JesusX30 Challenge—Scene 14: THE COMMISSION & THE FALLEN PROPHET

JesusX30 Challenge—Scene 14: THE COMMISSION & THE FALLEN PROPHET 

1. Key Texts

Matthew 10 — Commissioning of the Twelve

Mark 6:7–29 — Sending and the Death of John the Baptist

Luke 9:1–6 — Mission Instructions

Deuteronomy 19:15 — Two Witnesses

Isaiah 40:3–5 — Voice in the Wilderness

John 1:19–34 — John’s Witness to Jesus

2. Outline / Notes

Date & Place

• Summer 28 AD — Galilee and the northern district of Ituraea.

• Jesus’ public campaign is at full momentum—crowds, miracles, and tension rising.

• John the Baptist is imprisoned and executed by Herod Antipas at Machaerus Fortress.

• Jesus commissions the Twelve, sending them out two by two across Galilee’s towns and villages.

Main Accounts

A. John’s Death – The Cost of Truth

• John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and prophetic partner, is executed by Herod Antipas.

• John had publicly condemned Herod for taking his brother’s wife, Herodias—an act forbidden under Jewish law.

• Power retaliates. John is silenced.

• For Jesus, this is not just personal grief—it’s a signal: the prophetic mission now carries lethal risk.

B. The Commission of the Twelve – The Mission Multiplies

• Jesus responds not by retreating but by expanding the mission.

• He sends the Twelve out two by two, giving them authority to heal, cast out demons, and proclaim the Kingdom.

• “Two” ensures credibility (Deut. 19:15) and companionship for endurance.

• They are told to travel light—no bag, no money, no extra tunic. Dependence is part of discipleship.

• This is not about comfort or safety; it’s about trust and urgency.

C. Fear and Power – Herod’s Paranoia

• While the disciples go out, Herod’s court is shaken.

• Rumors of miracles spread, and Herod grows fearful: “It’s John—he’s come back.”

• Fear distorts perception. Power senses the threat of truth even before it faces it directly.

• What the Empire tried to silence has now multiplied.

D. Jesus’ Strategy – Multiply, Don’t Retreat

• John’s death marks the end of innocence in the campaign.

• The movement is now both popular and persecuted.

• Jesus meets violence not with vengeance but with multiplication.

• Instead of hiding, he trains, empowers, and releases others.

3. Main Point

• Scene 14 is the moment when mission meets cost.

• John’s death reveals that prophetic truth will provoke violent resistance.

• Jesus’ response is not fear but multiplication—sending disciples as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom.

4. Exegetical Insight

• “Two by two” mirrors legal witness (Deut 19:15) and emphasizes communal mission, not solo heroism.

• “Sheep among wolves” (Mt 10:16) evokes prophetic vulnerability, echoing Isaiah’s Servant Songs.

• Herod Antipas’ fear (Mk 6:16) shows conscience as a theological theme—power haunted by its own injustice.

• The verb “send” (apostellō) becomes the root of “apostle”—one commissioned, not merely called.

• John’s death foreshadows Jesus’ own: the fate of the prophet becomes the pattern for the Messiah.

5. Reflection Questions

• How do you respond when faith becomes costly or inconvenient?

• What would it mean for you to live “sent”—to carry the Kingdom into your everyday world?

• Where might you be tempted to stay silent when truth demands a voice?

• How does John’s courage and Jesus’ commissioning challenge your picture of discipleship?

6. Action Step / Challenge

• Read Matthew 10 this week. Identify one instruction Jesus gives his disciples that stretches you personally.

• Pray about how to embody that in your own setting—workplace, home, or community.

• Partner with another believer this week (“two by two”) to serve, pray, or witness in a tangible way.

 

Buy the books! 

This 30-day challenge is based on my book trilogy entitled Jesus: The Strategic Life and Mission of the Messiah and His Movement (3 Volumes, Hekhal Publishing Co., 2025).

You can buy or borrow the trilogy at:

Hekhal Publishing Co.

Jesus, vol. 1

Jesus, vol. 2

Jesus, vol. 3

Amazon (print or ebook)

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Episode Transcript

(00:09):
You remember times in your life and maybe even recently when
something happens and you just know there's no going back to
how it was before, right? The COVID, the pandemic for
example, is a time that changed so much that we now call it the
new normal. And especially coming out in

(00:29):
2022 and, and into and trying toreturn to more physical contact
again and, and just trying to get things back to the way they
were before the pandemic hit, right, a new normal.
Those periods, those times, those events that change
everything so clearly and dramatically that there is no
going back. I remember having plenty of

(00:50):
those times growing up in grade school, junior high, where I
would do something stupid, maybeget in trouble at school, and I
realized immediately, man, I just messed up.
I shouldn't have done that. There is no going back.
I try not to have as many of those moments as an adult, but
still it happens. What's up everybody?
I'm Tyson put off and this is scene 14 of the Jesus X30

(01:14):
challenge. We are following scene by scene
the life and messianic campaign of Jesus following my 3 volume
trilogy. Jesus, the strategic life and
mission of the Messiah and his movement.
It's out now. You can buy it on the publishers
website, you can buy it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
wherever you get your books. You can also check it out for
free through library apps like Hoopla OverDrive.

(01:37):
Get your copies and follow along.
We are in scene 14, and this is a pivotal moment in Jesus's
public campaign. It's one of those moments where
some things happen that make it clear to Jesus and those around
him that there's no going back to how it used to be.
So up to this point, Jesus has been teaching.
He's been building his movement wherein the middle months, so

(02:00):
the summertime of 28 AD. So he's been in operation for
like a year and a half by this point.
And he's he's growing crowds, he's healing the sick, he's
casting out demons and he's beginning to challenge the
leaders in the elite, in the opposition and, and, and there's
growing opposition to his movement every step of the way

(02:22):
by this point. His campaign up to this point
has felt full of hope, full of possibility.
It's a grassroots movement, rising and scholarly, but scene
14 is a turning point in his movement.
The tone shifts in his messaging.
The hope is still there, but it's mixed with the realization
is both among Jesus and among his closest followers that

(02:45):
there's there's some risk involved here.
And I mean, they knew it going in.
They knew the risk of following someone along who claimed to be
Messiah and even someone on Jesus level where he's
demonstrating divine power and he's drawing crowds that have
never been drawn before and he'schallenging people that they
understand. There's a risk that they had not

(03:07):
really fully known up to this point.
And two events happened in this scene that are especially
important. OK, first Jesus formally
commissions the 12. He sends out the 12 that he's
called to be his disciples. Now he sends them out as
apostles. Not the same thing.
Disciple and apostle 1 is a follower, a student and

(03:30):
apprentice. The other is someone who's been
sent out on a mission, who's been commissioned.
OK, so Jesus formally commissions, he sends them out
as apostles, as his representatives, his envoys, his
diplomats. OK.
The second is more tragic news arrives to Jesus that John the
Baptist, Jesus's cousin, his hismentor, his prophetic partner,

(03:52):
has been put to death by Herod Antipas.
So you put those two together and you can really feel the air
shift. The atmosphere really changes at
this point because the movement is no longer this thing that's
full of hope. Reality is really setting in.
Jesus is still in the Galilee. So the land is drier, it's
hotter travel as possible. Villages along the sea are are

(04:15):
really highly active. Fishermen are working, farmers
are tending their crops. Everything is is operating like
an agrarian society in full force at this point.
And people are still talking andthis is still traveling around,
doing miracles, teaching, gathering momentum in his
movement up in the Galilee because he knows it's

(04:36):
eventually, as we've talked before, that he's going to have
to head down in Jerusalem and really put his final stamp on
this movement when he goes to the cross.
But right now he's still building his movement and he's
still expanding and he's still prepping those around him
because he knows there's going to come a point where once he
goes to the cross, he rises fromthe dead, he ascends back to

(04:58):
heaven. He's not going to be with his
movement physically in in bodilyphysical form.
So he needs to have his movementand his followers ready to take
the, the reins by the time he, he departs.
So just north of the Galilee in a territory called Iteria,
there's this other story unfolding.

(05:19):
So John the Baptist, we, we knewhim from his really fiery
sermons and movement that he started declaring Jesus the lame
of God, baptizing Jesus, all of this.
We know John the Baptist by now.He's in prison.
He's been in prison for a while under the rule in charge of
Herod Antimus. And then Jesus learns that
John's died, and not just died, but he's been.

(05:40):
That's a big deal. John wasn't just another prophet
to Jesus. He wasn't just the forerunner as
we know him by. John was Jesus's cousin, his
family. He was a few months older.
He was his mentor. He helped Jesus growing up.
And even once Jesus went public,he helped Jesus to understand
not only who he was, but how to unfold his mission and make it

(06:04):
successful. And John, I think, helped Jesus
in that way. So John's voice mattered.
He gave Jesus clarity about his calling.
He publicly declared to his growing movement that Jesus was
the one that they need to follownext.
He embodied what it looked like to stand against corruption both
in the religious and in the political systems.

(06:24):
Remember, John didn't just come out preaching and trying to
convert people. John actually, if you look
closely at the text, John actually called out social
injustices like mistreatment of the poor, hoarding of wealth,
treating people like they're less than because they have less
than those who are in power and those who are at the center of
society. So John, John was more than just

(06:47):
what we would think of as a preacher paving the way for
Jesus to launch some sort of religious movement.
John was actually highly critical of political leaders
who used God's name to abuse others and that got him killed.
Now he's gone, he's been beheaded.
And in particular, John's death comes on the heels of his
criticism of Herod Antipas for his immorality, not just his

(07:09):
policies. John held his political leaders
to a certain ethical and moral standard.
He understood that if you're going to represent God and
you're going to claim to be the anointed power of God, you have
to behave a certain way, not just politically, but morally
and ethically. I think that's important for us
to hear. John actually confronted Herod

(07:30):
Antipas, the ruler at the time. 1 of Herod the Great sons for
marrying Herodias, who was his brother's wife.
It was scandalous. It was unlawful under Jewish law
and everyone knew it. But because Herod Antipus was
the man in power, he, he did it and and it didn't matter.
It mattered to John. And so Herod comes along and he
puts him to death. And from Herod's perspective,

(07:53):
he's eliminated this nuisance. He believes that he has silenced
this major critic of his. The Mark's Gospel tells us is
something a little bit interesting that Herod was was
haunted by John the Baptist in in being haunted, Herod began
hearing reports about Jesus's miracles and his divine powers
and and these these otherworldlythings he was doing it all of a

(08:15):
sudden he starts to think this is John who's been raised from
the dead. That paranoia kind of tells us
how powerful John's voice had been in Herod Antipus's ears and
how dangerous Jesus was by this point.
So for Jesus, John's death with more than sad news was a signal
that this line had been crossed,that Jesus's movement was no

(08:37):
longer just a reform movement inside the synagogue or in the
religious system or or in the grassroots realm.
This was a confrontation, and rulers and powers were getting
involved. He knew he could see what was
coming, that this wasn't going to end with polite debates.
It was going to end when the structures of human empires and

(08:57):
God's empire collided. So in all of this, it's this,
this dangerous environment, uncertain, volatile, that Jesus
commissions the 12 in Matthew 10and Mark 6.
Now he doesn't just send them out and say, hey, go help me
out. He doesn't say go practice a
sermon or two while I'm busy. He gives them his actual

(09:20):
authority to heal the cast out demons, to proclaim the good
news of God's imminent reign. In other words, he delegates
them as his diplomats, as his representatives, as as his
assistants to carry out his mission, just like he's going to
continue to do where he is. I mean, you've got to think

(09:40):
about how shocking that had to be.
Imagine being an apprentice chefand watching your master cook
for months and then suddenly being handed the knives and
told, hey, tonight you're in charge of the kitchen.
We're going for the Michelin star tonight.
You're on deck. Up until now, the disciples had
been observers, pretty much. Now Jesus is putting them into

(10:01):
the game as actors, as participants, as bearers of the
same power and authority that they had seen in Jesus for a
year and a half now. And notice how he sends them
out. Hey, he doesn't just say, hey,
go out. He sends them out two by two.
He sends them out in pairs. And that's interesting because
it's not just a buddy system formorale.

(10:22):
In Jewish law, 2 witnesses were required to validate testimony
according to Deuteronomy 19. This was a credibility thing,
but it was also strategic. It was it was as if a commander
is sending out his elite operatives to do a little Recon.
Go out and and get some practicefor what I'm going to have you

(10:43):
do later on, But but also test the waters.
See how the people are receivingthe message that I'm
establishing a new empire. And then I want you to join me.
Go out and see how it works for now.
And then come back and report tome how it goes. 2 meant that
their message could stand in theface of challenge. 2 meant
support when things got tough. Two meant survival.

(11:06):
OK, he also traveled. He also tells them to travel
light. No bag, no money, no spare
tunic. Why?
Because dependence was part of the mission.
They weren't setting up shop, selling product, or building
comfort. They were witnesses relying on
God and on the hospitality of those they served.
And their vulnerability was, I think, part of the point.

(11:26):
It mirrored the Kingdom they were proclaiming.
And I think this is important tocatch.
OK, Jesus didn't wait until theyhad the building campaign in
place before they went and did the ministry.
Jesus didn't wait until they hadall the government on board and
they had the presidency in both chambers of Congress and they
had the Supreme Court in their back pocket before he engaged

(11:48):
his followers to carry out the mission of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus's movement, and I'm writing a book on this right
now, has always been from the very beginning of movement of
revolt. And Jesus actually warns him
pretty plainly that rejection isgoing to come.
And he says this. I'm sending you out as sheep
among wolves. Not exactly the pep talk that

(12:09):
you'd expect before a big trip, or the pregame pep talk like we
talked about in the previous scene, but it was the truth.
Jesus didn't sugarcoat what theywere going to face.
Some would welcome them, others would drive him out, some would
listen, others would laugh. But that's the cost of speaking
in Jesus name. And it's also again a testimony
to the fact that Jesus is empire.

(12:31):
Jesus Kingdom does not rely on earthly acceptance.
It doesn't rely on being the state-run and enforced religion.
It doesn't rely on everyone thinking and believing the same
thing. So for the disciples, this was a
defining moment. They had seen Jesus face
opposition. They'd seen him heal the sick

(12:51):
and drive out demons and even silent storms.
And now he's saying to them, hey, you go and do the same
things you've seen me do. And they go and do it.
And then they return and they'rechanged in a lot of ways.
They're stronger, they're sharper.
They're telling Jesus the stories about how God's power
was working through them, how the mission didn't crush him,
but it really made them stronger.

(13:13):
So Jesus understands that this commissioning strategically
wasn't just about reaching more villages.
It was also about shaping the men that he commissioned into
leaders who would one day carry the mission forward without
Jesus physically present among them.
He was training them by throwingthem into the fire, throwing
them into the deep end. So these two events side by

(13:34):
side, John does the execution and the commissioning of the 12.
They're contrasting events, right?
But they're they're two coordinating moments that create
this point at which Jesus understands there is no turning
back. And on the one hand, John's
death is, is kind of a reminder of the cost of following Jesus

(13:54):
to speak truth to power instead of trying to align with it for
the sake of Jesus's Kingdom, as so many of us think that we have
to do, is dangerous. Prophetic voices are silenced
courage of this nature, calling our political leaders, calling
our spiritual leaders to a levelof morality that is beyond

(14:17):
everyday expectations. That's dangerous.
Imagine what that would like today in the 21st century as I
am speaking this, if we were to call out some of the horrific
acts and practices that have become the norm among our own
political leaders and hold our own, our own team, right, Not
just the other team. If I'm a Republican, I'm not

(14:37):
just holding the Democrats to this standard.
If I'm a Democrat, I'm not just holding the Republicans in the
standard. If we all held our own team to
the standard that John the Baptist held his own leaders at
the time, I wonder what that would lead to.
Courage can cost you everything,but it's the right thing.
On the other hand, Jesus multiplies the mission.

(14:59):
So instead of retreating in fearwhen he sees this severe
opposition by the people in power, he digs deeper and he
sends his followers out to expand what he's already
started. And the system that thinks that
it can cut off one voice realizes all of a sudden that
Jesus is just going to send out more.
It's just going to expand the system because here's the thing

(15:21):
and this is strategic, this is spiritual, this is theological.
We can talk about this for days but at the end of the day when a
system tries to squash Jesus revolution by by by using force,
by using power, by using strength and might, Jesus always
responds by raising up more followers to send out.

(15:42):
This is the paradox of the Kingdom.
Death tries to silence it but life multiplies in the face of
death. Power tries to stamp it out, but
truth and non resistance and self sacrifice spreads it
further. I think there are a couple of
things we can learn from this scene.
First, the cost of discipleship is real.
John's death isn't just a sad side note, it's a reminder that

(16:04):
following Jesus isn't safe. Second, this is a shared
mission. Jesus doesn't do this alone.
He actually commissions the 12 and he gives them the same
authority that he employs and engages with to represent him so
that they can carry out his workforward and they can embody this
Kingdom in real time. And I think this is critical.
Discipleship isn't passive. You don't just believe, you

(16:27):
follow and you go. You don't just nod along an
agreement. You don't just raise your hand
in church and then go back to whatever you're doing.
Jesus doesn't build fans, he builds partners, and that
principle is still in force today.
The Kingdom doesn't go through celebrity leaders doing all the
work. It grows when ordinary people

(16:47):
take up the call to live it out in self sacrifice, in
revolution. 3rd fear isn't ever the last word.
Herod thought it was. Herod thought killing John would
silence Jesus message, silence John's movement.
Instead it just made him more paranoid and amplified the
movement. When unjust systems strike, they

(17:09):
often expose their own insecurity and fragility.
I mean think about history, tyrants, dictators.
They're always trying to silenceanyone who opposes them, right?
Because they can't handle any criticism, they can't handle
when someone disagrees with them, they can't handle when
someone offers something that they can't offer.
And so they they always believe that silencing their critics is

(17:31):
going to strengthen their rule. And it never happens.
There are a lot of things we cancontinue to talk about with
regard to this particular scene,but at the end of the day, what
we can see and what we can take from this is that following
Jesus means carrying his messageand his actions into places that
don't want it. If there's a group that's

(17:52):
telling you that Jesus movement,that following Christ looks like
power, looks like force, looks like dominion, looks like
violence, looks like shoring up our borders, it is always on the
wrong side of Jesus movement. Jesus's movement is always the
one that embraces weakness. It's always the one that
embraces sacrifice. It's always the one that

(18:13):
embraces love. It's always the one that refuses
to see someone as an enemy. And it's always the one that
holds its own leaders accountable for their personal
behavior, whether they're doing and saying things publicly that
they think, yeah, this is good for our 'cause it always hold
them accountable for their own personal behavior.

(18:33):
Speaking when that's not the popular way to speak is going to
get you in trouble. But that's what it means to
embody the Kingdom in your workplace, in your family, in
your community. The cost is always real.
There's always a cost to following Jesus, but the reward
is eternally greater. So we started by talking about

(18:54):
those moments when we know that the line has been crossed.
There's no turning back for Jesus.
Scene 14 was that moment. John's voice was silenced, but
the mission expanded. The 12 are no longer spectators.
They became agents of Jesus's movement.
And I think that that same call echoes forward to us today.
Jesus is still sending. Jesus is still multiplying.

(19:15):
Jesus is still trusting ordinarypeople with extraordinary news
and that includes us, whether wefeel like it or not, whether we
have been raised or taught to think that we don't belong at
the at the top of Jesus movement.
We should just sit back and let the the good speakers, let the
good looking people, let the wealthy people, let the powerful

(19:36):
people, let the popular people do the do the work because Jesus
would want them to. That's what the world says.
And that is not the Kingdom thatJesus has established.
And He's called you regardless of who you are, regardless of
how little you think you can contribute.
He has called you and sent you out in his authority, in his

(19:56):
power to drive out demons, to heal the sick, to bring
liberation to the poor. And he's calling you to that
today, just like he did to the disciples 2000 years ago.
Let go, Mod, go and learn. Come back for seeing 15 of the
Jesus X30 Challenge.