The Call to Mission

MEMORY SELECTION: “He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.” —Matthew 10:40

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Matthew 9:35 through 10:1, 16-20, 40, 41

AFTER Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the account in Luke, the 4th chapter, states that he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he was tested of the Devil for forty days. After this experience Jesus returned to Nazareth where, as was his custom, he went into the synagogue, and the Book of Isaiah was delivered unto him, and he read a prophecy that pertained to him and his mission. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he bath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”—Luke 4:18,19

Jesus at once began the first organized ministry of the Gospel, and fulfilling the divine appointment, he went only to the nation of Israel. (Matt. 15:24) In Luke 4:14 we read, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.” He not only preached the message of the kingdom, but he illustrated its blessings by performing many miracles of healing, and by these miracles also he identified himself as the long-promised Messiah.

Having selected the twelve disciples, he embarked on another phase of his ministry. These were those who were to be his footstep followers, and as such they too were to have the commission to preach the glad tidings of the Gospel. In Matthew 9:37,38 we read, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” And in Matthew 10:5-7 we read, “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. … And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The disciples also were given the power to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out devils. This power was also given to them to illustrate the blessings of the kingdom and the authority behind their mission.

When the time came that Jesus was no longer to withhold his ministry from Judea and Jerusalem and thereabouts—for “the time was come that he was to be received up” (Luke 9:51)—he “sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him.” (Luke 9:52) In other words, he sent advance agents to advertise and make known his coming in order to make better use of the Lord’s time and make his ministry more effective.

When we read of these experiences of our Lord, how meaningful becomes the prophecy concerning him in the 40th Psalm, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.”—vss. 8-10

It was the faithfulness of Jesus in carrying out his ministry that brought about his trials and testings and eventually his death on the cross. And yet it was these very trials that proved him worthy of the divine nature and enabled God to resurrect him from death, that he might be the Mediator of the New Covenant.—Heb. 5:7-10

We, as footstep followers of the Master, are likewise anointed to preach the Gospel. The Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 9:16 states, “For necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel!” For as in the case of our Lord, it is by the experiences we are permitted to have in his service that we are enabled to develop the fruits and graces of the Spirit. And in due time, if faithful, we will receive the reward of the divine nature and will be privileged to share in the kingdom work of the Millennial Age.—I Pet. 2:19-25; 4:12-19; Heb. 12:1-10

| Home Page | Table of Contents |