Matthew 10:5-15
Jesus gives three basic instructions to his 12 disciples before he sends them out:
- go to the lost sheep of Israel, not to the Gentiles or Samaritans.
- preach "the kingdom of heaven has come near" and back it up with miracles.
- rely on others (and, by doing so, on God) to provide your basic needs.
At first, relying on others to provide for basic needs seems like the hardest thing to do but, as I think about it, backing up the message of the kingdom with miracles would also be very difficult. I can imagine the adrenaline rush as the disciple finishes his message with, "and to prove that what I am saying is true, I am now going to restore the sight of this blind man..." all the while wondering if it is going to work and realizing what a fool he will look like if it doesn't.
The character of God is revealed in this passage in the promised judgement on those towns and cities that would not welcome the disciples. Jesus says that it would be worse for them than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement. This, in conjunction with Jesus' teaching in chapter 18 (not offending little ones) and chapter 29 (whatever you have done for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine) shows me that God takes hospitality very seriously. He is a God who welcomes people in. Am I revealing that part of God's character?
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1 comment:
I never thought of the miracles in that way, good point, that would be hard, I can just imagine doing a miracle and relying on God that it would happen. Maybe we have lost that sort of faith, As we have both said these are usually the people we are skeptical of. May we grow in our maturity and faith and truly realize that nothing is impossible with God.
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