Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to heal every disease and sickness . These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven has come near. Freely you have received; freely give."
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew Chapter 10 is often referred to as the missionary's discourse. The sayings that make up this discourse have been gathered from various traditional sources and woven by the evangelist into a lengthy instruction on how the disciples of Jesus are to act, and what they can expect. Chapters 8 and 9 give demonstration after demonstration of Jesus' power to heal. In chapter 10, He passes on to the twelve disciples this same authority for healing. Surprising, at least to me, is the fact that the disciples' mission is limited to the people of Israel, and they are cautioned to avoid entering the cities of non-Jews and Samaritans. It is only after the resurrection that Jesus' mission was extended to these other groups, in fact all groups.
I say this is surprising because Jesus Himself always extended His mission and healing to all groups of people - to the Roman centurion, to the Canaanite woman, to the Samaritan woman at the well, and so on. And the beautiful story of the Good Samaritan indicates clearly that Jesus showed no partiality when it came to His vision of the Kingdom of God as including all people of goodwill.
I have no answer as to why Jesus imposed this restriction, except perhaps to say that the disciples were not yet ready. His commission to the disciples, which is His commission to each of us, is to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.
Jesus told his disciples, and therefore is telling us, to proclaim the Kingdom both in their words and in their actions. The miracles that were performed and the healing and reconciliation that took place was meant to be evidence that the Kingdom was really at hand.
What would this Kingdom look like? It is God breaking into a world of darkness. It is love, joy and peace instead of hatred, sorrow and anger. It is a restoration instead of a destruction. It is God at work, cleansing and healing His people. It includes God working in our hearts so that we love one another and share His love and healing with all who we meet.
It's not about learning the right doctrine or knowing a lot of spiritual facts, as important as these may be, but a manifestation of God's presence in the here and now through the actions of love towards all people. The Kingdom of God comes about as we become ambassadors for Christ; that is being His hands and feet as we respond to the quiet voice of the Spirit that speaks to our hearts. It is a role that no one deserves but all are called to act upon.
Do you experience the Kingdom of God at work in yourself? Do you experience the Kingdom of God manifested in the world around you as Jesus' love is continually poured out into each of our hearts? This is the Kingdom of God at hand. It is all around us. We only need eyes that are open to see it.
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