Fireside: Leave So The Lord May Come

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.”
Matthew 11:1

The theme of Matthew chapter 10 is the call and instruction of the twelve disciples. They are called by name, empowered, instructed, and warned. Their mission was to “go, preach.” (10:7) This is the first time in the Bible that disciples are given the special description of “apostle,” which means “sent forth.” (10:5) These are the first to go and set the pattern for the seventy of Luke 10. This pattern continues to this day in Bible preaching missionaries who leave their homes to go to the uttermost part of the earth.

These twelve were sent to preach from city to city in Israel of the imminent kingdom of heaven. There was an urgency about their message, foretold as the end of Daniel’s seventieth week some 500 years before. They fully expected the tribulation, alongwith persecution. They had no time to waste. The Lord Jesus Christ hastened them: “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye unto another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of the Israel, till the Son of man be come.” (10:23)

By faith they like a whirlwind’s breath, swept on o’er every field.

And so they moved. Leaving houses, comfort, jobs, parents, wife, children, neighborhoods, familiarity all in the name of Jesus Christ. Indeed, what faith they had!

What would become of their homes in their absence? Wonderful plan of obedience: when they left, Christ came.

The Bible says He went to “teach and preach in their cities.” Their cities! While it seemed that they were abandoning all for Jesus, He was able to renew His presence there. He reassured those loved ones that their sacrifices were not in vain. Jesus met their needs, doing good as He always did, recognized as “the works of Christ.” (10:2)

“The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,a nd the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 10:5)

What a revival! And what relief to twelve weary men whose circuit eventually brought them to their hometowns. Instead of returning to a famished, struggling homefront, they found Jesus had been there– and everyone was better than they left them!

What if those twelve apostles had second-guessed the Lord? What if they delayed their obedience, doubting what would become of their homes? I can only suppose that God would not have been able to step in to minister. God came, when they went.

Obedience unlocked the Lord Jesus’ greatest blessing. The disciples might have stayed, taking the best care they could for their families. But once they swallowed their fears and surrendered the safekeeping of their loved ones, Jesus entered into that vacuum of care and worry and did a better job caring for them than they themselves ever could have.