In my previous BLOG the sending of ‘12’ and the ‘72’ I had emphasized on
Christ's mission and mandate. As I continue to explore a bit more in this blog,
I want to reemphasize on His mandate and throw additional light on discipling
and sending, which the Bible underscores. Before we can explore a little more,
let me quote the Great Commission from Mark 16:15-17 which reads like this,
then He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all
creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not
believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In
my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will
pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them;
they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
It is sad to see today that to a larger extent people have diluted the
Great Commission and customized it to their convenience. If you read the Great
Commission carefully, it starts by saying “go to the world and preach
the gospel”, and all the signs will accompany those who believe. Today in order
to sustain popularity, signs, wonders and healing are the ones over
emphasized. This has resulted in deteriorating of the Gospel. The second
part of the Great Commission looks promising for many, which grabs all the
attention.
Let me quote an incident in the Bible where Jesus was in a house and the
crowd was thronging the place. A paralytic man was brought in by his four
friends, was lowered in the house by dismantling the roof. The Bible
records, when Jesus saw him He addressed the core issue, the sin
problem saying, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”. Jesus while starting His
ministry echoed the message John preached in Mat 3:2, “Repent because the
kingdom of heaven has come near” in Matthew 4:17. No doubt He did many miracles
but the emphasis of the Gospel and the kingdom of God was never once left out.
His encounter with people always empowered the person to be a disciple and a
witness.
Let us understand the sending of His 12 disciples and also the
sending of the bigger group of 72 people. In Mathew 10 we find Jesus empowering
His disciples who were part of His core team with the gift of healing and power
to drive out demons, but the important part of the story is that He chose them
to send so that they can continue the mission that He was soon preparing to
entrust them. If you notice verse 7 and 8, Jesus commissioned them to go
and proclaim about the kingdom of God and then heal the sick and perform signs
where it is necessary. The leadership team; His disciples were not meant to
stay and enjoy the goodness for themselves exclusively. Being with Him was
the primary goal but it was accompanied by going out (Mark 3:14).
And then in Luke 10, Jesus appoints the 72 (bigger group) and sends them
too in pairs and to every town and places where He Himself was about to go
(Luke 10:1). Jesus defined the problem statement when He sent the larger
group. The harvest is abundant (Luke 10:2) and they may have to encounter
wolves in sheep clothing (Luke 10:3), which says they had
the responsibility to tear the deception of the people who wore
a form of godliness.
Today, all are interested to gather people to their flock and
ensure not one is missing. But is the Church seriously following Jesus' model
by equipping the small circle (leadership team) and as well as the bigger
circle of 72 (Congregation) to go out and share the gospel? Jesus included,
rather added, people to send and He did so by sending them to towns and
villages. Today, it is easy. You don’t have to look for a mission field because
your very work place and community is filled
with Non-Christians, which becomes a mission field. Every individual
of your church becomes a Church (1 Cor 3:16) who has ample of space to accommodate
new people who needs Christ. Are you prepared to send the “12’s and the 72’s?
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