Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. “How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!”
The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent:
Simon (they called him Peter, or “Rock”),
Andrew, his brother,
James, Zebedee’s son,
John, his brother,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew, the tax man,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon, the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him).
… the power to kick out evil spirits, the power to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives… and later the power to forgive sins…
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Do you think we have been given all these powers too?
For me it is a difference between having been given all these powers, which I believe we have, and acting as though I have, because I certainly don’t
Andy, do you choose not to act as though you have these powers out of love or fear? …does that question make sense? …what I think I’m trying to get at is, well, acting as though you have these powers could be problematic because of the way that power corrupts and makes people think that they’re one up on other people. However, acting as though you have them could also be a positive thing if these are God-given powers that we can and should use openly to express God’s grace, care for each other and to set people free from guilt and sin! I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer here, I’m kinda just playing with the idea… I’ll keep thinking on it.