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Jesus Sends Out His 12 Disciples – Matthew 10:1-42 

At the end of Matthew 9, Jesus had been teaching in cities, villages and synagogues. He had been “preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matthew 9:35 NKJV). As He did this in place after place, probably more and more people came to Him. As the streams of people grew into multitudes, Jesus came to comprehend the sheer numbers of people, as well as their condition. Matthew recorded, “but when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36 NKJV).

In response to what He saw, Jesus instructed His disciples to pray that the Lord would send more laborers into the harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). Jesus then immediately found 12 additional laborers among His 12 disciples and gave them power over demons as well as power to heal all sickness and disease, even to the point of raising the dead (Matthew 10:1-8). 

Jesus acknowledged that we would experience a hostile environment. He told the 12, “Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16 NKJV). Jesus added later, “And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22 NKJV). Jesus also acknowledged that His message would bring division, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword” (Matthew 10:34 NKJV). Jesus was even aware that such division would come to our families, “a man’s enemies will be those of His own household” (Matthew 10:36 NKJV).    

 

Jesus Sends Out the 70 Messengers – Luke 10

Luke 9:51-52 said about Jesus, “when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face” (NKJV). Apparently, Jesus was sending messengers ahead to prepare people for His coming appearances as He headed to the cross. Luke 10:1 recorded another effort to prepare people to hear Jesus, “After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He himself was about to go” (Luke 10:1 NKJV).

That Jesus could appoint 70 people as messengers beyond the 12 who were apostles, indicated that there was a secondary crowd of unknown size that followed Jesus beyond just the 12 apostles. Therefore, after Judas Iscariot killed himself, the apostles were able to replace Judas from that secondary group of followers (Acts 1:21-26).     

As Jesus sent out the 70 messengers, He gave them some of the same guidelines that He gave the 12 on their original mission, and some of the same warnings. They appear to have been given both the power to heal (Luke 10:9) and power over demons (Luke 10:17). And apparently their message was that the kingdom of God had arrived, and whether the cities accepted or rejected the message, those cities were to be told that “The kingdom of God has come near to you” (Luke 10:9, 11).

The message that the kingdom of God had come, or had come near, was a call to repentance (Matthew 4:17).  The purpose of the “mighty works” done in these cities (Luke 10:9, 13, 17) was to authenticate the message that these 70 brought. To see the signs and wonders performed by these messengers, and yet not repent and believe in Jesus, was to be understood as a clear rejection of Jesus and God the Father (Luke 10:13-16).      

 

The Importance of the Holy Spirit – Acts 1

Among the final instructions that Jesus gave His 11 disciples was that they were to be His witnesses locally, regionally and globally (Acts 1:8b). But Jesus commanded that His disciples were not to start that mission until they had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8a). It was vital that the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-15) accompany His disciples on their mission.     

 

Conclusion – What We Need to Remember as We Tell Others about Jesus

Whereas Jesus’ 12 disciples were sent to the Jews, we are sent initially to our local community and we should have an impact on spreading the gospel beyond our community to our state, nation, and foreign nations (Acts 1:8).  

Like those early disciples, we will find hurting people, that are weary and scattered and have no leader. Some will want to argue about God, and we will have to patiently explain truths from God’s Word. However, we must remember that behind all resistance will be the enemy, Satan (Ephesians 6:12). Some will have needs that need to be addressed, and we will help them meet those needs with a series of good works (Titus 3:8, 14).

We have a message to share about salvation to be sure, but also about the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is currently the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in the life of a believer (Luke 17:20-21). A person enters that kingdom when they accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord (John 3:3). However, the kingdom is also a future physical reality on earth where Jesus will reign as King (Isaiah 2:1-4, Matthew 25:34, Revelation 20:4-6). In the kingdom of God (also referred to as the “kingdom of heaven”) people are recognized and rewarded for their obedience to Christ’s commandments (Matthew 5:19).  

When we are on mission and telling others about Jesus, we first need to ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us. We go in obedience to tell others about Jesus. If we are persecuted for our witness we will be rewarded (Matthew 5:10-12), but if our witness about Jesus is received, we will have joy. Either way, our greatest reward will be the honor of speaking up for Jesus who suffered so much so that He could have a relationship with us.