1 Jesus called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; 3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5 Jesus sent these twelve out, and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. 6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’”

Matthew 10:1-7 - World English Bible

After Jesus commanded his followers to pray for missionaries (“harvesters in the fields” in Matthew 9:38), he chose the Twelve. These were the apostles, a term that meant “those sent out.” He began with the first he called, the two sets of brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, then listed the men in descending order (according to Matthew's gospel), finally naming Judas Iscariot. In the end, he commanded them to go in pairs and do what he did, preach the Good News to the lost sheep among the people of Israel.

Thus began the second or “Missionary” discourse that we will investigate over the next week.

Jesus calls you by name for a mission. What is your mission? Who are you to bring the Good News to?