Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap.

Not long ago, Jesus chose 12 of his many disciples to be in his inner circle.

Eventually, scripture starts referring to these 12 as apostles and distinguishes them from the other disciples.

Depending on who you ask, you'll get a different answer for whether the title

Apostle is something we can use today, and if so, what that might look like.

We'll link to a short article about that if you want to read more.

Strictly speaking, the word disciple means learner and the word apostle refers to a

messenger who is sent out. Today we see Jesus sending out 12 of his disciples as apostles.

Before he sends them out, he gives them authority over things he knows they're going to encounter,

demons, disease, and affliction.

Obviously you can't give something you don't have so it's

noteworthy that Jesus has already exercised this authority in front of them

multiple times because they've seen him cast out demons and heal the sick, they know firsthand that he has this authority to give to them.

He's not just making it up so they can feel good about themselves.

He gives them a few specific instructions as they set out. Instruction number one, he gives them directions. He tells them to

only go to the Jews, not the Gentiles or even the Samaritans who are half-Gentile, half-Jewish.

This seems contradictory to what Jesus has been doing himself, doesn't it?

Here's why it isn't. God's plan has always involved getting the message to the Jews first,

then to the Gentiles. For Jesus in particular, he does this as well. He did approximately 90% of his

miracles in the Jewish town of Capernum. But he has a specific timeline and a

specific mission to fulfill before his death and the more he speaks among the Jews as the Messiah, the more they'll recognize

him as a threat to what they're doing and try to eliminate him.

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