Divine management - Ministry of Jesus Mark 3:13-19 13 And he goeth up upon a mountain, and calleth to him whom he would: and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have authority to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him: and they went into an house. Jesus is an example of perfection for us and for best results we should follow what He did. Most Churches, Pastors and Preachers do not truly follow His example in their ministry therefore do not see results. For example Jesus regularly preached at synagogues but His main preaching was done in places outside town and cities. We see most Pastors preach in church halls but are rarely seen preaching at street corners or public places. Most feel this task is the job of a select few and they are not among those few. Jesus had a multilayer ministry and all this was done with insight to prophecies and systems given in the Old Testament. Jesus although was God (Part of God yet a Individual by Himself) who humbled Himself and came as man yet as man He did not possess any God powers other than the Nature / Character of God in Him. The miracles and healings He did were all by the power of the knowledge of the Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is why He stated in the last days we would do greater things then He did, not that we would be greater than Him but since He as man did only things that were necessary with purpose so as to glorify God the Father, and we in our time will have greater opportunities and purposes for God to be glorified. Let me give a basic structure of Jesus ministry. Jesus was always followed by hordes of people who were in need of healings or deliverance and also those who were fascinated with what He did or said. This lot was in thousands but from them, those who really desired Him were few. Jesus also had a team of dedicated helpers, they followed Him as and when they were able, among the women who were part of this team were His mother, His aunty Salome / Mary wife of Zebedee (mother of John and James) and Mary Magdalene. Jesus as His main team had dedicated 12 men who were handpicked and whose names are given in todays message, they were men on a mission. All of them were chosen not because of their character or ability but were selected according to their purpose in the Kingdom of God. They were not uneducated fishermen as people think. During that time basic education was compulsory for all since that time there was prosperity in the land as there was peace in the land (that is why King Herod (s) was able to make great structures and monuments, in fact one historian goes on to say during those years there is no record of any great war or battles anywhere in the world). As a Jew all men were compiled to study scriptures after the age of 8 therefore study of Hebrew was a must. All Jesus disciples knew to read and write including these 12 (we can see this from the depth of Jesus teachings to them; He never spoke to then as illiterates). We also see even though Jesus knew about Judas betrayal yet he was chosen so that he played part in Jesus mission. From these 12 there were 3 who were given special attention, these were the two brothers John and James (they were cousins to Jesus - sons of Salome, sister of Mary His mother) and Simon the son of Jona whom Jesus called Cephas (this was his Aramaic name since Jesus spoke that language with them but later was known as Peter when scriptures were translated in Greek). These 3 were super special not because Jesus loved them more than others even though John always called himself as the one whom Jesus loved there were others who also are known as loved ones. We need to understand Jesus who was and is in the Nature of God loved all the same but according to their purpose in the Kingdom of God gave more attention to some. Also the number 12 was symbolic to understand the foundational purpose of the Church and as these twelve grew in the Holy Spirit we do not see any mention of this number (it is repeated in Revelation also in a symbolic way). Incidentally all these twelve had the Calling of an Apostle and were thus known as the 12 Apostles; Jesus specially chose these with this Calling for they were to part of the foundation of the Church. Now that the Church has been set when the Holy Spirit was given to the people at Pentecost, we do not need to always have a person with the Calling of Apostle as a leader of a Church but any person mature in any of the other Callings can also lead a Church (ideally a local church is to be led by a person having a calling of Administrator/ Pastor and the others Callings coordinating according to the hierarchy set, supporting and connecting it to other Churches). John, his brother James and Simon Peter were chosen out of the twelve and given more attention because they were to form the core team that led the overall Church, as disciples and churches grew in various places. Later we see Paul and Barnabas were added to this core team. This team had no head for Christ was their head. Although Paul was the more knowledgeable between them, yet he was not their head, nor was Peter. Paul was given the leadership of the gentile Christians (non-Jewish Christians) and Peter was given the leadership of the Jewish Christian by the Holy Spirit, yet the overall administration of all the Churches including Jewish and non-Jewish Christians were overlooked by this team of 5. What we see here is that Jesus always believed in team work. Although all were equal for Him yet He did not put all in the same team but had multilevel teams according to their purpose in the Kingdom of God. Let us learn management from Jesus not only for Church related administration but also for administration of other bodies like a family, a business, a society etc... Jesus was perfect and even though at times His system seemed to have almost collapse yet it prevailed and is the greatest success story in mankind. [Prayer Starter] Lord, your Word says what is of You and from You, no man or power can go against it and prevail. What You have set according to your Heavenly Kingdom will always remain and flourish for glory belongs only to You. Man may do great things but if they are not according to your design they all fail and collapse. Lord, we pray your people understand your system and apply it not only in the Churches but also in their families and offices... This prayer we make in Jesus Name, Amen. [Reference Scriptures] Galatians 2:9 - And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 18:15:04 +0000
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