Matthew 10:5-8 (NIV) These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
Jesus’ instructions to the twelve were very specific as to target audience and methodology. This narrow target audience would not hold in the long-term – after Jesus’ ascension the door of the kingdom would be opened to the Gentiles and Samaritans as well (cf. Acts 1:8). But for now, they were to focus their efforts on the people whom God had prepared for the coming of the Messiah: the lost sheep of Israel, those who were already ripe for the harvest.
The disciples’ message was to be short and concise; not deep and intricate theology, but the simple declaration of the good news: the kingdom of heaven is near. In other words, God Himself had broken into the world order, and was making good on all of His promises to establish His kingdom among mankind.
But this wasn’t to be only a proclamation. For hundreds of years, false prophets had been telling people that the promised kingdom was at hand, with nothing to show for it. But the disciples had been given kingdom authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease (Matthew 10:1) as a sign that this time it was for real. Talk is cheap, but power and authority speak volumes about the reality of God’s kingdom. Every miracle that these men did was clear evidence that their words were true and had God’s own authority behind them.
And verse 8 is significant. These messengers were not to spare either themselves or the authority they had been given. The fields were ripe. As they had received unlimited authority to heal and to cast out demons, they were to do these things without limit. They were to cast out EVERY demon, and to heal EVERY disease. No one was to be considered as unworthy of deliverance. After all, it was to lost sheep that they were being sent!
Father, oh how our world needs all of this today! It needs people who will confidently proclaim the reality and immanence of Your kingdom, and who are willing to receive and enact Your authority to set people free from whatever has them bound, as proof of what we are saying. The fields are still white for the harvest, and people are still lost, dying for want of the good news. Help us, Lord, to be the workers in Your fields. Help us to so internalize the reality of Your kingdom that both our lives and our words become living testimonies of its reality. Amen.