Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. [Mark 6:7-13]
Jesus
“summoned” the Twelve.
He brought
them to Himself. We can read this as
simply meaning that He, in a sense, called a meeting with them. But we should look deeper. We should see in this summoning the fact that
Jesus wasn’t only calling a meeting, but rather, He was drawing them to His
very person. In this act of summoning,
the Apostles were personally encountering Jesus, receiving His grace and power,
and being changed themselves.
He sent
them out two by two.
Jesus knows
our human weakness. He knows that by
ourselves we will most likely fail, but with the Christian support of another
we’re greatly strengthened. Because
Jesus’ mission is not only something we do ourselves, it’s something that is
communal as well. We are each one piece
in His mission. However, to fulfill that mission, we need the love and support
of others. We need to go two by two into
the battle.
He gave
them authority over unclean spirits.
Jesus very
much does want to give us authority over the evil one and his minions since
they’re far more powerful than us. So,
if we’re to have a chance in the battle, we need Jesus’ authority. This is not only some supernatural power to
cast out demons; rather, it’s much more extensive. So what is this authority and how do we exercise
it?
It’s the
power of true Christian charity.
Charity, or love, overwhelms the evil one and renders him powerless in
our lives. Selflessness, sacrifice,
humility, faith, truth—all of the virtues, really—are among the most powerful
weapons in our battle. The evil one doesn’t
know what to do with these. We don’t
necessarily have to engage in some sort of dramatic spiritual warfare to do
battle. By simply loving God and living
that love in our daily life will, in a sense, be casting out demons left and
right! We’ll have the victory in our
Christian living because God will take care of all the rest. It’s His mission and He’s the one summoning
and sending us. So, we need not be afraid
to follow His lead!
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