Join us in this episode as we unpack the powerful teachings of Jesus and the momentous mission he set for his disciples. Learn about the immediacy and presence of the Kingdom of God in our lives today. We also walk through the logistical and faith-driven journey of the disciples, revealing how their reliance on hospitality deepened their faith and connection with those they served. Gain insights into the principles that continue to guide Christian life and ministry today.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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Was Jesus a racist? You know, he lived in a society that was frankly racist. Religious Jews would not eat with Gentiles. And Samaritans, well, Samaritans were beneath contempt. Oh, they were happy enough to make a proselyte from among the Gentiles, but they still treated them like second-class worshipers of God. So what was Jesus doing when he sent his disciples out and told them to stay away from Gentiles and Samaritans? He said to them plainly, after giving them power over unclean spirits and the power to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease, he said, go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, don’t you go in. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Racist? No. We’ve already seen in the words of Jesus too many references to the conversion of the Gentiles. We’ve seen that when he was in Samaria, he spoke freely with and associated with the Samaritans, and he felt it was important that they know the truth of the gospel. Oh, there was some tension between he and the Samaritans, but it was because of the histories of tension between Jews and Samaritans. No, Jesus was anything but a racist. The breakout of the gospel from being merely a Jewish religion into something far greater was foretold in the prophets long ago, and it was frankly developed in the gospels. Jesus made numerous references to his intent that the gospel should go to the whole world, not merely to a small group of people, one ethnic group. What was happening here is that the gospel eventually was going to break out from being merely a Jewish religion, but it had to go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel as a witness to them and as a witness against them. There’s also in this passage an interesting lesson for interpreting the Bible. The instructions Jesus gives in this passage are specific and mission-oriented. They are designed specifically for this mission given to these men at this time. Now, the reason I say this is when he sends these same men out later, he will give them totally different instructions. So understand that this is a narrow, limited mission he’s talking about here. And on this mission, they would not go to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans. And there were a lot of other things they would do that were different. Interpreters with a legalistic bent often overlook the changing nature of Jesus’ instructions. They like to take the words of Jesus and set them in concrete and say they have to be applied the same way all the time in every way. Well, I’ve sometimes heard snippets taken from this particular set of instructions as though they are for all Christians everywhere all the time. Now, in principle, I think they are for all of us. But if we expect to understand the words of Jesus, we really should start with the words in context. We need to think about who he was talking to, when he was talking, where he was, and why he was saying what he said. You will find, if you do that, that the text will speak to you and your life out of the historical context, and it will speak far more accurately to you and more usefully to you than if you try to take them in a purely legalistic sense. So listen carefully to what Jesus had to say to 12 men sometime in the late 20s AD in Palestine in a Jewish environment. Don’t become confused. Not everything he says to them applies directly to you. But a lot of it may, and much of it will, in principle. In Matthew 10 and verse 5, he said this to his disciples as he was preparing to send them out. Don’t go into the way of the Gentiles and any city of the Samaritans. Don’t enter. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now remember, they said the kingdom of heaven was at hand 2,000 years ago. And the expression at hand is not all that nebulous. All you have to do is sit down with a concordance, do a simple word search through the New Testament, and it will become very clear to you that something that is at hand is right here. It’s next door. You can put your hand on it. It’s not something coming next year, next month, or a way off sometime. Now, in the religion of that day, and I suppose it’s pretty well true today as well, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, was a someday thing. Someday the Messiah will come, they said. Someday the kingdom will be established. Someday I will do something about my faith. The message that these men brought was, if you’re just looking at your religion as a someday thing, someday this will happen, someday my king will come back, and someday he’ll carry me off to heaven with him, and so forth, you are missing a major part of your religion. Christianity is about living the life here and now. When Jesus went out preaching himself, his message was, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It’s not way off somewhere, folks. It’s in you. It’s in your life. It’s right here. It’s right now. Now, don’t make any mistake about this. The kingdom of God coming to this earth is a future event. Jesus will return, and the kingdoms of this world will become his kingdoms, and this is a really powerful part of Jesus’ message. that the kingdoms of this world will be broken with a rod of iron, that they’ll be dominated by God, and it will be His kingdom. And there is an aspect of the kingdom message of the New Testament that is looking forward to the return of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom of God. But at the same time, this has to do with your life now, here, where you are. And for these people to whom they were speaking, the kingdom of God was not a long way off into the future. It was here, and it was now. But the message of God in both Old and New Testaments is really down to earth. It’s about life here and now. And the time is at hand for you to become a son of God and consequently a member of that kingdom. The message is repent and start now to live like you’re in the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven had come upon these people in the person of Jesus Christ. It was in every sense at hand. Heal the sick, Jesus told these men. Cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Now note this well. It’s one thing to teach people about a kingdom to come, something way off in the future, to help them develop patience with their lot in life. It’s another thing altogether to do something right now about their lot in life. You know, when you come along and you say to the sick person, well, one of these days you’re going to be healed. One of these days Christ will come, you lepers, and you will be clean and your skin will be like that of a newborn baby. One of these days your dead father will be raised from the dead. One of these days you’ll be freed from these demonic spirits that are here. But no, no, they were to come and say the kingdom of God is at hand. And the kingdom of God can dominate these demons and these sicknesses. And they were to demonstrate that by laying hands on the sick and healing them, by cleansing the lepers, by taking a hand of a dead man and saying, rise up and walk, and having the man get up and walk. The immediacy of the kingdom of God was what their message was. Jesus is here. The Messiah is here. It’s really fascinating when you look at what these men said and what they did. that their religion, the one they preached, was immediate. Jesus went on to say, Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses. Don’t carry any script for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat. Now, you know when you read this very clearly that this is an instruction for those 12 then there and doesn’t exactly have a direct application to those of us today who might be doing this, especially when we realize that later on he would tell them something different. But for now, this is a little scary. As a part of their preparation for this trip, they had to take their purse and stretch it out and open the drawstring, turn the thing upside down and dump the money out of it and blow the dust out of it and put it back on their belt. They couldn’t take any money. They were also not allowed to carry along a letter of credit, some kind of script, so that when they got somewhere, they’d say, here, this is as you can give me money. They went out with the clothes on their back. Now, admittedly, this wasn’t a long journey. They weren’t going to be out there years. In fact, it would only be a matter of really weeks. So there should be no real problem with their clothes wearing out. But going out there with absolutely nothing, well, that took a lot of faith. But the truth is, they were to live of the gospel. People would take them in and feed them. If they needed something, the people they served would give it to them, or they would do without. Jesus established right from the beginning, in principle, that it’s perfectly all right for people who preach the gospel to live by the gospel. I’ll be back in a moment with more of the words of Jesus to his 12 disciples and more lessons that you and I can take away from them. Could Jesus Christ return tonight?
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Well, he could if he wanted to, but aren’t there things that have to happen first? If you would like to know what these things are, request the free program, Could Christ Return Tonight? Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll-free 1-888-BIBLE-44. And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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How were these men supposed to work when they came into a new town? What were they supposed to do? Well, according to what Jesus told them, they were supposed to go into the town and inquire who in the town was a worthy person and to stay with them. And they were to stay with that one person until they left there. One of the other accounts of this says that you stay where you’re put. You eat what’s given to you. You don’t ask a lot of questions about it. You don’t complain about it. And it makes a very specific statement, don’t go from house to house. Now, what he meant by that is you don’t go from house to house looking for better accommodations, better food, another jacket, something else that you want, collecting a little money here and a little money there. What he wanted them to do was, was to be dependent on the people that they served. And by having them go and sit and stay put while they worked in a city, that meant that the people who were being his hosts, they were people he was serving, but he was dependent on them for his daily food, for his bed to sleep in, and so forth. If he got rude or obstreperous or didn’t behave as a servant of God, he could find himself the guest of the street before he turns around. It would have had the effect, I think, of creating a nice relationship between a minister and the people he served. He said, when you come into a house saluted and if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. Pronounce your peace upon this house. Indication is that God will bless it because of what you say. That’s where I guess the old saying, bless this house, comes from. But if it’s not worthy, let your peace return to you, and whoever will not receive you or hear your words when you leave that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. No big deal there. Just find yourself a rock somewhere and knock your feet against it and shake the dust off. But it is a little bigger deal than that. Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Now, this whole passage here is often cited in relation to ministerial compensation and things like that. But you should know when Jesus sent these men out later, he gave them different instructions. They were to take money, take clothes, take a sword if necessary, and they were to go to the Gentiles. Remember what I said? You read this as instructions to these men at this time. Principles to live by may come to you as you read it. But be careful about trying to apply every part of it to your life, or if you’re a minister, to your ministry right now. He went on to say, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. It’s perfectly all right for you to be careful, perfectly all right for you to be shrewd if necessary. Just be sure you do no harm. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. Now, you realize very quickly that it’s highly unlikely that any of us today are going to get ourselves whipped in a synagogue. But in principle, you might someday be in as great a danger from religious people as you would be from the secular authority. I don’t know what it is about religion, but for some reason people in different religions can come to absolutely hate one another, whereas the civil authority only worries their heads over you when you become a threat. He said, You shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought for how you or what you shall speak, for I shall be given to you in that same hour what you shall speak.” You know, a lot of Christians have lived and died without ever having to apply this particular passage of Scripture. Remember, of course, it was spoken to 12 men at a particular time and place. Nevertheless, the principle, I think, is true. If and when it does happen to us, we’d be wise to be governed by the principles that Jesus includes right here, that we pray, that we trust God, and we don’t sit around figuring out what are we going to say when we get into court tomorrow. We trust God to give us what we say. Verse 21 is a sad verse. He says, Now that’s not what I call good news. But it’s interesting that Jesus saw the gospel as a divisive force. You know, you would not have thought so. You would have thought that the gospel would have been something that would heal, something that would draw men together, something that would bring peace and so forth. And certainly to the people who accept the gospel, it does. But the problem is that the gospel does sometimes pose a threat to some people, oftentimes to religious people who have their own gospel, have their own agenda, have their own way, have their own ideas. And when someone comes along and threatens it, well, it can divide houses. It can turn husband against his wife. It can turn children against their parents. It’s strange, but it’s true. You know, this statement in itself is strange. It sounds very much like he is speaking to the last generation because he will go on to say, When they persecute you in this city, flee into another. For verily I say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel until the Son of Man has come. This is a strange statement. It sounds very much like he is speaking to the last generation before the return of Christ. Yet in context, it can have reference to Jesus meeting them at a certain time and place on their journey. Well, 2,000 years later, to us, it speaks of an unfinished job. That work, no matter how hard we will work, we will not finish it before Jesus returns. He went on to tell these men, the disciple is not above his master and the servant is not above his Lord. It’s enough for the disciple to be as his master and the servant as his Lord. You have to understand, fellows, that if they have called me Beelzebub, how much more do you think they’re going to call you that? Don’t be afraid of them. There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nothing hid that shall not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, you speak in the light. What you hear in the air, you preach it on the housetops. The fact is that people are going to oppose you. Don’t be afraid of them. They’re not going to be able to keep what they do in secret. The disciples of Jesus at that day and time said, And in any age, we’ll face opposition. And sometimes that opposition is dangerous because he went on to tell them, don’t be afraid of them that kill the body but can’t kill the soul, that can’t take away any possibility of future life. But fear him that is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna, the lake of fire. Aren’t two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall fall on the ground? Not one of them shall fall on the ground without your father knowing it. But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Don’t be afraid. You’re of more value than many sparrows. You might have said more hair, too. A good, steady promise that God will be with his servants all the way. And then this caution. Whoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I confess before my Father in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven. Now he said this to the 12 men he was sending out as a caution about denial. And the only reason for denial to take place is under pressure, intense pressure of persecution. And you know what’s really sobering about this is that one of those 12 men would deny him. No, not on this journey. It would be rather later than that. It was Peter, the night in which Jesus was betrayed, when Peter denied that he even knew him. But Peter was forgiven, and Peter was restored. But don’t forget the caution that Jesus made here. Don’t think, Jesus said, that I am come to send peace on earth. I am not come to send peace. I’m come to send a sword. I’m come to set a man at variance against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. And I don’t care how mild you are. I don’t care how gentle you are. I don’t care how peaceful you are. I don’t care how you try to avoid causing a problem. That if you stand up for what is right, if you stand for the truth, somebody’s going to turn on you. and they can sometimes be very close. He went on to say, He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. If it comes right down to it, and you have to make a choice between your father or your mother and Jesus Christ, you have no choice. You have to make the choice for him. And he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And the fact is that if you love your son or your daughter more than Jesus Christ, I mean, how can you even call yourself a Christian? And if you love Jesus Christ even more than your sons or daughters, you will be a far better parent than they otherwise ever could have had. Jesus went on to say, He that takes not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me. What’s your cross? He doesn’t really explain it, but in the context, the New Testament context, we understand this to mean that whatever burden it is, whatever challenge it is, whatever it is you have to face, whatever decision you’ve got to make, If you can’t pick it up and follow Christ, well, you’re not worthy of him. He that finds his life shall lose it. He that loses his life for my sake shall find it. He that receives you receives me. And he that receives me receives him that sent me. He that receives a prophet because he’s a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he that receives a righteous man because he’s a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give a drink to one of these little ones, a cup of cold water, only because he is a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. So the disciples went out with this message ringing in their ears on their first missionary journey, as it were. It was a two-by-two experience. I’m sure it must have still felt a little lonely. How did it go? We’ll talk about that when I come back in a moment.
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For a free copy of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only and request the program titled The Words of Jesus, Number 20. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791 or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44 and tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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The disciples came back to Jesus and gathered around him and told him everything that they had done and all the stuff that they had taught the people. One of the accounts tells us that they were really high. They were so excited because of the healings and the fact that the demons were subject to them and all those things. You can only imagine how excited they must have been. And Jesus said, come apart with me to a desert place and rest a while. I know you guys are tired. You’ve been through a lot. And a lot of people were coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. Things were just too busy. So they went away to a desert place by ship privately. But they still had a problem. People saw them leave, and a lot of people knew who he was. And they ran on foot, generally from all the cities, and out went them. And when they got to the other side, they found people waiting for them again. So Jesus, when he came out, saw a lot of people, and he was just moved with compassion toward them because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. This man, Jesus, we read so much about and we hear so much about, was a really kind person. There wasn’t a hard bone in his body. When he walked out the door and saw all these people gathered around just yearning for him to talk to them, to teach them, he was really moved. And so he did what he had to do. He spoke. He taught them many things. The day went on, and the disciples came to Jesus and said, Look, this is a desert place, and mealtime has passed. You’d better send these people away so they can go into the country roundabout into the villages and buy themselves bread. They don’t have a thing to eat with them. Now, Jesus’ response to this is really fascinating. He said, Well, give them something to eat. Now, that doesn’t make a lot of sense in a way when you consider the huge multitude of people that were gathered around them there. But what’s interesting to me about this is that this is the response of a hospitable man. This is the response of a gracious person. You don’t send your guests away hungry. You give them something to eat. And the disciples said, well, what do you want us to do? Do you want us to go buy 200 penny worth of bread and give them to eat? Well, Jesus responded, how many loaves have you got? Go and see. And they checked and they said, well, we have five loaves and we’ve got two fish. Now, Jesus’ response here is, I think, profoundly important, but I’m not sure how well people understand it. I’ve heard preachers reach around and dive deep for deep spiritual meaning in the events that followed. But, you know, in the process, it’s easy to miss something that is very obvious. Jesus’ response is that of a kind, considerate, compassionate, and gracious man. The disciples’ response was very practical. We don’t have anything. And Jesus said, no, no, give them something to eat. What have we got? Five loaves and two fishes? Okay, take the people out there and have them sit down by companies on the green grass. So they did. They sat down in ranks by hundreds and fifties. And he took the five loaves and the two fishes. He looked up to heaven and he blessed and he broke the loaves and he gave them to his disciples to set before them. And he divided up the fish and he gave them to the disciples to set among them. And everybody, 5,000 of them in this crowd that had gathered around Jesus, all ate And all were satisfied. And lest you misunderstand what’s going on here, they took baskets out there and gathered up the fragments of the bread and the fishes. And they brought back 12 baskets full of the fragments. And they that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men. Just take this in the simplest, most practical, and down-to-earth sense. These people all came to Jesus to be taught, and he was unwilling to send them away hungry. The gracious thing to do was to give them something to eat, and since Jesus had the power to give them something to eat, he did. You know, in this simple act, you learn something about Jesus that is well worth knowing. He is a compassionate, a considerate, a gracious person. I’ll tell you, it’s not only well worth knowing, it’s well worth imitating. I’ve thought a lot about this, and I’ve come to realize that the God you keep encountering in the Old Testament has this same considerate, gracious spirit. He is not only a person, he is personable, someone that would be awfully good to know. The gracious man is one of the winners. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart, and don’t forget, you were born to win.
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