" As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’"

Matthew 10:1-23 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

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.

²³ “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

In today’s text Jesus instructs His 12 closest disciples and commissions them giving them authority “over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.” At that time Jesus specifically sent them to   “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus focus while He was on earth and ministering here was to call the nation of Israel to repentance. He was after all their long awaited Messiah. In many ways it was the deeply religious, those who held to their preconceived ideas, their traditions and their regulations and rituals, who had the most difficulty recognizing that Jesus was in fact the Christ they waited for. Jesus took these 12 ordinary working class men and sent them out to preach the good news, that the  kingdom of heaven was at hand. They didn’t need to trained in the regulations and rituals of man because they knew the one who was the fulfillment of God’s law, Jesus Christ. The authority He gave them was His authority. It was heavenly authority over this earthly realm.

After His death and resurrection things changed. First we see the difference when Jesus meets again with His disciple in Matthew 28:16-18:   But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. ¹⁸ And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.    Through the cross and the resurrection, Jesus now had all authority in heaven and on earth. When God created man in the garden, He gave him dominion over the earth, authority to rule and have charge over all of creation on earth. Through disobedience that dominion and authority was lost and turned over to satan. That full authority was regained by Jesus through His death and resurrection.

Because the authority structure changed, so did the commission to the disciples. Jesus now says: 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.”(Matthew 28:19-20)      No longer is or was the call and commission only to the lost of Israel, now it is to “all nations”.   They are instructed to make disciples. Disciples are disciplined ones. It is not a discipline though of human rules, regulations and rituals. It is a discipline of “ teaching them to observe all that I commanded”

While He was here on earth Jesus taught many things. He taught about the importance of loving and serving both God and other people. He spoke against religious hypocrisy. Jesus taught that we should seek the kingdom of heaven rather than the material riches of the world. Many today hold tightly to the example of Jesus life and His teachings about how we should live with each other, yet neglect the real reason Jesus came. From the beginning of His ministry Jesus words were:   "Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near!" (Matthew 4:17) He said: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32) Romans 3:10-12, quotes the psalmist from Psalm 14:1-3, helping us understand who is righteous and who should repent.     as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”         We fail, both ourselves and the nations we have been commissioned to go to, if we teach only about love, kindness and service. Jesus message, His call was repentance. Jesus came to redeem man from sin, to reconcile man to God and to restore all that was lost to sin and disobedience. There is no redemption, no reconciliation and no restoration without repentance.

 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  Whoever believes in Christ, not merely believes of Him. In believing in Christ we become His disciple, disciplined to observe all that He commanded. The love of God is demonstrated through the sacrifice of Christ. The truth of God is that no one can receive God’s love unless they repent. In Acts 1:8, Jesus gives the disciples instruction regarding the key to fulfilling their call and commission. He says: “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”      In John 16:7-11, Jesus says: I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.  And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; ⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; ¹¹ and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.       Jesus has given us, His disciples, the Holy Spirit. It is only through the Holy Spirit, God on earth and God in us, that we can truly find the balance that only Jesus had when He was here, the ability to unconditionally love sinners and hate sin. The ability to in love call sinners to repent.

In John 14:12-14, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. ¹³ Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.     The greater works Jesus calls us to include; being an example of God’s love and grace to the world. The greater works also include; calling sinners to repentance. We have been given the authority of Christ, through the work of the cross and the resurrection and the in dwelling Holy Spirit of God, the authority to declare the good news that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the authority to speak the truth of God’s love and grace through the message of the cross.  Jesus has given us the authority and commission to teach other to observe all that He commanded, the authority to:    “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  (Mark 16:15-18)

Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that You have redeemed, reconciled and restored all things through the cross. I repent and receive Your love, Your grace and the restoration You have given. Holy Spirit empower me to fulfill the call and commission of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to walk in love and grace and speak the truth calling others, like Christ, to    "Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near!"  In Jesus name.    Amen.