Authority and the Disciples

Matthew 10:1-8

And Jesus 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. . . . “And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.”

A. Orendorff

Much has already been said of Jesus’ “authority” in Matthew 5-9. The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7) ends climactically, “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matt. 7:28-29). In the accounts that follow, Matthew again and again portrays Jesus as a Sovereign King whose irrepressible authority is exercised miraculously over disease, demons, the natural world and even sin itself.

What’s so startling about the opening lines of Matthew 10, therefore, is that Jesus boldly invests his disciples (also referred to as “apostles” in v. 2, literally the “sent out ones”) with the very same authority he himself possesses. Just as 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” (9:35), so too he tells his followers, “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and proclaim, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (10:6-8). The parallel is obvious and astounding.

As was mentioned yesterday, these two acts—proclaiming and healing—are inseparable. Both are advance markers of the in-breaking of God’s kingdom. We, as his followers, are called to the same work today. To proclaim and to heal. To heal and to proclaim. To act as kingdom-agents. To go out, sent by the Sovereign Christ, with authority “over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” May we not shrink from this work.