I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 10-12.

    In today’s passage Jesus sends the Twelve out to preach to the people of Israel. They are to preach only to those who are already God’s people. This is the first, and most basic, of instructions which Jesus gives to His followers. Jesus tells them that they are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and cast out demons. Is this for all of Jesus’ followers? Or, just those who are called to be apostles? O, maybe more than just the apostles, but not all of His followers? My belief is that none of us should conclude out of hand that this does not apply to us. Which is really a struggle for me. Do I have the faith to call on God’s healing the way Jesus, Peter, Paul, and many others in the New Testament did?

    I was going to go in a different direction as I get to the next part, but then I realized that to some degree this next part answered my question. Jesus says that students are to be like their teacher and slaves are to be like their master. We are followers of Jesus, His students. Therefore we are called to be like Him. Part of being like Him is healing the sick, raising the dead, curing those with leprosy, and casting out demons.
    Of course, another part of being like Him is being arrested and put on trial. If we are faithful disciples (students) of Jesus, those who love Him will love us. And those who hate Him will hate us. He reminds us that we do not need to fear those who can merely kill our bodies. We should only fear God who can destroy us both body and soul. But even that fear needs to be tempered with the knowledge that God values us. He values even sparrows which are sold for just a small amount and each and every one of us is worth much more to God than a sparrow. When confronted by unbelievers, we need not worry about what to say. God’s Spirit will provide us with the proper words to use. If our goal in every situation is to bring glory to God, He will ensure that we are successful in all we do.