Missions - Matt 9:27- 10:7

 Jesus leaves Jairus’ house and is approached by two blind men who ask to be healed. Jesus asks them, “Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.” This is much different than the gentile man who Jesus cast out the legion of demons. After the blind men were healed, “they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb speak: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel… And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” There is a cross reference for “fainted” which says, “they were harassed” which would make much more sense. Jesus felt bad because they were being harassed, but he knew that it was better for them to have the gospel and be harassed for it, than to live without it. The IM says, “As the Savior taught in ‘all the cities and villages’ in Galilee, multitudes gathered to hear Him and He perceived that there were many who would accept the gospel, but, He declared, ‘The laborers are few.’ More ministered of the gospel were needed. As recorded in the very next chapter, the Twelve Apostles were called, given authority, and sent forth.”

Jesus could personally preach and teach and heal to a staggering degree, but he couldn’t personally go everywhere and talk to everyone in the short amount of time that he was going to be doing his mortal ministry. The Twelve Apostles spend many months being mentored by the Savior and learning the gospel. It was now time to send them out into the immediate area, among “the last sheep of the house of Israel,” so that they could “preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The footnotes say that this might also be interpreted to say, “the kingdom of heaven has come.” And really, what does that mean for these people that they would be preaching to? It means that the Law of Moses is fulfilled, it means that there is a higher law now, not just temporal commandments of behavior, but now spiritual commandments of character. It means that doctrine was to be forth coming and ordinances and knowledge, and one of the most important aspects of the gospel… hope.

Looking at the time from Christ to the restoration, the misery and despair that gripped the human population was incomprehensible. There were massacres in the name of religion, rape, control, extortion, torture, all done in the name of Christ, but not for one second do I think Jesus wanted anyone to do any of that. He tells us that “no power or influence ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned.” The crusades don’t sound like they fit that criteria. The gospel brings hope that families can be together forever, the world teaches “till death do you part.” The gospel brings the hope that children who died before the age of accountability are saved in God’s kingdom, the world teaches that all who die without being baptized in this life go straight to hell. The gospel teaches that those who are righteous in this life will receive their reward in heaven, the world teaches that this is as good as it gets, or that heaven is ruled by the same awful people that controlled religion back in the day. The world is a depressing place because people replace gospel principles for ideas that keep them in power. The true gospel keeps dictatorial power away from people and gives them spiritual power from within. The Apostles were going to preach to people that Jesus Christ had come and that his gospel was everything that they need.

Jesus “called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” He sends, Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Canaanite, Judas Iscariot, and Judas son of James. There is a very interesting chart in the IM that gives more details about the individual apostles, where they went after the ascension and how they died. Interestingly, the areas covered by these apostles after Jesus died were Rome, Greece, Asia Minor, Jerusalem, Arabia, Parthia, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt, Palestine, Britian, Assyria, and Persia. John the Beloved was translated, and Judas Iscariot committed suicide, but all the other apostles were apparently martyred, many in a grotesque fashion, except Philip who is simply said to have “died in Hierapolis.” The conversion and teaching process might have been slow, but they were steadfast until the end.