IF JESUS SENT OUT HIS TWELVE APOSTLES
TO THE ENTIRE WORLD:
How Come He ‘Added’ a
Thirteenth One To the Flock?
PART 1
IF JESUS SENT OUT HIS
TWELVE APOSTLES TO THE
ENTIRE WORLD:
How Come He ‘Added’ a Thirteenth One
To the Flock?
JAN LILLEBY
The question made in this headline is of course very rhetorical.
I happen to sit with the answer to this…and thus I want your attention.
Some of you may have the view that the Great Commission in Mat. 28 is an order bestowed upon the twelve apostles, to go to the whole world, - which then would mean, going to us Gentiles in the nations outside of Israel. (I recommend to you my other substantial article on this topic, found in my web site).
In many articles, even in several of my books, I have thoroughly explained this narrative over and over again.
And this article is now laid on top of all of my earlier works in this topic.
Why?
I’ll tell you why: Because the average Christian believer out there has been misled by many factors, inherited heresies from a lot of sects and denominations, giving the erroneous impression that the Great Commission was for us Gentiles. So in this article, we shall turn it all up-side-down so you can understand even better how it all went down…the ministry of the twelve apostles.
Jesus never told His twelve apostles to go out into the entire Global world. He told them to go to Israel – and they did. Book of Acts has the full story of it and all the proof we need to get this right.
THE LOGICAL ORDER OF THINGS
It takes but just one singular verse from Acts to torpedo the whole ‘Great Commission’ as if this was to send the twelve into the entire world:
Acts 9:15, (AMP Bible web version) –
“But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a [deliberately] chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel” (Editors emphasize)
Here we come to the crucial question, which none of us can escape: Why – on God’s green earth – should Jesus call Paul and send him out to us Gentiles, if He already had 12 (!) apostles working it? They had been ministering for 8-9 years already…and all of a sudden – giving no particular explanation (Jesus did not mention the twelve in this narrative) Jesus was adding an ‘extra apostle’ to this flock?!?
Can you see the contradiction in this?
If you cannot, then you are really out of it. You need to get ‘unlearned’ before you can get learned - (a quote originally said by rev. Stuart Allen, the follower of Charles Welch). You have to get rid of your twisted understanding of how it all went down in the early days of the Gospel.
It is entirely illogical to add an extra apostle to the existing twelve, - and on top of that, doing so this late after they were sent out in the year 28 CE, right after Pentecost in Acts 2.
So you see, the narrative of Jesus sending out His twelve apostles to the entire world, gets ‘shipwrecked’ already in Acts 9:15. It is totally impossible that God and Christ eventually should have sent out Paul, the thirteenth apostle, to the Gentiles, if that ministry already was covered by the twelve. The ministry was already taken and in full operation by them.
There was no need to add Paul to the flock.
And, even more so: Paul was the furious persecutor of the Messianic church and he even saw to it that many of these believers were thrown in jail and executed.
Which raise another contradicting issue: Why – on God’s green earth – could not Jesus just grab hold of Paul BEFORE HE STARTED HIS PERSECUTION?
“Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest, 2and he asked for letters [of authority] from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there belonging to the Way [believers, followers of Jesus the Messiah], men and women alike, he could arrest them and bring them bound [with chains] to Jerusalem.”
Some may think that Jesus did this with Paul, and so could end the harsh persecution of the believers.
But this is not so. Jesus called him out so he should preach to the Jews, Gentiles, and kings. All in due time…a story we can successively follow all the way until Acts 28:31 when Luke stopped his historic accounts.
ONLY PETER HAD AN ENCOUNTER WITH GENTILES
When reading Acts 10, of Peter being sent to the house of Cornelius in Caesarea, the apostle denied that he ever had been in any kind of fellowship with an ‘unclean’ Gentile. In Jewry it was common to view Gentiles as unclean dogs, unworthy of God’s attention. Most of us have read the incident which took place on top of the house of Simon the tanner, at Joppa – Peter was persuaded by God in a vision to go to Cornelius’ house to speak to Gentiles. He objected at first, but after three exchanges of visionary intervention by God, Peter said yes. Verses 9-16.
Peter’s denial of having ever been with Gentiles in his ministry (8-9 years after Pentecost in Acts 2) – is a clear and true statement from him that he never went out into all the world preaching. In other words: He and the twelve went only to Jews inside of Israel. The Great Commission is one of the most mistranslated Bible passages in the entire Bible Canon! Almost every denomination holds to this passage as if the twelve were sent to us Gentiles!
Acts 11 testifies of Peter (and the brethren) that they continued as before Peter had this vision, - namely, they preached to JEWS ONLY. Peter never changed his ministry – just because he went once to a Gentile. Verse 19,
“So then [since they were unaware of these developments] those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with [the stoning of] Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, without telling the message [of salvation through Christ] to anyone except Jews.”
GEOGRAPHY HAS A LOT TO SAY OF IT
Acts 5:12-16 says a lot of where exactly on the map they spent these 8-9 years,
“At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders (attesting miracles) were continually taking place among the people. And by common consent they all met together [at the temple] in [the covered porch called] Solomon’s portico. 13But none of the rest [of the people, the non-believers] dared to associate with them; however, the people were holding them in high esteem and were speaking highly of them. 14More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number, 15to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. 16And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.” (Editors emphasize)
Now, how is it that we read of the entire flock of apostles staying in Jerusalem – after 8 years of ministry, RIGHT THERE IN THE STRONGHOLD OF JUDAISM, THE TEMPLE, IN SOLOMON’S PORTICO?
And entirely in line with what we just read of Peter having preached to Gentiles in Caesarea: He WENT UP TO JERUSALEM TO REPORT TO THE BRETHREN AND THE APOSTLES, STILL STAYING THERE! (Acts 11:2).
How on God’s green earth could the twelve have been at ‘two places at the same time’? We can only find them inside of Israel’s borders.
You see what I am telling?
THUS PAUL IS PROVEN TO HAVING BEEN
THE ONLY APOSTLE WHOM GOD
SENT OUT ESPECIALLY TO US GENTILES
Turning the usual heretic interpretations of the Great Commission topic, all around, we find that it cannot ever have been any kind of Gentile-mission performed by the twelve apostles, as if Jesus actually told them to go to us Gentiles. It is rendered impossible as we read and learn from Acts how these things really went down.
Vast majority of Christendom in the world, are in error regarding the Great Commission.
In the New Testament, we cannot find any direct worldwide mission to us Gentiles, before we get to Ephesians and Colossians!
Eph. 3:1-9 is the main ‘heralding’ of the international free Grace Gospel,
“For this reason [because I preach that you and believing Jews are joint heirs] I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— 2assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was entrusted to me [to share with you] for your benefit; 3and that by [divine] revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have already written in brief. 4By referring to this, when you read it you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5which in other generations was not disclosed to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the [Holy] Spirit; 6[it is this:] that the Gentiles are now joint heirs [with the Jews] and members of the same body, and joint partakers [sharing] in the [same divine] promise in Christ Jesus through [their faith in] the good news [of salvation]. 7Of this [gospel] I was made a minister by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of His power. 8To me, [though I am] the very least of all the saints (God’s people), this grace [which is undeserved] was graciously given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the good news of the incomprehensible riches of Christ [that spiritual wealth which no one can fully understand], 9and to make plain [to everyone] the plan of the mystery [regarding the uniting of believing Jews and Gentiles into one body] which [until now] was kept hidden through the ages in [the mind of] God who created all things.” (Editors emphasize)
You just read the real Gospel Commission, given to us by the real apostle to us Gentiles, Paul.
Isn’t it time for you to take this to heart and get things right in your life in the faith?
Gracepano.com
