I have entitled our sermon this morning, “An Extraordinary Commission,” and this is Part 1 of a two-part message. I want to begin by saying that I was raised in a small country church with a pastor who loved the Lord and His people, and proclaimed only the basics, like sin, repentance, salvation, and holiness. As a result, when I became a new Christian, my mind had not been corrupted by numerous, faithless, man-made theories; and so, the very first time I read today’s passage as a new believer, I took it at face value – and I took it to heart – believing that God still calls and empowers Christians today to do bold and amazing things in the authority and name of Jesus Christ. It is my hope that you will come away with the same conviction today. I want to invite you to stand with me in honor of God’s Word as I read Matthew chapter 10, verses 1-4 and verses 7-8:
1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; 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 Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him . . . 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.”
Some Facts Emerge About Calling
This passage is referred to as “The Calling of the Twelve.” In verse 1, the twelve are called “disciples.” A disciple is simply the student of a teacher. We are all students of Jesus Christ; so, could it be that the words of this passage apply to us and to our calling today? In verse 2, the twelve are called “apostles.” The Outline of Biblical Usage defines an “apostle” as simply “a messenger” and “one sent forth with orders.”(1) So, who is to say that when Jesus speaks to us and sends us out, that our calling is any less apostolic in nature? When we piece together the accounts from Matthew, Mark and Luke some facts emerge, some of which might pertain to our own calling:(2)
1.) He Chose Them (Luke 6:13). 2.) He Called Them (Matthew 10:1). 3.) He Appointed Them (Mark 3:14). The word “appointed” (poiein) seen in Mark, can be used of “a General allocating his tasks to his commanders.”(3) 4.) They Were Called to Be with Jesus (Mark 3:14).(4) 5.) They Were Called to Be Apostles (Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13). “The word ‘apostle’ literally means ‘one who is sent out.’ It is the word [used] for an envoy or an ambassador.”(5) 6.) They Were Called to Be Heralds of Christ. In Matthew 10, verse 7, when they are commanded to preach, the word used is kerussein, which means “a herald.” The messenger is the herald of Jesus Christ, bringing the good news of the gospel.(6)
Jesus Bestows Power and Authority
In verse 1, we read that “He gave them power.” Commentator William Barclay says, “The authority of Jesus, seen in word and work, is now shown to be extended to the twelve, through whom Jesus continues and enlarges His work.”(7) In Matthew 28:18-20, we see this extension of authority in The Great Commission. Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Jesus basically said, “All authority has been given to Me, and now I am giving it to you! You have been endued with power from on high (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). Go, therefore!”
Most of us will agree that the disciple-making initiative of The Great Commission, along with Christ’s authority, has been extended to “all believers,” and not just to the first apostles. But when considering the words of Jesus in Matthew chapter 10, people will often draw the conclusion that His instructions in this passage were delivered only to the twelve. This, no doubt, has something to do with Jesus commanding them to cast out demons and heal sickness and disease. So, then, what are we to do with Mark’s version of The Great Commission? In addition to saying, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15), Mark also includes the following words: “In My name they will cast out demons . . . [and] they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover” (vv. 17-18).
The Works of the Gospel Messenger
In verses 7-8, Jesus begins describing the works of the messenger, and some of these works include actual “physical” miracles. Commentator William Barclay says that “all the injunctions are to be taken physically, because Jesus Christ came to bring health and healing to the bodies of men. But they are also to be taken spiritually. They [can] describe the change[s] wrought by Jesus Christ in the souls of men.”(8) So, let us look at the works of the messenger, considering both the physical and spiritual changes they bring about.
1.) The Messenger is to Announce the Eminence of the Kingdom.(9) “When the Roman Empire was in its heyday, it was a huge kingdom that kept getting bigger. The Caesars continually sent out their armies to take in new territory. When a new territory came under Roman control, the Romans would use force to try to make that new territory as much like Rome as possible. They would build Roman temples and institute the Roman religion, which involved the worship of Caesar. They would institute Roman education, arts, and culture. They built Roman baths. They would do everything they could do to make the new territory just like Rome. Why? They did it so that if the Caesar ever came there, he would feel right at home because the territory was just like his own home.”(10)
In verse 7, Jesus said, “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’.” Messengers are commissioned to help usher in the kingdom by leading people to faith in Christ; thereby, expanding the kingdom here on earth, knowing that one day THE KING will come to reign. The phrase “at hand” means that the kingdom is “near” – it is “within reach.” In Luke 17:21, Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom is very close indeed! For, when someone believes in Jesus from the heart, and confesses Him as Savior and Lord, the kingdom, along with all its benefits, is immediately theirs. Jesus stated in Luke 16:16, “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.”
2.) The Messenger is Commanded to Heal the Sick; not by his own power, but by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit working through him. Allow me to share an illustration reported to be a true account. “[A missionary pastor in Mozambique] was on the outskirts of a village when he heard a woman screaming, and then he heard someone else shouting his name. When he arrived at the scene, a group of people had gathered around a young woman who sobbed in excruciating pain . . . [She] had been bitten by a deadly snake; a poisonous puff adder. Her right leg was already twice the size of the left one . . . [Then] one of the women asked him, ‘Will Jesus make her well?’”
“[The pastor] knew [and believed] that Jesus can do anything, and so, in faith, he sat beside the poor girl, put his hands on her swollen leg and simply prayed over and over again, ‘Lord Jesus, please bless your child; please bless your child.’ As he prayed droplets of fluid, like beads of sweat, began to drain out of the injured leg, and a few moments later the fluid began gushing out and the crowd gasped in amazement as the girl’s leg returned to its normal size! She stopped sobbing; the pain had gone and she immediately got back on her feet and walked around feeling fine. It was a miracle!” (cf. Acts 28:1-5).(11)
In verse 8, the word used for “heal” is therapuete, which means to “restore to health.”(12) The primary meaning of the Greek word for sick (asthenein) is “to be weak.”(13) It can also mean “to be feeble,” “to be needy and poor,” and to simply be “sick.”(14) Jesus calls His messengers to become vessels through which He provides both physical and emotional healing. The Scripture says that Jesus has come to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18) and heal the broken in spirit (Psalm 34:18); but this will only happen after someone has first received spiritual healing through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Barclay says that when Christ comes to a man with saving power; it is then that He strengthens the weak will, and fills our human weakness with His divine power.(15)
3.) The Messenger is Commanded to Cleanse the Lepers. “Almost every age has had its social outcasts, people barred from normal society, whether through physical illness or national origin. One person who stepped across these barriers in India was pioneer missionary Mary Reed. Already working in India, Mary visited a leper colony and was deeply moved by the people’s plight. Later, Mary contracted leprosy herself and went to work with the lepers, eager to tell them that she knew firsthand their pain and trauma. She became head of the leper colony she had visited, and in the years following many were saved and a church built. Mary retired at the age of eighty-four after many years of faithful service to these social outcasts.”(16)
Barclay says, “The leper was regarded as polluted (Leviticus 13:46) . . . So, then, the twelve are to bring cleansing to the polluted. A [person] can stain his life with sin; he can pollute his mind, his heart, [and] his body with the consequence of his sin. His words, his actions, [and] his influence can become so befouled that they are an unclean influence on all those with whom he comes into contact.”(17) The messenger is to bring people to faith in Christ, whereby the individual receives spiritual cleansing and becomes a blessing to others, rather than someone seen as loathsome to be around.
I should point out that it took a whole lot of faith to get close to someone who had such an infectious disease. On the flip side, imagine the loneliness experienced by the leper and the inner turmoil. The word used here for “cleanse” is katharizo (v. 8), which means to cleanse physically or morally, and “to pronounce clean in a Levitical sense.”(18) It sounds like our English word “catharsis,” which is defined as “purification of the emotions” or “purification that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.”(19) The word katharizo is also where we also get the word “cathartic.” In cleansing the leper, the messenger brings healing for their physical illness, spiritual uncleanness, and their emotional scars.
4.) The Messenger is Commanded to Raise the Dead. Now, I am not even going to try to provide a modern-day example of raising someone from the dead. But, in Acts chapter 20, we read about a young man named Eutychus who fell from a third story window and was taken up dead. The text says, “But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, ‘Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him’ . . . and they brought the young man in alive” (Acts 20:10, 12). In this account, Paul raised someone from the dead in a literal, physical sense; but let us look at the spiritual application.
The word used here for “raise” is egeiro (v. 8), which can mean to “arouse from sleep” or more specifically to “awaken from the sleep of death.” Figuratively speaking, it means to “arise from obscurity,”(20) and it comes from the base word agora, which pertains to assembling people together.(21) The word used here for “dead” is nekros, which means “one that is deceased” or “one who is spiritually dead.”(22) So, let me apply this information. The Bible says that someone can be dead in sin (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:1); but when Jesus comes into a person’s life, He resurrects him into new spiritual life, whereby he joins the assembly of the church, rising from obscurity to a place of significance and eternal purpose.
5.) The Messenger is Commanded to Cast out Demons. Allow me to share another illustration reported to be true. There was a Baptist missionary in Papua New Guinea who ministered in a remote village. A woman in his church lost her ability to speak. Her name was Janet. Her friends explained that she had gone down to a spirit-infested part of the river, and she had done so during the evening at the “forbidden” time of dusk. They expressed that Janet had been possessed by a river-spirit. This concerned the pastor, as he had no experience with demons and was not even sure if he believed what they were telling him. All he could think to do was pull out his Bible and begin to share with Janet.
He turned to one passage after another, sharing the good news about Jesus and about those who believe in Him. He told her that he was going to pray and that he wanted her to repeat after him. Janet nodded with a willingness to try. The small group in the hut bowed together in prayer. The pastor prayed the first sentence and waited. Then, Janet repeated it after him. As he continued to pray, Janet was able to repeat every single line. The power that had stopped her from being able to speak was now broken. She belonged to Jesus; and thus, the river-spirit no longer had any claim on her life.(23)
In verse 8, the word used for “cast out” is ekballo, which means to “drive out with force.”(24) Allow me to break this word down. The Greek preposition ek means “outside.” Take the English word exo-skeleton, for example, which basically means “outside the skeleton.” Ballo means “to throw,” and it is where we get our English word ball, as in the spherical object thrown or kicked in a sports game. The messenger is, thus, commanded to forcefully “throw out,” or “kick out,” any evil spirit that is inhabiting an individual.
Barclay says, “A demon-possessed man was a man in the grip of an evil power; he was no longer master of himself and of his actions; the evil power within him had him in its mastery. [Likewise], a man can be mastered by [sin] . . . [and] evil can have . . . an attraction for him.”(25) When we lead a person to faith in Christ, we pry them from the grip of demonic influence. Jesus emphasized how casting out demons was a sign that a new authority and rule had arrived on earth. In Matthew 12:28, He said, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
Time of Reflection
I want to close this message by sharing Mark’s account of The Great Commission. He tells us that Jesus said to His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:15-18). Mark concludes by stating, “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20).
There is a decision to make this morning; for both Christians and non-Christians alike. That choice is “to believe” or “not to believe.” As a Christian, the choice is fully yours, as to whether you believe these extraordinary works apply to you or not. If you choose not to believe; that is okay. It will not affect your salvation; but it may affect the quality of your Christian experience and your effectiveness as a Christian witness. As a non-Christian, the choice is also fully yours, as to whether you believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord or not. If you choose not to believe, there is nothing okay about that! The Bible is very clear that Jesus is the only way to heaven (John 14:6). So, as we have our time of invitation, I encourage you to search your heart, and ask yourself what you believe.
NOTES
(1) Larry Pierce, “Apostlolos,” Outline of Biblical Usage: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g652/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed March 19, 2025).
(2) William Barclay, “The Gospel of Matthew,” The Daily Bible Study, vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958), p. 369.
(3) Ibid., p. 370.
(4) Ibid., p. 370.
(5) Ibid., p. 371.
(6) Ibid., p. 371.
(7) Frank Stagg, “Matthew,” The Broadman Bible Commentary, vol. 8 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1969), p. 133.
(8) Barclay, p. 374.
(9) Ibid., p. 375.
(10) “The Best Illustration of What the Kingdom of God Is,” From His Presence: https://www.fromhispresence.com/best-kingdom-of-god-illustration/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(11) R. Ian Seymour, “Does God Heal Today?” Access Inspiration: https://accessinspiration.org/evangelism/alpha-talks/14-does-god-heal-today/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(12) “Therapete,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2323/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(13) Barclay, p. 375.
(14) Strong’s G770, “Astheneo,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g770/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed March 18, 2025).
(15) Barclay, p. 375.
(16) “Leprosy,” Sermon Illustrations: https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/l/leprosy.htm (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(17) Barclay, p. 375.
(18) “Kathrizo,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2511/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(19) “Catharsis,” Merriam-Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catharsis (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(20) “Egeiro,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1453/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(21) “Agora,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g58/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(22) “Nekros,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3498/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(23) “When Mom and Dad Quietly Cast Out a Demon,” Entrusted to the Dirt: https://entrustedtothedirt.com/2024/08/16/when-mom-and-dad-quietly-cast-out-a-demon/ (Accessed April 9, 2025).
(24) “Ekballo,” Blue Letter Bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1544/kjv/tr/0-1/ (Accessed April 1, 2025).
(25) Barclay, p. 376.
