Matthew 10:1-16

Jesus Sends Out The Twelve Disciples

2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 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, the one who betrayed Him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;

6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'

8 "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

9 "Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,

10 or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.

11 "And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city.

12 "As you enter the house, give it your greeting.

13 "If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace.

14 "Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.

15 "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

A Hard Road before Them

16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

Jesus Sends Out The 12 Disciples

In this Bible study lesson we learn who the 12 disciples were - and about the spirit of giving which Christ commanded of them. First, let's list the names of the twelve disciples (Don't worry, I had to "copy and paste" to get them all).

Original 12 Disciples

• Simon Peter
• Andrew
• James - son of Zebedee
• John
• Philip
• Bartholomew
• Thomas
• Matthew
• James - son of Alphaeus
• Thaddaeus
• Simon the Zealot
• Judas Iscariot

The Spirit of Giving

"Freely you have received, freely give." This is the statement that stays in my mind from these passages.

Why Only the Jews?

We can mull over why Christ sent his disciples only to the Jews and not to the gentiles or Samaritans. One answer may be that God chose the Jews to tell the rest of the world about Christ and his kingdom. They spread the word throughout the Roman empire.

The salvation message is meant for all people to hear and the kingdom of God mentioned here is being built as we read this in the hearts and minds of believers.

Now, back to the "freely give .." statement made by Jesus. This is a lesson for us. God has given us so much and so we should give back to others by contributing our time, knowledge and possessions.

The Most Important Gift of All

But, the most important thing we can "freely give" is the story of how Christ changed our lives and how he can change the lives of others. This is the greatest gift we can offer to our fellow people. We can't all be missionaries in foreign lands but there is an untapped mission field in our town - maybe even on the block on which we live.

Love In Christ

- Bob

Matthew 8:23-27 - Jesus Calms The Storm