CRITICAL NOTES
Matthew 10:17. Synagogues.—The ecclesiastical and civil elements were so thoroughly inter-blended among the Jews, that “in every synagogue,” says Lightfoot, “there was a civil triumvirate,” or judicatory of three. These magistrates sat in judgment on all cases that required to be treated judicially (Morison).
Matthew 10:23. Till the Son of man be come.—The immediate reference is, probably, to the destruction of Jerusalem.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 10:16-23
Special cautions.—This word “behold” seems to invite us to take a new view of affairs. What is the Saviour really doing in sending forth His Apostles (Matthew 10:5-15)? The Saviour answers for Himself (the “I” is emphatic). “I am sending you forth as sheep among wolves.” Therefore it is that He would have them both “wary” and “guileless.” Never forget that you are exposed to evil. Never be tempted to evil methods of guarding against it. From this principal stem three branches grow out:—
I. Do not trust in mankind.—On the contrary “beware” (Matthew 10:17) even of those (He is speaking to Jews) of your own country and race, who meet in “synagogues” and higher “councils” for the administration of justice. You must expect little justice from them. Rather as far as their powers go (to “scourging” e.g.) they will be exerted against you; and, not satisfied with this, they will invoke against you the more extreme powers of “Gentile” rulers and “kings” (Matthew 10:18). All this, also, will come upon you because of your connection with Me (for My sake); and must be borne with by you, you must remember further, on that very account. For your doing so will enable you to bear “testimony,” that is to say, to do the work you are called to in a most effectual way, viz. in higher quarters, amongst wider numbers, and with greater force than could otherwise be the case. See Acts 4:10; 2 Timothy 4:17; Philippians 1:12-13, etc.
II. Do not trust in yourselves.—To this they might be tempted by the very point named last. If this “testimony” of theirs was so important a thing both to others and themselves, how equally important that they should seek to make it the best in their power. The inference was natural, but not a correct one. Rather, the Saviour says, it is in that exact direction that I would next have you beware. Beware of thinking that the success of your “testimony” depends on yourselves. Beware even of supposing that, in giving it, you will be left to yourselves; or that it will be necessary for you to take long and anxious thought beforehand as to how or what ye shall say. On the contrary the knowledge of this “at the time itself” shall be yours as a gift (Matthew 10:19). For the truth is, that, in cases like these, where it is God’s own providence that has virtually made you ambassadors of Him for the time, the word that ye speak is the word in reality of a far higher than you (Matthew 10:20). Be only anxious, therefore, not to be anxious about what ye shall say (cf. Acts 4:13; Acts 6:10; Acts 7 passim).
III. Do not be weary of trusting in Me.—In the circumstances named they might sometimes be tempted to this. Sometimes, e.g., they might find those nearest to them to be the most bitter against them; the “brother” who is “born for adversity” (Proverbs 17:17), being the very one to bring adversity on his brother in its most terrible shape (Matthew 10:21). Or the author of life being the one to promote its taking away; or the life bestowed be that which sets itself to take the life of its author away (ibid.). With these, naturally, all sorts of men (Matthew 10:22) might be leagued together against them; all, in fact, being as one in their common opposition to Christ. How great the temptation, therefore, in such circumstances, to one of two things. The temptation to give up one’s profession, and so escape that deluge of hate; or the temptation to give up hope, and battle against the evil no more. Against the first of these temptations the end of Matthew 10:22 seems to speak. He that gives up his profession will not be “saved”; only those who “endure” to the “end.” Against the other the assurance of Matthew 10:23 seems to be directed. Never give up hope, for, in any circumstances, there will always be some means of escape—some city of refuge somewhere in Israel, when all others are closed (2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 3:10). This will be true even until “the Son of man be come.” After that, places of refuge will be wanted no more.
Thus it was that our Saviour taught His disciples to look forward to their work. His words are not bright words in the usual sense of that term. Yet how truly wise, and therefore how truly kind they were may be seen by considering:—
1. The effect they had on the disciples.—First, negatively. They turned no one back. Another cause turned the traitor back. Next, positively. They sent all the rest forward, ready to encounter, equipped to battle with, able to conquer, all He had said. What is the church now, in fact, with all its drawbacks, but a living proof of this truth? It is the result, under God, of their labours, and sorrows, and courage, and perseverance, and faith. Such a result like that we read of in 1 Samuel 17:39-40, proves the wisdom of the original choice.
2. The effect they ought to have on ourselves.—Where can we seek for a surer foundation than in such an initiatory experience as this? Weapons and instruments and buildings of importance to many are often tested at first by being exposed to a greater strain than can ever afterwards come to them in practice. Was it not something thus at first with these Apostles of Christ (1 Corinthians 4:9).
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES
Matthew 10:16, True wisdom.—The properties of this good wisdom are these:
1. To perceive and understand evils and dangers.
2. To do evil unto none, but to pardon and forgive those who offend and injure us.
3. To suspect evils from evil men, especially those who hate us; for Christ Himself would not commit Himself unto the Jews (John 2:24).
4. To keep our own counsel; for it is lawful to conceal some truths. A man is not bound by his own babbling to betray himself; it being the part of a fool to utter all his mind (Proverbs 29:11).
5. To avoid peril, and not to run into the lion’s mouth.
6. To endure patiently and contentedly the evils which lie upon us.
7. So to live that we give no offence, either to the Jew, the Gentile, or the church of God.
8. To profess Christ and religion in sincerity, not show; in truth, not in hypocrisy.—Richard Ward.
True simplicity.—What is this good simplicity that we must labour for? Wherein doth it consist?
1. In a single heart (Acts 2:46).
2. In a tender conscience, and a fear to sin or offend God.
3. In a single tongue.
4. In a boldness unto that which is good.—Ibid.
Serpents and doves.—The Apostles of Christ, when persecuted, were not to attempt to meet force by force of the same description. They could no more fight their enemies than sheep can fight a pack of wolves. Yet the result of the conflict was to be in favour of the “little flock.” The meek endurance of the Apostles and other messengers of Christ was to win a signal victory. By a double reference to the serpents and the doves of Palestine, the Lord indicated to His Apostles the spirit in which they ought to meet hardship and violence, viz., by a blending of qualities, a balancing and harmonising of apparent opposites, which no one attains to without pains and prayer. The servants of Christ should be, on the one hand, wary, but not crafty; on the other, simple, but not simpletons.
I. “Wary as the serpents.”—The illustration must be confined to the one point which is indicated. He who, on another occasion, stigmatised the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees as “serpents” and “the offspring of vipers” was not likely to bid His Apostles be “as serpents.” He spoke of serpent-like prudence evidently with an exclusive reference to the shrewd instinct by which those creatures perceive impending danger and avoid it. His Apostles ought not to offer themselves to injury or martyrdom, or involve themselves needlessly in trouble or danger. They were bound to use discretion, and even astuteness, in avoiding mischief and guarding life and liberty. “Beware of men” is the counsel which immediately follows. It may be supposed that men hardly need exhortation to take care of themselves; but in point of fact men do need such admonition when they are carried away by a strong enthusiasm. It is a familiar incident in war that young soldiers, ardent and burning for distinction, foolishly and unnecessarily expose themselves, and are with difficulty restrained. Something like this appeared in the church of Christ after a generation or two had passed. There arose a fanatical thirst for martyrdom, stimulated by the excessive honour which had come to be paid to the names and relics of the slain confessors of Christ. But this was a departure from the example and teaching of the Saviour Himself and of His Apostles. The general principle is that a servant of Christ should not court reproach, invite trouble, or involve himself in suffering or in danger, if he may honourably and conscientiously avoid it. And by inference we get a similar direction for active service. Zeal is good, but, if not associated with tact and discretion, it may do harm by provoking irritation against the truth and exposing holy things to contempt.
II. “And guileless as the doves.”—No doubt the word “harmless” has an appropriate meaning, for the Apostles were to suffer wrong, not to inflict it. But such is the idea conveyed in the figure of unresisting sheep surrounded by wolves. The characteristic of the dove intended by Christ was evidently meant to balance the knowingness of the serpent. And this is the unwiliness of that bird—the figure of a pure and ingenuous nature. So the Apostles of Christ, while behaving themselves prudently, were to ignore wiles and stratagems, and pursue their ministry with a holy frankness and simplicity. The Lord Jesus is the consummate example to illustrate His own teaching. He was always on His guard, and penetrated all the manœuvres and plots of those who watched and hated Him. He fell into none of their snares; never lost self-possession; never spoke at random; uttered all His words and conducted all His intercourse with infinite discretion. But He formed no counterplots and devised no stratagems. No craft was in His bosom; no guile was in His mouth. Everywhere He showed that the Spirit which rested upon Him had descended in the form of a dove.—D. Fraser, D.D.
Wisdom with simplicity.—I. Let me speak of knowledge and sincerity; light as well as love in social and domestic life.—Christian charity shows itself not in being blind to faults in others, but in graciously bearing with them and with the gentle tact of the loving heart dealing with them. It is the clear-sighted, yet large-hearted, considerate person who is the most reliable friend. It is not the parent who is so stupid as not to see his children as others see them, who gives the highest proofs of parental affection. It is a much stronger evidence of love to bear in the right spirit with faults which fuller acquaintance reveals after marriage than what it was not to be aware of their existence before marriage. It is when the head does its duty that the heart has its opportunity of showing its goodness.
II. Intelligence and rectitude—the wisdom of the serpent and the harmlessness of the dove—or light and love in business.—If a man has received intellectual energy to succeed in business, is he to put his light under a bushel? No; it is his duty to show his wisdom, sagacity, enterprise, by trying to succeed in business. He should be shrewd in his dealings, that is, of nice discernment as the result of careful scrutiny; he should be prudent in his investments, that is, provident, far-seeing, taking as accurate a gauge as possible of the probable course of things in the commercial world, avoiding what is risky, not hasting to be rich, and yet seeking a reasonable and fair return. He should have his wits about him in buying, and his suavity should not fail in selling; in short, he should have common sense, which is a sound judgment in common things all round, and should as far as possible manifest the power that leads to success, such as Abraham, Joseph, and Daniel, and other saints of God have attained in all ages. But then there is the other side—the harmlessness of the dove, integrity, honour, rectitude, unmixedness. There is moral principle to control the desire and the power to succeed.
III. Knowledge and sincerity, light and love in religion.—The two distinct types in the religious world are zeal without knowledge, and knowledge without zeal. The faith that is without intelligence and the intelligence that has lost the robustness and vitality of its faith—we should decline to be driven either to the one extreme or the other.—Jas. Stark.
Matthew 10:23. A precept and a reason for it.—The precept is unusual and the reason ambiguous.
I. The precept is a precept of prudence.—It says, there is a great work before you—a work which requires workmen. The labourers are few at the best, and they must not be made fewer by wanton self-sacrifices. Think of the work, think of the object, think of souls, think of the Saviour; think of these more than of yourselves. Martyrdom itself may be a sublime selfishness, enthusiasm may exaggerate even sacrifice; or, at least, the sacrifice of the life may be nobler, more heroic, more divine than the sacrifice of the death. Each as God wills; but you must interpret the will of God by the exigencies of the work. Flight may be courage, if it be flight for Christ and with Christ.
II. The work of Christ in the world will never be finished till He comes.—Not only will the workmen, one by one, be removed by death—the work itself will be cut short, unfinished, by the advent of Christ. “Ye shall not have finished the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.” Our Lord thus ministers to our necessities by warning us against several mistakes which are apt to spoil and ruin true work. One of these is the demand beforehand for a roundness and completeness of defined duty, which is not often to be found, and which must certainly not be waited for. The life and work, and the Christ-work of which this text tells, are never finished till the Son of man comes.
1. One reason for this lies in the mere sequence of human generations. Births and deaths are incessant. “One generation goeth, and another generation cometh,” but they are both on the stage at once during a large part of the lifetime of earth, and the board is never cleared for a new beginning.
2. Another and a deeper reason lies in the nature of the work. The most real work of all is the intangible, impalpable thing which we call influence. Influence is the thing which Christ looks for, and it is an indefinite, and so an interminable thing.
3. We can see one other reason for this arrangement—the incompleteness of all work that is worth the name; and it is the security thus given for the salubriousness of labour.—C. J. Vaughan, D.D.