“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Matthew 10:1-23

The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service

10 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; ⁶ but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the house, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴ Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

A Hard Road before Them

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

In this text from Matthew 10 in today's reading in the One Year Bible, Jesus is instructing His 12 closest disciples, preparing to send them out to serve and minister. In this portion of Matthew there will be no account of the disciples actually going out on there own to minister, so it would seem that this is more of a general instruction for things that are to come. Verse 10 of the text says: Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Jesus refers to the kingdom of heaven coming or being at hand. It is important for us to understand the aspect of authority that exists in the kingdom. There are many references to the authority of Jesus.

Matthew 7:28-29 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Matthew 8:8-9 But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

Jesus is one with the Father. His authority is without limit just as the Father's. In Matthew 28 after Jesus resurrection He speaks again to His disciples with a similar instruction as what we see in this text.

¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

Here's what we need to understand and get hold of. In the beginning after God created earth and life He created man and this is what He said:

 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

From the beginning God intended that man would rule, would have dominion or authority on earth. When Adam and Eve sinned that authority, man's authority  was lost. In Genesis 3 we can read about the hardship and difficulty God said there would be because of sin.

From the beginning man was supposed to rule over creation and over the earth. Just as with any group, organization or family there must be a leader, someone in authority, there needs to be authority on earth. If the one who should be in authority does not lead and exercise the proper authority someone or something will fill the void. Lack of true authority causes chaos. It causes a struggle for power. That's what we see in the world today, chaos and confusion due to a lack of true authority in the world.

 Christ came as one without sin, not under the curse.  The Son never lost His authority and He came that in Him and through Him the authority and dominion could be restored. We individually and corporately as believers need to walk in the authority that Christ has given us. He never lost one bit of His authority. He has been given ALL AUTHORITY IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH and He has restored that authority, rule and dominion to us. In Christ we have authority. The authority He gives includes;  authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Jesus never said it would be easy. He said the disciples would have a hard road before them. Certainly our road today is no easier. There are difficulties we face, tests, trials, trbulation and persecution. But this promise we have, Jesus says:  I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” 

May we be faithful to walk in the fullness of the authority which Jesus has restored and given to us in Him. The authority to rule over all creation and  authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.  

Thy will be done. Thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.    Amen