Authority
I can’t help but notice this word in Matthew 10. We hear point blank that authority comes from
God. What does the authority lead
to? Power. In this case, power over unclean spirits and
power to heal disease. But for me, what
is most important is to hear once more that authority is not something we
derive on our own. Authority leads to
power because it comes from our King, God.
Apostling
As I wrote that subtitle, my spellchecker drew a very pretty wavy
red line underneath it. It’s telling me,
“Hey you, apostling isn’t a word.” Well,
it’s half right. It isn’t a word in the
language it has been told to check. But
it is a word in Greek. You see,
literally verse 5 reads, “And Jesus apostled these twelve.” {Oh
look, there’s another red line under “apostled.” What’s great is that each time I have typed
that word my computer has auto-deleted the d at the end and I’ve had to go back
and manually force it to leave it alone!}
In English, apostle is a noun. In
Greek, apostle is both a noun and a verb.
An apostle is someone who is sent out on a mission from a higher
authority. Therefore, in Greek, to
apostle someone is to send them out on a mission because you are a higher
authority in their life.
This is a great dynamic to understand. The twelve are typically called the disciples
throughout all of the Gospels. Yet in a
few places like this they are called apostles.
Why? It isn’t that they’ve gotten
any smarter or holier. The name changes
because the name is a function of their role in the kingdom! Most of the time, when the twelve are around
Jesus they are there to learn. Hence,
they are disciples. But in this story,
Jesus sends them out into the world.
That one distinction alone transforms them from disciples to
apostles. Of course, when they complete
their mission and come back to Jesus, they will be disciples again because they
will be learning from Jesus.
What is neat about this is to realize that one can transition
fluidly from disciple to apostle and back.
One doesn’t need to know everything before one can do God’s work. All that has to happen is that one must be
sent. You can go, do God’s work, come
back, learn more, go back out, come back in, etc. In fact, that’s exactly how Jesus shows us it
works in this section.
As an aside, this talk about apostling someone made me think. I can disciple people. I can teach them and help them follow
God. But can I really apostle anyone? Am I a higher power in someone’s life? No. I
don’t think so. I think the best that I
as a human being – or even a pastor – can do is to listen to Christ as He
apostles the other person. I can encourage
someone who is being apostled by Christ.
But I cannot send them out. God
sends people out. God makes His will
known to each of us. I can merely
encourage people to listen and be obedient to God. That’s all any of us can do.
Persecution Will Come
Imagine hearing these words as your leader is apostling you. “When they beat you up, don’t worry. When they lock you in chains and drag you
before the courts, don’t worry. They are
really persecuting me, not you. The Holy
Spirit will give you the right words to say.
Even if your family should turn on you and reject you, it’s okay.”
Anyone feel particularly comforted here? I know I don’t. It’s one thing to hear someone prepare you
for what might happen. It’s another
thing to hear the omniscient Son of an omniscient God tell you that it will
happen.
As only Jesus can, He puts it all into perspective. He says, “Do not fear those who can hurt the
body but not touch your soul. Rather,
fear the one who can destroy both body and soul.” What Jesus is asking us to contemplate is if
we would rather make an enemy of mankind or God. Who is the better choice? Better to be killed here and live eternally
with God than to be “safe” in the world for a short time but be destroyed
permanently by God.
However, Jesus also promises something to those who endure. If we confess Christ before those who
persecute us, Christ will confess us before the Father. If we boldly proclaim Christ before the
world, Christ will boldly proclaim us before the Father. Earlier I asked you to imagine Jesus telling
you all that the world is going to do to you.
Now, imagine sitting in the presence of God and hearing Jesus tell the
Father that He loves you and that your love for Him was boldly on display. Imagine being welcomed into eternity. That doesn’t make the persecution go
away. But it sure makes it palatable!
I’m going to skip to the end of this chapter because it fits
here. Jesus tells us that whoever receives
us receives Him. We are to be about
receiving the people of God. The world
is at war with the people of God. We don’t
need to join the fight against them. We
need to be safe harbors in the world for the people who are actively heeding
God’s call to be at war with the world.
Remember where Jesus began when He sent out the apostles? When you go into your house, let your peace
descend upon it. It if is received, stay
there. If not, leave and shake off the
dust. Now it makes much more sense. We are to focus on discipling and showing
love to those people in the world who are naturally at peace with us because
they are likewise at peace with God.
Not Peace
This is another one of my favorite passages. So many modern Christians believe that
Christianity is “all about getting along.”
Ha! Apparently this portion of
the Bible is not on their reading list.
Jesus Himself says that He did not come to bring peace but rather the
sword. Sure, Jesus came so that we may
be at peace with God. But those who are
peace with God are by default at war with the world!
The world wants to be first.
Family wants us to care more about them.
Employers want us to be focused on them above all else. Companies want us to focus on spending our
money on them. The world is always vying
for our time, talents, and treasures. They
won’t stop until they are comfortably seated in the number one position in our
life. So when we cast aside the world –
all of the world – and put God first, of course we will be at war with the
world. Jesus literally means it when He
says, “Whoever does not pick up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”
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