St Matthew, Chapter 10, verses: 7-8, The Instructions

Our paragraph topic is:  (Instructions to the Twelve) Part 2.  

The disciples are ready to go forth and preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven.  Christ has given them instructions as to where to go and where not to go.   He wants his disciples to preach to the lost sheep of the house of Israel first.  He does not want them to go in the direction of the Gentiles or to the Samaritans.  The lost sheep are to be gathered first, those that will listen and follow.  Many have fallen by the wayside.  Many have taken up with the pagans.  And many are blinded by the evil one.  

Christ tells his disciples what to preach.  He tells them, "And as you go, preach the message, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand!' "   So he wants his disciples to walk through the towns and villages preaching to the people, "The Kingdom of heaven is at hand."  He wants his disciples to tell how the kingdom has arrived.  He wants his disciples to awaken the people and spread the good news.  He wants them to let the people know the arrival of the kingdom to their towns and their villages.  Christ wants the lost sheep of the house of Israel to know that the opportunity has come for them to return to the fold.  The opportunity has come for them to turn back to the God of their for fathers, the one true God, Jehovah.

Christ tells them further to demonstrate to the lost sheep the presence of the kingdom.  He wants them to not just talk about it but to show the people that what they preach is true.  He tells them to,Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils.  So the disciples are to perform the miracles that Christ has instructed them to do.  They are to battle with the demons that possess the village people.  They are to battle with the sickness that cripples families.  They are to cure diseases that rob the life from the ill and the injured.  They are to cleanse the lepers and raise the dead so that the people will know without a doubt that something is happening that is bringing about the miracles that they are witness to by the disciples.

Christ now gives his disciples the most important requirement of all.  He tells them that they have received freely.  He tells them that,  "Freely you have received, freely give."   Christ wants his disciples to know that they are not to force the teachings upon anyone.  It has been their free decision to follow him.  It has been their free choice to become his disciples.  Without the threat of punishment or damnation, they freely followed his teachings.  They, in turn, are to preach to the people to freely accept the teachings, so that through their belief they may know that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.    

Christ wants to send us forth today to be his disciples.  He wants us to proclaim the kingdom to the lost sheep.  He gives us instructions as to what we are to do when we accept his discipleship.  He instructs us in specific tasks that we are to perform and he provides the Holy Spirit to guide us daily in our walk with him.  Beware, if you are convicted of the Holy Spirit in the love of Christ, your life will not be the same.  Beware, you will no longer want the things of this world.  Beware, you will no longer do the same things that you did before.  You will no longer live the same way.  You will be a new creature in Christ, convicted of his love.  You will have a new life, a new spirit, a new inner being, alive with the life that Christ has given you.  You will be different.  

Come, all who would know the true God.  Come, all who would be different.  Come, all who would become a new person.  Come, receive your gift, for freely it is given.  It is up to you to freely receive it.  Will you freely receive the gift that Christ wants to give to you?    

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verses: 5-6, The Instructions

Our paragraph topic is: (Instructions to the Twelve) Part 1.  

The twelve disciples have been chosen and are being prepared to go forth into the villages and towns.  Christ has to give them final instructions on what they are to do.  He first instructs them as to where they are to go.  Christ tells them not to go in the directions of the Gentiles.  He tells them that they are not to enter the towns of the Samaritans.  As their first journey without him they are to go only to locations where the lost sheep of the house of Israel reside.  They are to be the first to hear about the good news.  The lost sheep are to be the first to be lead back into the fold of Christ.  The lost sheep of Israel are to be the first to hear that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

The lost sheep of the tribe of Israel  had strayed.  They had fallen away from the practices handed down by Moses.  They had forgotten the promises made by Jehovah to the people of Israel in the desert.  They had turned away from the one true God and had accepted false gods to worship.  They were the chosen people of God.  They were the beloved of God.  They were the special ones who would be the first to have the opportunity to accept the teachings of the Messiah. 

Christ was not prejudice to the gentiles.  Christ was not prejudice against the Samaritans.  Christ decided to bring back, first, the lost ones who knew about his father.  He decided to offer to those who had an existing relationship with God the opportunity to turn back to their God and to be welcomed back into the kingdom of heaven.  These lost sheep would be the ones who could become disciples also.  These lost sheep of Israel would become easy converts and true believers in the mission of Christ.

The lost sheep had that opportunity.  They were the first to hear about the kingdom of heaven.  They were the first to accept or reject the Messiah and his teachings.  Christ offers still today the message to the lost sheep.  He offers the opportunity to accept his teachings.  He offers the opportunity to believe in his mission.  He offers the opportunity to be washed in his blood.  He offers the opportunity to partake of his spirit.  He offers the opportunity to be baptized into a new life in him.  Will you accept the new life being offered by Christ?  Will you accept the kingdom of heaven that was preached by the disciples?   Christ is calling you, today.

St Matthew, Chapter 10, verses: 2- 4, The Disciples

Our paragraph topic is:  (The names of the Apostles).  

St Matthew, in these verses, tells us who the twelves apostles were that followed Christ.  In Chapter 4 he told us about the call of the first disciples.  They were Simon and Andrew, who were brothers.  Then he also called James and John, who were also brothers.  Then there was the special mention in Chapter 9 when Matthew tells us how he was called by Christ.  These are the five disciples that we already know about.  But then there is Phillip and Bartholomew and Thomas.  There is also another James, the son of Alpheus and also there is Thaddeus.  Last is Simon the son of the Cananean and Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed him.

These were the candidates that Christ chose to lead and to train.  They were the first to work directly with Jesus, to become the shepherds of the new church and the leaders of the flock.  Christ called them the salt of the earth.  They represented the base ingredient in his ministry.  They were mostly fishermen.  Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen, common laborers.  Matthew was a publican, a public servant of the government, a tax collector, a person that all the people hated because of his association with the corruption of the government.

We know that Judas betrayed Christ.  But the others, Bartholomew, Philip, the other James, Thaddeus, and the other Simon we are not told about.  Matthew does not provide any additional information about them.  These were the men that Christ saw as being pillars of his church here on earth.  He taught them.  He trained them.  He sent them out into the field to practise the principles that he had given them.  He gave them power to demonstrate to the people the true message of the kingdom of heaven.  They were his disciples.  They were his apostles.  They were his shepherds here on earth.  And the harvest was great but the laborers were few.

Christ completed his mission of preaching and miracles.  And the dark powers and principalities of this world destroyed him for what he was sent here to complete.  They did not like his mission.  They had to stop him.  So they tortured him.  They beat him.  They abused him and they condemned him to death.  He died a horrible death on the cross.  He was crucified.  And yet he was glorified by his father, God in heaven who raised him from the dead.  Today he sits at the right hand of the Father, in the glory of the power that he had from the beginning of time. 

The disciples watched as Christ was tortured, beaten, spat upon, and crucified.  They were stricken.  They were destroyed.  They were fearful.  They were like scattered sheep.  But Christ returned.  Christ arose from the dead.  Christ appeared to them to show them the power of his father.  Christ then commissioned them to take the message throughout the world.  And he gave them eternal power to exercise here on earth.  Their message is love.  Their message is peace.  Their message is faith, hope, and charity to all mankind.  Can you follow in the footsteps of the disciples and carry the message of Christ today??  Pray that the Lord of the harvest sends forth laborers into the fields.