Podcast Summary: Apologetics – "Directions For Disciples"

Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Apologetics
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into Matthew 9 and 10, examining why God chooses to involve flawed humans in His mission, how He equips and sends His disciples, and the nature of obedience, mission, and judgment within the Christian faith.

Overview of the Episode

This episode unpacks the commissioning of the twelve apostles in Matthew 10, focusing on the philosophy of divine delegation, the nature of calling and sending, and the implications for all followers of Christ. The host explores the reasons God involves us in His redemptive work, the kinds of people He chooses, instructions for mission, and Jesus' sobering words about embracing or rejecting the gospel.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Divine Delegation: Why Does God Involve Us?

• God's Self-Sufficiency
  • God does not need us: “If God needed anything outside of external to himself, then he’s not truly God...That’s not what we believe. We believe God needs nothing.” (00:02)
  • Yet, God chooses to involve us “because he wants to,” not out of necessity.
• Delegation as Formation
  • God’s delegation allows us to become more like Him:
    • “When Christ asks you to do something for him…you will become more like him as a result of having done so.” (00:10)
    • Illustrated by a parent giving a child a hammer: the process shapes character, not just outcomes.
• Biblical Pattern of Delegation
  • God gave Adam and Eve “dominion” over creation (naming animals, stewardship).
  • Jesus gives authority and responsibility to the apostles, continuing this pattern of empowering people.

2. The Calling and Sending of the Apostles

• A Motley Crew
  • The apostles were not chosen for their merit or status (included a tax collector and a future betrayer).
  • “It’s normative for Jesus to do the things that you don’t expect him to do...God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise.” (00:25)
• Sovereign Selection
  • They were chosen by Christ’s "sovereign will and volition," not personal qualities.

3. The Pattern: Called, then Sent

• Immediate Sending
  • “When God calls individuals in Scripture, you’ll notice that right thereafter, he sends them.” Examples: Moses → Egypt, Jonah → Nineveh, Paul → Gentiles. (00:35)
• Sent with a Specific Mission
  • The apostles are sent “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v.5–6):
    • Pointed explanation: Not all are sent everywhere; callings are context-specific.
• Application to All Believers
  • “If God has called you out…he’s done so with the intention to send you to someone, to minister to them.”(00:42)
  • All Christians are sent, not just pastors or missionaries.

4. Message and Miracles

• Twofold Commission
  • Miraculous works validated their authority (“heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons”).
  • Central message: “As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'” (00:47)
• Urgency of Proclamation
  • Analogy of a burning theater: Don't offer distractions (popcorn), offer rescue (the gospel).
  • “We need to tell people the world’s on fire...there's a means of rescue: the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (00:50)

5. Sent Without Provision: Trust and Glory

• Deliberate Unpreparedness
  • Jesus instructs them to take no extra money or supplies:
    • “Most of the time when we do anything in life, we think, 'I’ve got to get kitted out, I’ve got to be prepared.'...But that's not the way this works.” (00:55)
• Why Go Unprepared?
  • So success would not be credited to personal preparation, but to God:
    • “Because then you'll trust in those things...I'm sending you out without the full provisioning...and when you accomplish these things, God's going to get the glory.” (01:01)

6. Reception, Rejection, and the Gravity of Response

• How to Respond to Acceptance or Rejection
  • When welcomed, bless the household; if rejected, “shake off the dust from your feet”—a gesture borrowed from Jewish customs toward Gentile lands. (01:07)
• Severity of Rejecting the Gospel
  • Jesus warns: “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” (01:11)
    • Sodom and Gomorrah are used as ultimate examples of wickedness and divine wrath.
    • The severity for those rejecting Christ is greater because of the greater "light" (revelation) they've received.
• Notable Quote:
  • “How people react to you sharing the gospel is not your problem...The objective is that you’re obedient to what God would have you do, irrespective of the outcome.” (01:16)
• Mission and Fruitfulness
  • Success is measured by obedience, not results. “God determines the nature, quantity and size of the fruit that which is grown.” (01:18)

7. The Greatest Sin: Rejecting Christ

• Judgment is proportional to light received
  • John Calvin: “The greater the light that is given, the more severe the judgment.”
  • The sin of rejecting Jesus—when He has been proclaimed and made known—is considered the greatest, deserving the most grave consequences. (01:24)
• Crucifixion Scene: Easter as the Ultimate Example
  • Both thieves mocked Jesus, but one experienced regeneration, believed, and was welcomed into paradise:
    • Jesus: “Truly, truly, this day you will be with me in paradise.” (01:29)

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Divine Delegation:
  • “God is complete. There is no hole inside of God that you came along and filled. God is complete. He does not require us to do his good pleasure.” (00:03)
• On God’s Choice:
  • “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise...Consistently, regularly, God has taken the least of these, the choices you would never take.” (00:25)
• On Mission:
  • “If God has called you, then he has sent you.” (00:42)
• On Urgency:
  • “Dying people in a theater…they need to know the way out of the danger that would otherwise consume them.” (00:50)
• On Trust:
  • “When God accomplishes wonderful things through them, then they would know that he gets all the glory.” (01:03)
• On Results:
  • “You going and sharing the gospel, irrespective of how someone responds, that touches the heart of God...irrespective of what the outcome is. That's above our pay grade.” (01:18)
• On Judgment:
  • “There’s no greater sin in this than to deny the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is the greatest sin, and that's why it warrants the greatest judgment.” (01:26)
• On Salvation:
  • “Saved through Christ alone, through grace alone, through faith alone, as instructed to us through his word alone.” (01:32)

Important Timestamps

• 00:02: The self-sufficiency of God—why He does not need us.
• 00:10: Analogy of a father and child—delegation as formation.
• 00:25: Unexpected, motley nature of the apostolic callings.
• 00:35: God’s calling followed by immediate sending—examples from Scripture.
• 00:42: Application: all Christians are called and sent.
• 00:47: The central message: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
• 00:50: Urgency & clarity of the gospel via the burning theater illustration.
• 00:55: Jesus sends the disciples with minimal preparation.
• 01:03: Success and glory belong to God alone.
• 01:07: Instructions for encountering hospitality or rejection.
• 01:11: Sodom and Gomorrah as examples—the gravity of rejecting Christ.
• 01:18: Encouragement: obedience is the marker, not outcomes.
• 01:24: John Calvin quoted on judgment and light.
• 01:29: Crucifixion scene—thief’s conversion as ultimate example of grace.

Conclusion

The host passionately underscores that all believers are both called and sent by God as ambassadors in their unique contexts. Success is not determined by fruit but by faithful obedience. The seriousness of our response to Christ’s message is emphasized, as is the incomparably greater light (and thus responsibility) of living after the Incarnation and Resurrection. The episode closes by contrasting the two thieves on the cross as models for humanity’s possible responses, pointing listeners toward embracing, rather than rejecting, Christ.