Jesus Sends the Twelve
And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. (6:7)
The twelve lived with me, and saw the kingdom of the Father shine through me. Therefore, the time came for me to send them to do the same.
In some Gospels (Matthew and Luke), you can read that I gave the twelve not only authority over unclean spirits but also authority to heal. Yet, both tasks are very close. Casting out an unclean spirit and healing a person are very similar. Diseases came in the world through accepting the lies of Satan. Healing comes from rejecting the presence and the lies of unclean spirits, and from having the bodies released fully from the effect of these lies and evil presence.
In all that, what you need is the authority of the Father, and you receive it only through humility and faith. Remain poor in Spirit, aware that you are submitted to the Father’s authority. Miracles that happen or will happen through you are not a reason to feel you are entitled, but simply to be grateful and amazed at the Father’s love. As soon as you forget that you are under the Father’s authority and try to do things out of your own will - without this sweet humility, our grace will begin to wane. As you learn to remain under our loving authority, our grace will flow ever more freely through you. Receive from me the authority over unclean spirits, remain in my love, and you will see this authority expel darkness and bring my light in many situations. Remember the words of the centurion,[ see Matthew 8:5-13.] who stressed the relationship between the authority he had over his servants and his submission to an authority himself.
He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in their belts - but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. (6:8-9)
This was part of this importance to remain under my authority, under the authority of the Father. They needed to remain dependent of our grace more than of their control and mastery of their needs. As you grow in faith, remember that we don’t want our servants to receive our orders and then to accomplish them through their own strength. We want you to learn to remain submitted to our authority and guidance all the time. What we want is to see servants depending on us continually, as I was depending on the Father continually. This is the way of the poor in spirit. Remain in me and I in you, and you will see grace flowing freely through you. Learn to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and you will not need to control long in advance what you will need, since we will provide step by step. This is the walk of faith, this is the walk in the spirit, this is the walk of the servant.
I am not forbidding my disciples to plan in advance, yet you must be careful that you rely more on us than on you or on your plans. There is no technique to live the life of the spirit, it is a moment by moment dependance on the Holy Spirit, a moment by moment dwelling in me and I in you. As you learn to carry the Holy Spirit during your days, attentive to my voice and to follow me, you will see the rivers of our love flow in you and through you continually.
And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” (6:10-11)
I invited my disciples to imitate me, to do what I did and what the Holy Spirit does. When the Holy Spirit is not welcome he departs from a person. A key difference, between you and us, is that we are God and you are human. We can be at different places at the same time, while you can’t. This means that the Holy Spirit can remain in all the believers at any time, while you can be at only one physical place at a time. Therefore, the way you leave a place is very important. When you leave a place where you have been welcomed with the Holy Spirit in you, bless this place because it belongs to God. When you leave because you were not received with the gospel of the kingdom, shake the dust of your feet. By shaking the dust, you are telling that since they don’t want you and the one who is in you, you will not keep even their dust with you. This is not supposed to be done with pride, but with humility. Some people will want the blessings of God, but yet they don’t want to repent from their evil ways. Shake the dust of your feet in such places. When you speak in our name and people refuse to listen to you, shake the dust of your feet as a testimony against them. Listening and obeying to our direction is important.
Yet, don’t be too quick to judge, this is not your part. You have yourself often been slow to respond to our grace, therefore don’t be too quick to condemn. If someone does not welcome us today, remember that the Father makes His sun shine on the good and on the evil, and His rain fall on the just and on the unjust. So many came to us after years of wicked acts, and we always welcome them as soon as they repent and welcome the Good News. Don’t judge, simply shake the dust of your feet as a testimony.
So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
You notice here that the twelve not only cast out demons, but they also anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them. My focus is always love. When we cast out demons it is for people to get better and enjoy the Father’s love. Some of the first steps are to cast out evil spirits and to heal people physically. This is a testimony of the Father’s tender care for His creation.
In the period of time of the twelve, people tended to anoint the sick with oil for them to get better, and many of my disciples did so. I did not use oil, but many of my disciples did. In your context, you could say that praying for healing and using medicine are not opposed but can often be complementary. Learn to listen to me when you pray for a sick person, and teach the persons to listen to my grace in them. Some will get better through simple prayer, others through medicine, others still through both. Remember that this world belongs to the Father, and that medicine is therefore often part of what the Father revealed or allowed humans to discover. Not all in your scientific medicine comes from God, but there is much good in it. In all that, remember that listening to us in order to discern what to do is of key importance.
Still today I desire to heal people, to lead them on the way of complete deliverance from evil at the physical, mental and spiritual levels - this is the Good News! Allow me to teach you how to live and share this good news with many, as I did with the twelve. In our love, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, lead people to repentance, cast out demons and heal the sick.
Proclaim the kingdom of the Father, embody this kingdom of our love, be a kingdom bearer.
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