Itchy Ear

July 2, 2025 Wednesday

Mama Said 

Matthew 10:1 ESV

There is an old saying or line of thought that if your ear itches it means someone is coming

to see you.

In Matthew 10:1 we are told, “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them

authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”

It goes without saying that once Jesus gave His disciples authority to heal and cast out evil,

the news got out very quickly. If the old saying had been true they would have had very itchy

ears.

In truth, they really would have been the talk of the town. Like  today, word like that would

have spread like wildfire. It’s difficult for us to put that into perspective because our lives

today are totally different. We have educated doctors to turn to when we are ill. We have

health insurance, in many cases really good health insurance. But people would still come if it was free.

They had nothing.

So for Jesus to give authority and power to perform miracles they would have really been the talk

of the town. Even though the 12 disciples had been following Jesus for a while up until that

point they would have been there to help Jesus with crowd control. Suddenly, their job

description changed. I don’t think Jesus gave them power simply because he was tired of

healing people. I think He gave them power because He knew he would not always be there.

Jesus knew in the beginning having that power could be overwhelming and he wanted to

make sure He was there to guide them as they learned.

Of course, I could be totally wrong but it seems to me having the gift of healing any and every disease

would carry with it great responsibility and require humility. Because of that Jesus wanted to be able to guide

them as they learned how to deal with this new gift.

More to the point, Jesus knew He would not always be there to help them. Jesus knew what was coming.

He knew they would scatter and be very afraid once He was arrested. Personally it stands

to reason that after Jesus’ arrest they would have been very afraid.

Up until that point they would have simply been basking in His shadow.

I love the movie “The Chosen” mostly because I am a visual learner. Getting an idea of

what Jesus and the Disciples felt was a very helpful reminder about their world. They WERE

fully human.

Deborah/acrazyjourney.com