The relationship Jesus had with His disciples was truly remarkable. The eternal Son of God came from Heaven to earth and became human through a virgin birth – God in flesh (John 1:1-3, 14). He made Himself of no reputation and took on the form of a bondservant, “coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). Jesus was “found in appearance as a man” and humbled Himself. He became obedient to the point of death, “even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). Because of that, God the Father highly exalted His Son and gave Him the name that is above every name, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

The Sayings of Jesus

This God-Man, Jesus of Nazareth, chose twelve men to follow Him and learn from Him. All of them, except for one (Judas Iscariot), would become His official representatives (apostles) to the world. The apostles would replace Judas Iscariot with Matthias after Jesus returned to Heaven and Jesus would call Saul of Tarsus from Heaven to be His special apostle to the Gentiles.

In this section of our study we are looking at the sayings of Jesus to His disciples prior to His crucifixion. We will see what He said to them after His resurrection in a later part of this series.

The New Testament includes about 31-thousand of the words Jesus spoke while He was on earth. Based on average estimates of how many words a man speaks in a day (about 15-thousand), we have about two days worth of Jesus’ sayings in the Bible. Since Jesus did a lot of speaking as a traveling preacher and teacher, He may have spoken even more than 31-thousand words. Based on an earthly ministry lasting about 36-42 months, Jesus may have spoken between 16-million and 19-million words. What we have then are the exact words God determined before time began that Jesus would speak and the apostles would record for us to read.

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak. John 12:49-50

This is most helpful to us as we learn how to follow Jesus today – to be His disciples and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We know that what Jesus said and did on earth was according to His Heavenly Father’s command. The words Jesus spoke were deliberate and authoritative.

Jesus’ Sayings to His Disciples

The twelve disciples Jesus chose to become His apostles heard almost everything He said while on earth. They were true witnesses of every aspect of His amazing life and ministry. They heard Him preach and teach and saw Him perform many miracles. They also had many ‘private audiences’ with Jesus. By that, I mean that Jesus often spoke to the disciples privately. He always had an important reason in doing that.

Then He turned to His disciples and said privately, ‘Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see; for I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and have not seen it, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard it. Luke 10:23-24

Jesus often gave His disciples spiritual insights that He gave to no one else. Jesus taught the crowds that followed Him in parables that were difficult to understand (almost 40 parables). The disciples wondered why He did that.

And the disciples came and said to Him, ‘Why do You speak to them in parables?’ He answered and said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Matthew 13:10-17

The answer Jesus gave His disciples to their question is quite remarkable on several levels.

  • The disciples received special insight to the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” that Jesus did not give to the crowds that followed Him. This is a demonstration of God’s sovereignty in granting spiritual understanding to some and not to others. A “mystery” is a secret known only to the one who knows the secret. In the case of the “mysteries of the kingdom of God,” only God knew the secret. Jesus, who is God, chose to reveal those mysteries to His disciples, but not to the crowds that followed Him.
  • Jesus said He did not give the crowds the same insight to the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven “because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Why wouldn’t Jesus give the crowds the same spiritual insight to the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10 where God called Isaiah to be a prophet. God said – “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Isaiah answered – “Here am I! Send me.” God responded to Isaiah by telling Him to go and tell the people what Jesus quoted to His disciples about the people of Israel having dull herts and being hard of hearing. Isaiah asked God how long he should tell the people that message and God responded – “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate, The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.” When we understand the context, we can understand the reason Jesus said what He said. The people had not changed at all, even 700 years after Isaiah prophesied.
  • The spiritual eyes of the disciples of Jesus were blessed because they personally saw and heard what the prophets, kings and “righteous men” desired to see. Think about that. The Old Testament prophets, kings and righteous men desired to see what the disciples saw but didn’t see it. Didn’t see what? The fulfillment of prophecy – the Messiah, the Son of God, walking on earth, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, teaching crowds, and explaining the mysteries of His Kingdom to a select group of twelve men. That is truly remarkable.

Jesus Gives His Disciples Power

The twelve disciples (apostles) heard Jesus preach and teach. They saw Him heal people and cast demons out of people. Jesus looked at the multitudes of people who were following Him and He was moved with compassion for them “because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). He turned to the Twelve and said this:

The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Matthew 9:37-38

Jesus wasn’t just asking His disciples to pray, He was spiritually preparing them to become laborers in the harvest God had planned to begin at that time. Jesus called His twelve disciples to Him and “gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease” (Matthew 10:1). The Lord also gave them very specific instructions about how to use the power He was giving them. You will recognize several verses that are often quoted by Bible teachers, but note that they are all in the context of a commandment Jesus gave to the Twelve about how to be laborers in God’s great harvest in Israel:

Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. ‘Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils andscourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. ‘Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. ‘A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. Matthew 10:5-42

We know that this entire section of Matthew was Jesus commanding His disciples before they went out to preach, heal and cast out demons because of the words that follow:

Now it came to pass, when Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples, that He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities. Matthew 11:1

The same account in Mark’s Gospel is shorter, but includes important information about what Jesus said to His disciples:

And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— but to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics. Also He said to them, ‘In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!’ So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. Mark 6:7-13

Luke’s account is also much shorter than Matthew’s:

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And He said to them, Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Luke 9:1-6

Jesus has all power and authority in Heaven and on earth and He graciously shared some of it with His disciples. He gave them power and authority over demons and disease. He also gave them power to determine which communities would receive God’s blessings and which would receive God’s judgment. Apostolic power was an amazing gift that Jesus gave to a select group of men two-thousand years ago. Jesus also told the disciples they would suffer persecution as they served Him and preached His Gospel.

I might add that these sayings of Jesus recorded for us in three of the Gospel accounts present a strong and high view of Jesus. His words and actions are not that of the soft and pliable Jesus of liberal and progressive ‘Christianity.’ They are the words and actions of the Almighty Son of God who came to earth to declare the Kingdom of God with great power. It would be wise for us to remember that as we read the sayings of Jesus.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

We will look at another “private” meeting between Jesus and His disciples in the next part of our special series, And Jesus Said.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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