BE EQUIPPED

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in Me. Yes, what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.”

The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” He replied.

Luke 22:35-38

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Jesus had less than 24 hours left to live and His arrest was imminent as soon as He arrived at Gethsemane’s garden and finished praying. His disciples had leaned on Him and leaned on Him hard over the past three years they traveled together. They had all they ever needed in Jesus, all they could ever ask for, but their safety net would soon be removed from them. Jesus’ faithful, chosen followers would be on their own, left to not only carry on Jesus’ ministry work but also to fend for themselves.

The road ahead was not going to be an easy one. Emboldened with a renewed burst of confidence after feeling they had eliminated Jesus, the Jewish religious authorities would next turn their attention to any of His followers and there weren’t any better candidates than the ones who comprised Jesus’ trusted inner circle.

As we turn to our scriptures, we find Jesus using what little time He had remaining to try and provide His disciples some final guidance. Look again at His words here:

Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in Me. Yes, what is written about Me is reaching its fulfillment.”

The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” He replied.  Luke 22:35-38

You may remember Jesus sending His disciples out for a trial ministry run, one that would give them a foretaste of what would be to come. Wanting them to rely on faith more than their own self sufficiency, Jesus gave His followers these orders:

When Jesus called the Twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt… So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” Luke 9:1-3, 6

The disciples did as they were told and were no worse for wear for it. They learned to go forth to do the work of the Lord without needing anything except the basics, not only surviving but thriving.

As we fast forward in Luke to Chapter 22, we find Jesus reminding the disciples of their first commission to go and do the work of their Master. He asked His disciples:

 "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

 To which they replied:

 “Nothing.”

Indeed, they relied on the Lord to provide for them as they did His work and in return, they were rewarded for their faithful commitment.

But Jesus wanted His followers to understand that what happened in the past was in the past and things were going to have to change if the disciples were going to make it through what was ahead.

And so He basically gives them a message that lets them know they now need to do the exact opposite of what they did prior. It was important for them to be equipped to go forth and answer the call to carry on the work that Jesus had started.

Now, they needed to make sure they supplied themselves to survive when they were exiled and scattered, when they were being hunted and pursued. If they had a purse, they were to take it with them and if they didn’t have a cloak, then Jesus demanded they get one, even selling a weapon if necessary. For things were about to go south in a hurry and what would happen to Jesus would be a fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah:

…He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. Isaiah 53:12

This fulfillment, resulting in death, wasn’t an option. Jesus made sure His disciples knew that what would happen had to be done to Him because He was the only One who could serve as the perfect atoning sacrifice to bring salvation for all people, those Jesus identified as “the transgressors”.

Jesus’ direction seemed to be simple enough but something got lost in translation. We know this because it seems His followers thought their efforts should go toward shoring up their defense, immediately showing Jesus two swords. Their words obviously frustrated Jesus who quickly closed the discussion with the words:

“That’s enough!”

And that was that. Soon, Jesus’ words would come alive and the disciples would find that life without Him would be harder than they could have ever expected. But I’m sure they fell back on His words, remembering His guidance to be prepared and ready for whatever might come, equipping themselves accordingly.

And this brings us to some questions that I think our lesson is asking all of us to consider today.

How ready are we in advance to carry on the work of Jesus in His name?  

How well do we prepare ourselves to carry out His will and way in our lives?  

Like the disciples, are we focused on needing the wrong things instead of focusing on what’s most important for the ministry work we need to do?

These are valid questions for us to consider because today, just as in the New Testament days documented by Luke, we find Jesus followers still answering His call to ministry and having done some missionary work before, I can tell you from experience that there is a lot of preparation required before you leave so that you’ll be ready to carry out the work of the Lord.

As in the days of Jesus, it still pays to be equipped.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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