Tuesday, June 10, 2025
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26 KJV).
One of the lesser-known purposes of Christ’s earthly ministry was that He trained 12 men to continue His work once He returned to His Heavenly Father!
According to Luke 4:16-21, Jesus’ first recorded sermon, Isaiah 61:1,2 outlines the goal of His earthly ministry: “The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD….” He has come to Israel to “preach good tidings [‘gospel,’ ‘good news’] unto the meek.” Of course, He had only three years (see Luke 13:7), so it was impossible for Him to preach in every city and every town of Israel during such a short time. He therefore made preparations in light of this His absence.
Roughly a year into His ministry, the Lord Jesus selects 12 men from among His disciples (students). These are the 12 Apostles of Israel (see Matthew 10:1-4). As He gradually withdraws from public ministry, they spend more time with Him and He instructs them further. When He first commissions them, the Bible says: “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:5-8). The same Gospel of the Kingdom that He preached (Matthew 4:17,23; Matthew 9:35) is their Good News of the Kingdom to preach. He taught them precisely what to say and what to do to confirm or authenticate their message, just as He Himself taught and demonstrated His words to be true….
333 Words of Grace 