Matthew 10: The Vintage of Jesus

This is the beginning of my first blog series. A series entitled, The Vintage of Jesus. Simply meaning, in Matthew 10, we find vintage Jesus. We witness how select, superior, timeless, ageless, and pure Jesus is. We witness Jesus selecting and guiding His disciples, and hopefully ourselves. Vintage, for this is the first time Jesus sends out His disciples and instructs them accordingly - they are His vintage. Vintage of Jesus - He speaks pure and timeless commands.

Simply put, its how the Holy Spirit has spoken to me recently and asked me to share.

Earlier this week I read Matthew 10 and I haven't stopped since. Its so rich. I've read it multiple times and the Holy Spirit has rocked me ten fold. I plan on covering a few verses at a time; basically, where and what the Holy Spirit has spoken to me.

So lets go.

"He (Jesus) called his Twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."

Matthew 10: 1-4

Let me tackle this verse, first and foremost, as a whole.

The fact that Jesus gave His disciples the power to drive out demons, disease, and sickness- in His name - is incredible. I feel people today loose grip with the heart of this verse. Jesus gave ordinary people the power, but only through Himself, to cast away supernatural and physical evil. We should never get tired of hearing that, nor should we think that it could only happen during Jesus' time. The Bible is God's living Word - its not dead, so we shouldn't treat it that way.

Moving on to the details that are just straight mind blowing.

"He called his twelve disciples to him..."
The twelve had to come to Jesus before they did anything. The twelve had to walk in a relationship with Him before they saw the blessings from Jesus, or before they could do His work. Today, that's reading His Word; that's praying and talking with Him; that's serving His Bride, the church; that's seeking Jesus. Its not just coming to church on Sunday or praying selfish prayers or only walking with Him while the walk is calm, but truly seeking Him. Its extremely tough, but so was Him dieing on the cross for us. I struggled with this for years, but by His grace and power I don't any longer. Its gut-check time. Don't be a pansy. Pansies are a waste of precious life.

"and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
There are two things that hit me with part B of verse 1.

1. Jesus gave the men who followed Him authority to cast out evil, to cast out disease, and to cast out sickness. That's nuts. When this stuff is on t.v. today, we just chop it up as nonsense, but its real. Jesus can give us the power to do such acts, but only to glorify His name. So that leads back to part A, where our hearts have to be right and on Him; or in Him.

2. The words authority, drive, heal, and every really grabbed my attention.

2a. The word authority is awesome and inspiring. Authority to do Jesus' work. Authority over evil. Authority over the natural and supernatural.

2b. Drive and Heal express proaction. Jesus commands us to not sit in idle, but to act. How important. Honestly, drive is the expression of something being removed by force, and that simply shows the power of Jesus in us. This shows that our capabilities in seeking to make His Kingdom famous are unparallel because of Jesus.

2c. Also, every, is quite remarkable. It still baffles me that Jesus has the control of everything. I'm not sure why, but my mind just doesn't comprehend it - my mind accepts it, but comprehension is lacking. I guess the word awe better describes my lack of comprehension, or, maybe a blend of the two. Nonetheless every disease, every illness would, and will tremble to His very name. That is remarkable. That is awe-inspiring.

Matthew 10:1 is Jesus. Its Jesus through and through. We first need, or should want, should love, and be thankful for the opportunity to have a relationship with Jesus. A relationship with Him is a gift from God so we may know Him better. God does not push Him upon us, but we should rip open the gift and enjoy Him continuously. With that continuous praise and walk, He can and will do the impossible through us.

How incredible is that? yes, that's rhetorical. The possibilities with Jesus are endless. Lets seek Him. Lets tap into that live wire that is Jesus, so He can grow His Kingdom and bless us with His presence.