Bible Summary:

Jesus calls the twelve apostles: Simon (called Peter), Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (the tax collector), James, Thaddaeus, Simon the Patriot, and Judas Iscariot, who later betrays him. He gives them the mission to drive out evil spirits, heal the sick and lepers, and bring the dead back to life. Jesus tells them to preach the Good News in Israel, instead of the lands of the Gentiles and Samarians. He tells his disciples to leave with nothing but their clothes and not to accept money nor beg. They are to seek shelter in each new town and greet their host with peace. If they are not welcome, they are to “shake the dust off their feet” and move on to the next town. Jesus assures them that an unwelcoming town will receive no mercy on Judgment Day.

My Thoughts:

Characters of the story: Matthew summarizes the characters in his story very succinctly. He mentions the disciples’ relationships as brothers and sons, that Simon is renamed Peter (we learn why later), that Matthew is a tax collector and that Judas betrays Jesus. Mathew then tells us the apostles’ mission: to preach the Good News and heal people.

Reason to believe: Jesus asks a lot of his disciples – to leave with nothing, to expect others to feed and shelter them, and to just keep moving on from town to town, whether the people want to hear the Good News or not. It is interesting that many people use Jesus’ miraculous birth, healing powers, and many miracles to prove his divinity. Frankly, the fact that these twelve people were willing to give up their lives, initially in preaching the Good News and later in fact, with no earthly reward, speaks volumes for Jesus’ closeness to God.

No Gentiles: It was surprising to read that Jesus had the apostles focus on the Jews. I always thought they mainly spoke to the Gentiles. Maybe I’m getting ahead of the story.