The second part of the mandate to the disciples is the walk: “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons” (Matt. 10:8a).
The imperative to act is fourfold: cure the sick (because the sick have fallen under powers that wish them ill); raise the dead (where the spiritual force of death prevails, enact the power of life); cleanse lepers (make the unclean ritually acceptable); cast out demons (break the power that opposes the new governance). In doing this, the disciples receive the mandate to
Chilcote, P. W., & Warner, L. C. (Eds.). (2008). The study of evangelism : Exploring a missional practice of the church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Created from amridge on 2022-10-21 04:02:18.
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“travel light”:
You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. (Matt. 10:8b-10)
We conclude that the capacity to effect these transformative wonders requires complete reliance on the news of the new ruler; the negative counterpoint is the shunning of the resources of the status quo that will rob the disciples of power to be effective.
The mission is dangerous, because God’s will for the world is in deep tension with the way the world is organized:
See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matt. 10:16-20)
The present population of those sick or dead, the lepers, and demon-possessed is not an accident. Rather, the present system works as it does precisely because a certain quota of lives has been “handed over” to antihuman forces, and the system prospers on their backs. The attempt to draw those “handed over” back into the realm of the human will evoke deep hostility, from wolves that, though viciously ravenous, will work by legal means under the guise of respectability. The normal state of the missioner is to be in trouble with the authorities who are characteristically defenders of systems that deny humanness.3
Now the text moves beyond mission and picks up on our other theme of discipleship:
A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! (Matt. 10:24-25)
The people among whom Jesus is sent do not like him, so they will not like his disciples either. Clearly the mission is done by those under discipline. And perhaps the ultimate discipline is this:
So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt. 10:26-28)
4. Our talk of mission must, of course, pay attention to Matthew 28:16-20, verses that are commonly understood as decisive for this theme. The imperative of the risen Lord to the remaining eleven followers is clear and firm: go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.
The post-Easter company of disciples, the inchoate form of the church in this most churchy gospel, is sent. Its task is to recruit others into the counter-community of Jesus:
To make disciples means to bring others under the disciplines that mark the followers of
Chilcote, P. W., & Warner, L. C. (Eds.). (2008). The study of evangelism : Exploring a missional practice of the church. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Created from amridge on 2022-10-21 04:02:18.
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