Friday 20 April 2007

Disciples and apostles

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these…” - Matthew 10v1-2

Early on in His ministry Jesus called 12 men to be a special group do disciples. A disciple is a follower, a student, one who heeds the words of another. These twelve travelled with Him in a type of travelling school. In their minds they were preparing for the day when they would assist Jesus, Whom they considered Messiah, the set up His earthly kingdom. As always a very special teacher/student relationship developed as time went by.

The time came when they were called on to put their teaching to the test. Now the students are called on to go out on an embassage. Jesus commissioned them to carry His message and do a work for Him. At this stage they were being sent on a short term trip to put into practice the things they had learned.

We are not Apostles in the same sense as these men were. However, it is obvious that we too are on and embassage. As followers (disciples) we are also commissioned as ambassadors (apostles) of His work and His word. Lets be sure that we balance he two roles in our lives.

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