'Mornin. Hope you all are well, today's reading covers the sending of the twelve along with instructions for the twelve. Here are some notable notes:
JM notes that disciple (v 1) means student or one who is being taught while apostle (v 2) means a qualified representative sent out on a mission. The interchangeable use of the words simply emphasizes different aspects of the ministry of the twelve.
Whenever the twelve are listed in the NT, they are listed in three subgroups with each group containing four; the first group always contains Peter, Andrew, James (son of Zebedee) and James' brother John; the first group is considered Jesus' inner circle and of this first group Peter is always listed first. Judas Iscariot is not surprisingly always listed last.
The reason Jesus told the twelve not to acquire money or any other material goods on this particular trip is two-fold: Firstly, He wanted them to learn to trust God for all their physical needs. Secondly, he did not want them using the great power He had given them for monetary gain this diluting the message He sent them to preach.
Although Jesus is called the "Prince of Peace", He talks about pitting brother against brother in vv 34-37; Christ wanted none of his followers under the allusion that just because they followed Him their lives would be free from suffering, pain and persecution. He wanted them to understand that the peace he brought was an internal peace of the heart, mind and soul.
