Anchor My Faith

The Disciples Sent Out Two by Two

Scripture: Matthew 10:1, 5; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:2

We ended the previous lesson with instruction to his disciples to pray for laborers to be sent into his harvest and suggested that this would be followed by instruction for them to be part of that workforce. We see this begin to take shape in the next verse: ^{Mt 10:1} “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ^{Mt 10:5} These twelve Jesus sent ^{Mk 6:7} out two by two, ^{Lk 9:2} to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.”

We must stop here and think about context. In the Gospel of Matthew, the context flows from Jesus telling his disciples to earnestly pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest, to the naming of the twelve disciples, to them being sent out. In the harmonization, the context flows from Jesus telling his disciples to earnestly pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest, to them being sent out. The naming of the twelve disciples took place nearly 100 lessons earlier at lesson h189.

Since Matthew specifically mentions Jesus calling to him his twelve disciples, we will list those names here as review. They are: ^{Mt 10:2} “Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

To these twelve men, Jesus gives authority to accomplish an assigned task. That authority is from God and provides the ability or power to accomplish the assigned task, which in this case is to do the same thing that Jesus has been doing. In Matthew 4:23 (ESV), we find that Jesus “went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” This is repeated in Matthew 9:35 (ESV): “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.”

Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction, which was what Jesus was doing. Up to this point Jesus had the authority from his Father to do the work while the disciples were mainly observers. Now Jesus gives them authority to go and do the same work.

Notice that he sends them out, not individually, but by twos. Two is stronger than one in that you have support and encouragement for each other. You have the strength of mutual council when facing trials and opposition. Mutual council might also provide greater success in doing their work for the kingdom. In this case it is two men going out to work together, but today it is primarily couples that are going out. In either case two satisfies the requirements of Matthew 18:20 (ESV): “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Luke clarifies their task to include two things: “to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.” To physically heal every disease and every affliction is a reminder of our healing that is needed from our spiritual sickness from sin and death. The power and authority that Jesus has given to his disciples to heal physically is for the purpose of carrying out his work of sharing the gospel and drawing people to him for salvation.

Conclusion

Just as Jesus gives authority to his disciples and sends them out, he gives us authority and sends us out to also proclaim the gospel. Father, I see people willing to risk their lives in countries of persecution to carry out this command while we in the west embrace our idols of comfort, safety and security. Jesus died for us and people are dying to build the Kingdom of God. How much are we willing to suffer to be obedient to his command.