Jesus Appoints and Sends Out The Twelve To Proclaim The Kingly Rule of Heaven With Admonitions, Warnings And Final Promises (9:35-11:1).
In this section Jesus appoints and sends out His twelve Apostles. His purpose for them is that they might proclaim the Kingly Rule of Heaven, and reveal its presence on earth by the signs and miracles that will result as they evangelise (Matthew 10:1; Matthew 10:7-8). But He is full aware that their message will only be accepted by the minority as He has made clear in Matthew 7:13-27. So He warns them of two things. Firstly that they are not to expect total success in their evangelism, and secondly that they must expect to sometimes have a rough time of it.
In regard to the first He points out that their ministry will rather result in dividing the nation into two, splitting off those who respond to their message, from those who reject it. This was what they should have expected, for, as He had already taught, while some will choose to enter the narrow gate, they will be the comparatively few, while others will choose the broad gate, and they will be the many (Matthew 7:13-14). Some will choose to build on rock because they hear and respond to His teaching, others will choose to build on sand because they refuse to hear and respond (Matthew 7:24-27). And this was indeed something that had already been indicated by John's teaching concerning the wheat and the chaff (Matthew 3:12). So whatever the disciples were expecting, Jesus was fully aware of the difficulties of the way ahead, and was not even expecting that the majority of the Jews would respond.
This is confirmed in His words to the twelve as He now sends them out for the first time. Rather than seeing all the Jews as responding to them, His clear indication is that they will split ‘Israel' into two, or rather will cut off from Israel all who refuse to believe. This He demonstrates as follows:
As they go out some persons and towns will refuse to hear them and to make a response, and those who do refuse to hear them are to be cut off from the new Israel. The very dust of their houses or towns is to be shaken off from the disciples' feet as a testimony against them in the coming judgment (Matthew 10:14-15). By this it is indicated that they are no longer accepted as a part of Israel. On the other hand this very fact confirms that others are expected to hear and respond.
Some will bring them before synagogue courts, and even Gentile secular courts because they will reject their message and hate them for it. This was the common lot of non-conformists in Palestine, compare Acts 8:1; Acts 22:4; Acts 26:9-11 (Matthew 10:17-18).
Families will be divided down the middle, with some responding to Jesus, and others persecuting them for doing so by demanding that they be treated as false prophets, compare Deuteronomy 13:1-11 (Matthew 10:21-22).
Indeed His Apostles must expect to be driven from town to town by persecution (Matthew 10:23).
Some will call them Beelzebub just as they have called Him Beelzebub, compare Matthew 9:34; Matthew 12:24; Matthew 12:27 (Matthew 10:25).
Some will seek to kill their bodies, compare 21-22 (Matthew 10:28).
Some will confess Him before men, and some will deny Him (Matthew 10:32-33).
He has not come to bring peace on earth -- but to divide even individual households into two opposing segments (Matthew 10:34-36).
People will have to choose between their loved ones and Him, and between taking up their cross or refusing to do so (Matthew 10:37-38).
People will have to choose between holding on to their lives, or ‘losing them' by responding to Him (Matthew 10:39).
So it is clear from all this that Jesus was not expecting a mass movement by which most or all Jews would turn to Him and enter the Kingly Rule of Heaven. He was very much aware of the tensions in Galilean society, and the thoughtless fanaticism of many. And He recognised from the start that His Apostles' preaching would bring bitter division, as some responded to His truth and some rejected it.
As we shall see later it was quite clear to Him that in setting up a new ‘congregation of Israel' in the midst of the old, and thereby setting aside the unbelieving of old Israel, He was expressing a revolutionary new idea which would result in a new nation which could hardly be acceptable to the old regime. From then on the majority of ‘Israel' would no longer be seen as Israel at all. The nation would be take from them and given to a nation producing its fruits (Matthew 21:43). For just as the Israel of Sinai were all cut off in the wilderness, and none, apart from rare exceptions, entered the land, being replaced by a new generation, (so that a ‘new Israel' entered the land), so now God would cut off a large part of present Israel because of their rejection of their King, and form a new Israel from what remained. From then on they and they alone would be the true Israel, and it would be open to all who responded to Jesus Christ.
Many seek to argue that some of the words spoken in what follows could not have been spoken by Jesus at this time, given the circumstances in which they found themselves. They claim that none of these things described actually happened to the disciples on these preaching trips. But that is to make unwarrantable assumptions on the basis of our lack of knowledge, and by reading between the lines. We do not in fact know what problems the Apostles encountered on their journeys, and when we think of the stirring impact that their mission must have made (twelve effective wonder workers appearing among them, compare Luke 12:17) it must be considered quite possible, indeed probable, that some of them were dragged before synagogue courts, and even before Herod and local governors, and given a beating before they were then let go as a warning to them. So if we do want to read between the lines, it would seem reasonable to suggest that we should do so in terms of what is written in those lines. (We have nothing else to go by, and the Scriptures often describe commands and warnings while not describing how they were carried out and fulfilled, even though they were, e.g. Exodus 17:1-7).
And if some ask, why is it then not mentioned we have two replies. Firstly that the Gospels are concentrating on the presence and doings of Jesus Christ, and only cursorily mention the doings of Apostles, and secondly that, just as Matthew assumes that his readers will gather from these words that their mission actually was carried out (he does not actually say so), so he and the other evangelists may have assumed that their readers would recognise that these other things did also happen. We might also add that they were probably so used to it in their own ministries that they did not see it as anything unusual (note how James the leading Apostle could be martyred and it only be mentioned briefly so as to indicate an attack on the Apostles in Jerusalem. There was no interest in the actual martyrdom (Acts 12:2).
There is in fact nothing described in Jesus' words, apart from His own firm demands on them, that would not be reasonably anticipated by someone who was familiar with the Law and the Prophets. Consider for example:
The treatment that was to be meted out to those who were seen as false prophets (Deuteronomy 13:1-11), which was the same as that described here.
What had happened to the Old Testament prophets (e.g. 2 Chronicles 24:21; Jeremiah 18:18; Jeremiah 37:15).
The prophetic warnings about what was to happen in the future (Micah 7:6; Isaiah 66:5; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10-12; Zechariah 13:7-9).
And we must ever remember Jesus' deliberate tendency to exaggerate in order to bring home His point. We have only to consider the Sermon on the Mount to recognise the vividly exaggerated way in which He would lay out His case so as to prepare them for the worst (e.g. Matthew 5:22-26; Matthew 5:29-30). The One Who could give such warnings in such vivid terms would be likely to do the same here. And that is what we find. (Rhetoric must not always be take literally. It is intended to spur men on. Despite Churchill none of us ever fought the enemy on the beaches of the UK). But there is no reason to doubt that the persecution and family problems that He describes did actually happen and would go on happening, as they still do to some today. Families would treat converts to Jesus as ‘dead' to the family, and there may well have been some cases of actual death. The fact that the Gospel writers saw them as simply a necessary part of their testimony, and therefore as not worth mentioning, should not make us say that they did not happen. For in the light of the way the Old Testament prophets were treated, what Jesus describes had to be anticipated. And this would especially be so given the fact that their erstwhile fellow missionary John was lying in prison, something almost totally ignored by the Gospels, and that the reputation of the Herod family for the arrogant treatment of their subjects was well known. We must therefore emphasise that there is nothing in Jesus' words, (once toned down in order to take into account the deliberate exaggeration, and rhetoric), which could not have been their present experience, as we shall see further as we consider the text. The disciples had to expect the worst.
For Jesus would not have been fair to His disciples if He had not warned them of the dangers that lay ahead in these terms. They were the new prophetic men who were taking on the mantle of the prophets, and He must have expected them to be persecuted as the prophets had been (Matthew 5:11, compare Matthew 23:34-35). And this was especially so in view of His own words already on record from an early stage that He Himself expected a ‘taking away' of Himself that would give His disciples reason for mourning (Matthew 9:15). Thus He clearly already had a dark foreboding about the future. And besides He had Himself already experienced what close neighbours could do at Nazareth when they objected to the truth (Luke 4:29), and how volatile the people could be. Had He not been Who He was He might well already be dead. And He already knew of the fervency of the feelings of the Pharisees against Him (Matthew 9:34). The Galileans were a fanatical people, and easily stirred in religious matters. Thus He would have had to be very shortsighted not to expect some kind of violent opposition from both the authorities and the people when His Apostles went out, especially as some of the Apostles might quite easily trespass on parts of Galilee where Gentile influence was more pervasive, in their aim to reach all Jews, even possibly causing a stir in Jewish parts of cities like Tiberias (which was mainly occupied by Gentiles), and may well in their enthusiasm not have been guarded in their words. In fact His aim to limit their preaching to Jews may well have had as one reason behind it His reserve against their reaching out further until they were better trained, on the grounds of what might be the consequences from the point of view of the reaction of the authorities, which might be too much for them at the present time, and that even though He was quite clear in His own mind that God had a welcome for Gentiles (Matthew 8:10-13; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke 4:24-27). For in view of the fact that He had already arranged for some Gentiles to hear the truth about Him (Mark 5:19-20; compare also John 4:4-42), even though in a way to which none could not object, we do need to have some explanation of why His concentration was so wholly on the lost sheep of the house of Israel. For we must remember that His early life had been sustained by gifts from Gentiles (Matthew 2:11).
Once examined the whole passage is in fact seen to be a basic unity, being put together in the form of a chiasmus, the second half reflecting the first in reverse order, whilst also expanding on the thoughts contained in it.
Analysis of Matthew 9:35 to Matthew 11:1.
a Jesus goes through all their towns preaching the Good News of the Kingly Rule of Heaven and healing disease and sickness, but when He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and scattered, as sheep not having a shepherd (Matthew 9:35-36).
b Then He says to His disciples, “The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth labourers into His harvest”. And He called to Him His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the public servant; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him (Matthew 9:37 to Matthew 10:4)
c These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, “Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, The kingly rule of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give” (Matthew 10:5-8).
d Get you no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your purses; no food wallet for your journey; neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff. For the labourer is worthy of his food” (Matthew 10:9-10).
e “And into whatever city or village you shall enter, search out who in it is worthy, and there stay until you go forth. And as you enter into the house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you” (Matthew 10:11-13)
f “And whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, as you go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet, truly I say to you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:14-15)
g “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be you therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
h “But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you, yes and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:17-18).
i “But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious how or what you shall speak, for it will be given you in that hour what you shall speak, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matthew 10:19-20).
j “And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated of all men for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved” (Matthew 10:21-22).
k “But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for truly I say to you, You will not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come (Matthew 10:23).
j “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!” (Matthew 10:24-25).
i “Do not be afraid of them therefore, for there is nothing covered, that will not be revealed, and hid, that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak you in the light, and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops” (Matthew 10:26-27).
h “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
g “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall on the ground without your Father, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).
f “Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).
e “Do not think that I came to send peace on the earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law, and a man's foes will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36).
d “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me, is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37-38).
c He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).
b “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever will give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you he will in no wise lose his reward” (Matthew 10:40-42).
a And it came about that when Jesus had finished commanding his twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities” (Matthew 11:1).
Note that in ‘a' Jesus went all about their towns and saw the crowds that were thronging Him as being like sheep without a shepherd, and that in the parallel He goes out to preach and teaches in their towns. In ‘b' He commissions His disciples for their preaching ministry and, calling them by name, gives them Kingly authority over evil spirits, death and disease, and in the parallel declares that because they go out in His Name their being received will be the same as if those who received them were receiving Him, and thus receiving Him Who sent Him. In ‘c' they are to go to Israel freely giving of themselves, and in the parallel this is seen as losing their lives for His sake (compare Matthew 19:29). In ‘d' they are to take no provisions with them because the labourer is worthy (axios) of his hire, and in the parallel such worthiness is spelled out. In ‘e' they are to offer or withhold peace, and in the parallel He points out that for the majority His purpose is not to bring peace. In ‘f' He warns of judgment on those who refuse their testimony, and in the parallel those who do not confess Him will not be confessed before His Father. In ‘g' they are to go forth as sheep and to be as harmless as birds, and in the parallel they are treasured because they are more important than birds. In ‘h' they will be brought before different types of court, and in the parallel they are not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul. In ‘i' they are not to be anxious because the Spirit of their Father will speak in them, and in the parallel they are not to be afraid of men because Jesus Himself will tell them what to speak in the light and they will hear in their ear what they are to declare from the housetops. In ‘j' households will be divided because of Him and they will be hated of all men for His Name's sake, and in the parallel because men have called Him Beelzebub they will call them the same. And centrally in ‘k' in the face of persecution they are to persevere with their ministry until He comes to them.