Matthew 10:2-4 Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
Who are these? These are the 12 disciples. These are the 12 who took the power of Christ to next level. These are the 12 who went beyond following to doing, beyond listening to proclaiming, beyond watching to performing, from being healed to being the healers, from being afraid to casting out demons. These are the 12 whose power was no longer their own…but God’s!
These 12 made the Bible. They got in. They were special.
Why? (See Matthew 10)
1. They were summoned by Jesus –It wasn’t a “whenever you get the chance” kind of thing, it was a “come here now!” kind of thing.
2. They were given authority – We all know that Jesus had authority, so when he started to give it away, one wanted to be at the head of the line I would suppose.
3. These guys were miracle workers - They were given authority to cast out unclean spirits. This is impressive since an unclean spirit is something that takes hold of a person, causing them to do exactly as they know not to do. It causes them to betray all that is important to them in order to satisfy the need of the spirit inside. They also had authority to cure every disease and every sickness. Special, special men they were.
Too bad they’re dead.
That’s right. They’re gone. And all that power and all that authority went with them.
Damn.
But, oh, what’s this? Romans 3:21-22 But now, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe. What, what? All who believe? My God, that might mean me. The righteousness of God that Jesus had, that he passed on to the disciples, is ours too? Yes.
And, it is to those who believe the one thing that cannot be stolen, cannot be sold, cannot be wiped away. That means that all who believe are standing in the shoes of the 12 Disciples. And that means that we too are:
1. Summoned – called especially to the head of the line and to Christ himself.
2. Given authority – not just over our kids or over the dog, but the Jesus-kind of authority that laughed in the face of death, scoffed at demons, and threw out disease.
3. Miracles workers…Really? Abso. lutely.
Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. …ADD YOUR NAME HERE!
