Meet the 12 – sent out with authority and compassion:

(I’m typing this part from memory – thanks to a Bryan Sirchio song.) It may help the mood of this entry if you imagine a powerful-voiced TV announcer saying the names. (The parts in parentheses are the words from Bryan’s song that made the names easier for me to memorize.)
Matthew, Thomas, John and James (the first of two).  Philip, Peter Andrew and Bartholomew. (The other) James, (zealous) Simon, (fickle) Judas and (nothing rhymes with) Thaddeus.

These 12 are going out to proclaim the good news, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons. There’s no prize for the one who proclaims and heals the most. As a matter of fact – there’s no prize at all.

Except for the harassed and helpless – the sheep without a shepherd.

We’ll be following each of the 12 as they go from village to village – finding places to stay, how they react to being welcomed or how they react to being unwelcome. We’ll see them chased, arrested, tried and convicted for the deeds they do.  We’ll see them endure to the end.

This is “The 12”

How do you think today’s reality TV producers would portray the events from this week’s Bible reading from Matthew 9:35 – 10:23? Would anyone watch the show?