“Jesus called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and weakness.” (Matthew 10:1) Many believers have been challenged at various times by preaching about walking in the miraculous who use this biblical text as an example for us to imitate. However daunting it may be, one cannot deny that it is nonetheless a worthy challenge if nothing more than to shake us out of our complacency and pursue God more rigorously in earnest desire to walk in a deeper level of intimacy and expectation.
With that in mind, let’s consider the text of this pivotal episode with Jesus’ commissioning of His disciples where they were given authority to minister with power in the miraculous beyond their imaginations.
So far, everything appears breathtakingly good until we become aware that every one of the disciples including Judas Iscariot participated fully as they were sent out in ministry. This same person, who experienced the heights of God’s glory later chose to forsake his position as one of Jesus’ inner circle of intimate friends.
What can one say? Although experiencing miracles is wonderful in every way and exercising His authority over the dark hordes of hell needful, it must always be an outflow of who we are in Him rather than an end in itself. Judas is a classic example of this.
The matter may be likened to a king who arranged a banquet and invited guests to it. The king issued a decree, saying, “Each guest must bring that on which he will recline.” Some brought carpets, others brought mattresses or bolsters or cushions or stools, while others brought logs of wood or stones. The king observed what they had done and said, “Let each man sit on what he brought.” They who had to sit on wood or stone murmured against the king and said, “Is that honorable to a king that we, his guests, should be seated on wood and stone?” When the king heard this, he said to them, “Not enough that you have disgraced with your stone and wood the palace which was erected for me at great cost, but you dare to invent a complaint against me. The lack of respect paid to you is the consequence of your own action.” Similarly in the Hereafter the wicked will be sentenced to Gehinnom and will murmur against the Holy One….
(cf. Ecclesiastes Rabbah 3:9 – Post-talmudic midrash on the book of Ecclesiastes)