Jesus’s Grace for Ministry Transferred to His Partners
Elijah’s anointing for ministry transferred to Elisha in a lengthy period of training and baton change:
(1 Kings 19:19–21 NLT) So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat plowing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. {20} Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” {21} So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.
The training, transfer, overlap period between Elijah and Elisha, and its outcome was prophetically pictured at the beginning of the changeover; Elijah threw his mantle over the untrained Elisha while he was working on his father’s farm. This pictured God’s intention for Elisha; he wanted him to operate in the spirit and power of Elijah, as a prophet. But it could only happen if he would take up the call to go with Elijah and serve him—partnering with him in his assignment. This was so the transfer of ministry mantle could happen in this period of overlap, like a baton change in a relay race. It concluded when Elijah’s mantle fell to Elisha as Elijah was ascending in a whirlwind to heaven—confirming that the training and transfer was complete:
(2 Kings 2:11, 13 NLT) As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. ... {13} Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. …
(2 Kings 2:13 NKJV) He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him …
Only after the lengthy overlap period of personal training from his master; and only after faithfully serving the anointing while it was still on Elijah, did God deem Elisha ready for his supernatural ministry to begin. It started the moment he took up Elijah’s mantle that fell to him. Then, and only then, did he operate under the double portion of Elijah’s anointing that he had wanted (See: 2 Kings 2:9).
In a similar way, Jesus prepared his apprentice apostles in a three-year overlap period. During that time, he trained them, coached them, mentored them, and brought them to complete competence for their call and assignment. When he had concluded this overlap and his personal ministry on earth, Jesus ascended. About forty days later, his anointing / mantle also “fell” from heaven to his waiting apprenticeship graduates (on the day of Pentecost). At that moment, Jesus’s trainees’ preparation to perpetuate and expand his ministry and calling was complete; they were ready to “go into all the world and preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15 NKJV). The same grace and Holy Spirit presence that empowered Jesus was now on them. The rest is history.
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Jesus Prayed for His Gospel Partners
This is the prayer Jesus prayed for his partnering apostles while still here in his pre-cross ministry:
(John 17:9, 14, 17–18 NKJV) “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ... {14} “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ... {17} “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. {18} As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
Jesus repeated the last part of what he said in this prayer to his astonished apostles in his post-resurrection appearance to them:
(John 20:21 NKJV) So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
This clearly confirms Jesus’s vision to see his call to the gospel and his grace for ministry transfer to his partners; he talked to his Father about sending them exactly as his Father had sent him—sanctified by his word and clothed in his power.
Today, as Jesus’s partner in the mission his Father delegated to him (and to those of us who are in him), expect his mantle for ministry to clothe you. He already prayed for his Father to sanctify you by his truth—obviously answered, “Yes!” Also be aware that he has not left you to do this alone; he has sent his Holy Spirit to be with you and in you as your comforter, and he is covering you with His intercession and proclaiming your case at his Father’s right hand.