#65 Jesus Charges the Twelve Apostles and
Sends Them Forth
Please first read: Matthew 10:1, 5-42; Mark 6:7-13;
Luke 9:1-6
Jesus
the Christ
Apostle
James E. Talmage
“About this time, also, Jesus
inaugurated a notable expansion of the ministry of the kingdom, by sending
forth the Twelve on assigned missions. Since their ordination the apostles had
been with their Lord, learning from Him by public discourse and private
exposition, and acquiring invaluable experience and training through that
privileged and blessed companionship. The purpose of their ordination was
specified – “that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to
preach.” They had been pupils under the Master’s watchful guidance for many
months; and now they were called to enter upon the duties of their calling as
preachers of the gospel and individual witnesses of the Christ. By way of final
preparation they were specifically and solemnly charged.
“They were directed to confine their
ministrations for the time being “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,”
and not to open a propaganda among the Gentiles, nor even in Samaritan cities.
. . . The subject of their discourses was to be that upon which they had heard
the Master preach – “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They were to exercise
the authority of the Holy priesthood as conferred upon them by ordination; it
was a specified part of their mission to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out devils,” as occasion presented itself; and they were
commanded to give freely, even as they had freely received. Personal comfort
and bodily needs they were not to provide for; the people were to be proved as
to their willingness to receive and assist those who came in the name of the
Lord; and the apostles themselves were to learn to rely upon a Provider more to
be trusted than man; therefore money, extra clothing, and things of mere
convenience were to be left behind. In the several towns they entered they were
to seek entertainment and leave their blessing upon every worthy family into
which they were received. If they found themselves rejected by a household or
by a town as a whole, they were to shake the dust from their feet on leaving,
as a testimony against the people.
“Moreover they might expect to be
brought before governors and kings, under which extreme conditions they were to
rely upon divine inspiration as to what they should say, and not depend upon
their own wisdom in preparation and premeditation; “For,” said the Master, “it
is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. . .
. [They] were always to remember that they were servants, who ought not to
expect to escape when even their Master was assailed. Nevertheless they were to
be fearless, hesitating not to preach the gospel in plainness: for the most
their persecutors could do was to kill the body. . . . Thus charged and
instructed, the twelve special witnesses of the Christ set out upon their
mission, traveling in pairs.”
Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary
Apostle
Bruce R. McConkie
“Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus was a
missionary. He traveled among the people, teaching the doctrines of salvation
and healing them both physically and spiritually. His ministry marked the
course and set the pattern for the missionary labors of his servants of all
succeeding ages. . . And as it was in his day, so is it in [ours.]”
The
Mortal Messiah, Volume 2
Apostle
Bruce R. McConkie
“When [Jesus] saw the multitude he
was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered
abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. . . . Had not Jehovah said by the mouth of
Jeremiah: “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my
pasture! saith the Lord. . . . Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them. . . . And I will gather the remnant of my
flock. . . . And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and
they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith
the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:1-6)
“And so Jesus, accompanied by his
disciples, is touring and preaching again in “all the cities and villages” of
Galilee. He teaches in their synagogues and preaches on their streets. . . .
And as he preaches, he heals “every sickness and every disease among the
people,” meaning that those who accept him and believe his gospel are healed
and those who – as in Nazareth – reject him, among them he can do no mighty
works. . . . Success attends his labors; multitudes hang on his every word;
there is more ministerial service to be performed than one man can do. He can
preach in only one village at a time; there are others who need to be healed,
others who cry out for the cleansing of their spirits and the healing of their
bodies, others than those to whom he can minister personally.”
Other
shepherds must be sent.
The
Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
Alfred
Edersheim
“Truly those to whom the Twelve were
sent forth were ‘troubled’ as well as ‘scattered,’ like sheep that have not a
Shepherd, and it was to deliver them from the ‘distress’ caused by ‘grievous
wolves,’ and to gather into His fold those that had been scattered abroad, that
Jesus sent forth the Twelve with [this] special commission. They were to speak
good and to do good in the highest sense.”
·
Priests and religious individuals entering
an area to teach of God were deemed by the public worthy of hospitality and
provisions in exchange for their efforts.
·
These disciples are described here as
“sheep in the midst of wolves” in a hostile world. Israel is to be as a
harmless dove towards God and wise as serpents towards the gentile nations.
·
The persecutions are exclusively Jewish.
·
Jewish references of the “coming of the
Son of Man” refer to the time of judgment.
·
The term Beelzebul was used as a
derogatory name for Christ by the Pharisaic party of Jerusalem. “Beelzebul”
meaning Master of the Temple, and “Zibbul” meaning Lord or Chief of Idolatrous
Worship.
·
There were four modes of execution in use
here at this time: stoning, burning, beheading, and crucifixion. This latter
one was not a Jewish punishment, but the Jews, captive to Rome, were very familiar
with it.
·
A common Jewish expression was “bearing
the cross” when faced with sorrow and suffering. A familiar reading “Abraham
carried the wood for the sacrifice of Isaac like one who bears his cross on his
shoulder.” (Ber. R. 56. Gen. 22:6)
“[T]he words of the Lord were not
beyond the comprehension of the disciples. Starting from forms of thought and
expressions with which they were familiar. He carried them far beyond the
Jewish ideas and hopes.”
“ All the more painful is the
contrast of Jewish pride and self-righteousness, which attributes supreme merit
to ministering, not as to God, but as to man; not for God’s sake, but for that
of the man.”
The
Words and Works of Jesus Christ
J.
Dwight Pentecost
Defilement
and Mutual Cleanliness: The Laws and Scriptures Versus Pharisaic Tradition
Jesus
and his followers were under constant scrutiny because they were not observing
the Pharisaic rituals of cleansing before and after eating food.
There
were eighteen decrees to observe in any and all contact with gentiles. The
required observances of handwashing and bathing were minute in detail. These
rites and restrictions stood higher in the esteem of the Jews than the
scriptures themselves. The Talmud says, “Give more heed to the words of the
rabbis than to the words of the law.” One who neglected handwashing after
eating was “as bad as a murderer.” Picture the disciples when the five thousand
were fed and other similar events.
When
Christ was approached by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, they did not
question the disciples’ conformity to the law of Moses, but rather their
conformity to the traditions of the elders.”
The
One Volume Bible Commentary
J.
R. Dummelow
“This mission was intended partly to
prepare the way for visits from Jesus Himself, and partly to train the apostles
for their future ministry. He sent them out ‘two and two’ for the sake of mutual
encouragement. That is the true method of undertaking missionary work, as the experience
of St. Paul shows. The apostles were to preach a little, but not much, since
they were beginners. They were to prepare the way for Jesus, saying, ‘The
kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ All accounts agree that they were to work
miracles on a great scale (‘power over all the devils,’ ‘to heal every disease,
and every infirmity.’) They healed by anointing with oil. Their power extended
even to cleansing the lepers and raising the dead. This mission began about
five weeks before the second Passover of the ministry, and lasted about a
month. Having dismissed the apostles, Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the feast
of, probably Purim, at the beginning of March. He then rejoined the Twelve
shortly before Passover.”
Glenn
R. McGettigan
July
2019
References
“The Life and Times
of Jesus the Messiah.” Volume 1. Edersheim
“The
Words and Works of Jesus Christ.” Pentecost
“The Mortal
Messiah.” Volume 2. McConkie
“The
One Volume Bible Commentary.” Dummelow
