “uneducated”
(Acts 4:13), they were going to go out and change the world.
When Jesus sent out the disciples he
sent them out together. He knew together
they could do more than if they were alone.
He also told them to give out this message freely. They weren’t to demand payment for it, but
they could welcome the hospitality of others so that their needs for food and
shelter would be met as they went from town to town.
In the last section Jesus tells His
disciples that it will not always be easy.
He said they would face hard times and enemies and that not everyone
would like them. This is a hard pill to
swallow! Lysa TerKeurst in her Made to
Crave study said many of us have the “disease to please”. Doug Fields, Author of Intentional Parenting,
says that as parents we have to be careful about praising our children’s
performances or they will become “approval addicts” and will grow up constantly
trying to perform to seek the approval of others. Here Jesus was flat out saying to his
disciples that they cannot always expect everyone to receive their message
well. You will NOT be able to please everyone
or make everyone happy. As a matter of
fact, dear disciple, your message may even offend some L So He instructed them to be careful and to be
wise! If your message is not received
with some, there will be other places who need to hear the message; so take
courage! Jesus told them not to pack
bags, but there were definitely some things they could pack – wisdom, caution
and courage!
Application: As you think about the people God chose to be
His disciples I would love to hear from you as to who you resonate with. Which of the disciples to you understand and
how do you relate to them either by comparison or by contrast? Do the choices Jesus made encourage you in
any way? People today make “big
business” off of the gospel. We have
Christian authors and teachers and even some churches have become “big
business”. How do Jesus’ words to His
disciples apply to us today? Should a
teacher/speaker be able to ask for payment today for their time and efforts or
should we follow the “freely received, freely give” rule?
No comments:
Post a Comment