Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples ~
Up until now, Jesus has been doing the preaching & healings. Now, He has trained up a select 12 to send out on missions. As He sends them out, He gives them some advice:
1) Trust God - they are not to take anything with them. Instead, they are to rely on others for food, shelter, and clothing. Faith is built when we rely on God and others rather than ourselves. This is why Jesus tells us that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The rich rely on their ability & the ability of their money to help them out rather than on God.
2) Treat everyone equally - heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons, give as has you have received. This is mission work.
3) Stick to the Jewish towns. Jesus came first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles (Romans 1:16). They were His chosen people. However, the Bible is clear that Jesus' message is for everyone. It simply started with the Jewish people and then spread out from there. Jesus is sending these men out to preach among their own people - I would think that would be a little more comfortable for them. After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples began preaching the message to everyone, both Jew & Gentile alike.
4) If you are not received, shake off the dust of the town. This was a symbolic gesture used when visiting Gentile cities to show their separation from Gentile practices. Jesus now tells the disciples to use this gesture to show a cities' rejection of Jesus.
5) Have you heard the phrase, "shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves"? It is used here - as Christians we are to be gentle and nonjudgmental with everyone; however, we are not to put ourselves foolishly in harms way. There are many out there who want to destroy us. We are to treat them with respect and love, but not let their words or actions damage our faith or relationship with God.
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