Matthew 10
10
The Mission of the Twelve. 1#10:1–11:1] After an introductory narrative (Mt 10:1–4), the second of the discourses of the gospel. It deals with the mission now to be undertaken by the disciples (Mt 10:5–15), but the perspective broadens and includes the missionary activity of the church between the time of the resurrection and the parousia. Then he summoned his twelve disciples#His twelve disciples: although, unlike Mark (Mk 3:13–14) and Luke (Lk 6:12–16), Matthew has no story of Jesus’ choosing the Twelve, he assumes that the group is known to the reader. The earliest New Testament text to speak of it is 1 Cor 15:5. The number probably is meant to recall the twelve tribes of Israel and implies Jesus’ authority to call all Israel into the kingdom. While Luke (Lk 6:13) and probably Mark (Mk 4:10, 34) distinguish between the Twelve and a larger group also termed disciples, Matthew tends to identify the disciples and the Twelve. Authority…every illness: activities the same as those of Jesus; see Mt 4:23; Mt 9:35; 10:8. The Twelve also share in his proclamation of the kingdom (Mt 10:7). But although he teaches (Mt 4:23; 7:28; 9:35), they do not. Their commission to teach comes only after Jesus’ resurrection, after they have been fully instructed by him (Mt 28:20). and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.#Mk 3:14–19; Lk 6:13–16; Acts 1:13. 2The names of the twelve apostles#Here, for the only time in Matthew, the Twelve are designated apostles. The word “apostle” means “one who is sent,” and therefore fits the situation here described. In the Pauline letters, the place where the term occurs most frequently in the New Testament, it means primarily one who has seen the risen Lord and has been commissioned to proclaim the resurrection. With slight variants in Luke and Acts, the names of those who belong to this group are the same in the four lists given in the New Testament (see note on Mt 9:9). Cananean: this represents an Aramaic word meaning “zealot.” The meaning of that designation is unclear (see note on Lk 6:15). are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; 4Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
The Commissioning of the Twelve. 5#Mk 6:7–13; Lk 9:1–6. Jesus sent out these twelve#Like Jesus (Mt 15:24), the Twelve are sent only to Israel. This saying may reflect an original Jewish Christian refusal of the mission to the Gentiles, but for Matthew it expresses rather the limitation that Jesus himself observed during his ministry. after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. 6#15:24. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’#3:2; 4:17. 8#The Twelve have received their own call and mission through God’s gift, and the benefits they confer are likewise to be given freely. They are not to take with them money, provisions, or unnecessary clothing; their lodging and food will be provided by those who receive them. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give. 9#Mk 6:8–9; Lk 9:3; 10:4. Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; 10#Lk 10:7; 1 Cor 9:14; 1 Tm 5:18. no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or walking stick. The laborer deserves his keep. 11#Mk 6:10–11; Lk 9:4–5; 10:5–12. Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave. 12As you enter a house, wish it peace. 13If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.#The greeting of peace is conceived of not merely as a salutation but as an effective word. If it finds no worthy recipient, it will return to the speaker. 14#Shake the dust from your feet: this gesture indicates a complete disassociation from such unbelievers. #Acts 13:51; 18:6. Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet. 15Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.#11:24; Gn 19:1–29; Jude 7.
Coming Persecutions. 16#Lk 10:3. “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. 17#The persecutions attendant upon the post-resurrection mission now begin to be spoken of. Here Matthew brings into the discourse sayings found in Mk 13 which deals with events preceding the parousia. But beware of people,#Mk 13:9–13; Lk 21:12–19. for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues,#Acts 5:40. 18and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. 19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.#Ex 4:11–12; Jer 1:6–10; Lk 12:11–12. 20For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21#See Mi 7:6 which is cited in Mt 10:35, 36. #24:9, 13. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end#To the end: the original meaning was probably “until the parousia.” But it is not likely that Matthew expected no missionary disciples to suffer death before then, since he envisages the martyrdom of other Christians (Mt 10:21). For him, the end is probably that of the individual’s life (see Mt 10:28). will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.#Before the Son of Man comes: since the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age had not taken place when this gospel was written, much less during the mission of the Twelve during Jesus’ ministry, Matthew cannot have meant the coming to refer to the parousia. It is difficult to know what he understood it to be: perhaps the “proleptic parousia” of Mt 28:16–20, or the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, viewed as a coming of Jesus in judgment on unbelieving Israel. 24#Lk 6:40; Jn 13:16; 15:20. No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,#Beelzebul: see Mt 9:34 for the charge linking Jesus with “the prince of demons,” who is named Beelzebul in Mt 12:24. The meaning of the name is uncertain; possibly, “lord of the house.” how much more those of his household!
Courage Under Persecution. 26#Lk 12:2–9. “Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.#The concealed and secret coming of the kingdom is to be proclaimed by them, and no fear must be allowed to deter them from that proclamation. #Mk 4:22; Lk 8:17; 1 Tm 5:25. 27What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.#Jas 4:12. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30Even all the hairs of your head are counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 32#In the Q parallel (Lk 12:8–9), the Son of Man will acknowledge those who have acknowledged Jesus, and those who deny him will be denied (by the Son of Man) before the angels of God at the judgment. Here Jesus and the Son of Man are identified, and the acknowledgment or denial will be before his heavenly Father. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. 33But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.#Mk 8:38; Lk 9:26; 2 Tm 2:12; Rev 3:5.
Jesus: A Cause of Division. 34#Lk 12:51–53. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. 35For I have come to set
a man ‘against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36and one’s enemies will be those of his household.’
The Conditions of Discipleship. 37#16:24–25; Lk 14:26–27. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up his cross#The first mention of the cross in Matthew, explicitly that of the disciple, but implicitly that of Jesus (and follow after me). Crucifixion was a form of capital punishment used by the Romans for offenders who were not Roman citizens. and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39#One who denies Jesus in order to save one’s earthly life will be condemned to everlasting destruction; loss of earthly life for Jesus’ sake will be rewarded by everlasting life in the kingdom. #Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Rewards. 40“Whoever receives you receives me,#All who receive the disciples of Jesus receive him, and God who sent him, and will be rewarded accordingly. and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.#Lk 10:16; Jn 12:44; 13:20. 41#A prophet: one who speaks in the name of God; here, the Christian prophets who proclaim the gospel. Righteous man: since righteousness is demanded of all the disciples, it is difficult to take the righteous man of this verse and one of these little ones (Mt 10:42) as indicating different groups within the followers of Jesus. Probably all three designations are used here of Christian missionaries as such. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”#25:40; Mk 9:41.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Matthew 10
10
Jesus chooses his twelve apostles
(Mark 3.13-19; Luke 6.12-16)
1Jesus called together his twelve disciples. He gave them the power to force out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2The first of the twelve apostles was Simon, better known as Peter. His brother Andrew was an apostle, and so were James and John, the two sons of Zebedee. 3Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew the tax collector,#10.3 tax collector: See the note at 5.46. James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus were also apostles. 4The others were Simon, known as the Eager One,#10.4 known as the Eager One: The Greek text has “Cananaean”, which probably comes from a Hebrew word meaning “zealous” (see Luke 6.15). “Zealot” was the name later given to the members of a Jewish group which resisted and fought against the Romans. and Judas Iscariot,#10.4 Iscariot: This may mean “a man from Kerioth” (a place in Judea). But more probably it means “a man who was a liar” or “a man who was a betrayer”. who later betrayed Jesus.
Instructions for the twelve apostles
(Mark 6.7-13; Luke 9.1-6)
5Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions:
Stay away from the Gentiles and don't go to any Samaritan town. 6Go only to the people of Israel, because they are like a flock of lost sheep. 7As you go, announce that the kingdom of heaven will soon be here.#10.7 will soon be here: Or “is already here.”#Lk 10.4-12. 8Heal the sick, raise the dead to life, heal people who have leprosy,#10.8 leprosy: See the note at 8.2. and force out demons. You received without paying, now give without being paid. 9Don't take along any gold, silver, or copper coins. 10And don't carry#10.9,10 Don't take along…don't carry: Or “Don't accept…don't accept”. a travelling bag or an extra shirt or sandals or a walking stick.#1 Co 9.14; 1 Ti 5.18.
Workers deserve their food. 11So when you go to a town or a village, find someone worthy enough to have you as their guest and stay with them until you leave. 12When you go to a home, give it your blessing of peace. 13If the home is deserving, let your blessing remain with them. But if the home isn't deserving, take back your blessing of peace. 14If someone won't welcome you or listen to your message, leave their home or town. And shake the dust from your feet at them.#10.14 shake the dust from your feet at them: This was a way of showing rejection. See Acts 13.51.#Ac 13.51. 15I promise you that the day of judgment will be easier for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah#10.15 Sodom and Gomorrah: During the time of Abraham the Lord destroyed these towns because the people there were so evil. than for that town.#Mt 11.24; Gn 19.24-28.
Warning about trouble
(Mark 13.9-13; Luke 21.12-17)
Jesus continued:
16I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.#Lk 10.3. 17Watch out for people who will take you to court and have you beaten in their meeting places.#Mk 13.9-11; Lk 12.11,12; 21.12-15. 18Because of me, you will be dragged before rulers and kings to tell them and the Gentiles about your faith. 19But when someone arrests you, don't worry about what you will say or how you will say it. At that time you will be given the words to say. 20But you will not really be the one speaking. The Spirit from your Father will tell you what to say.
21Brothers and sisters will betray one another and have each other put to death. Parents will betray their own children, and children will turn against their parents and have them killed.#Mk 13.12; Lk 21.16. 22Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you remain faithful until the end, you will be saved.#Mt 24.9; Mk 13.13; Lk 21.17; Mt 24.13; Mk 13.13. 23When people ill-treat you in one town, hurry to another one. I promise you that before you have gone to all the towns of Israel, the Son of Man will come.
24Disciples are not better than their teacher, and slaves are not better than their master.#Lk 6.40; Jn 13.16; 15.20. 25It is enough for disciples to be like their teacher and for slaves to be like their master. If people call the head of the family Satan, what will they say about the rest of the family?#Mt 9.34; 12.24; Mk 3.22; Lk 11.15.
The one to fear
(Luke 12.2-7)
Jesus continued:
26Don't be afraid of anyone! Everything that is hidden will be found out, and every secret will be known.#Mk 4.22; Lk 8.17. 27Whatever I say to you in the dark, you must tell in the light. And you must announce from the housetops whatever I have whispered to you. 28Don't be afraid of people. They can kill you, but they cannot harm your soul. Instead, you should fear God who can destroy both your body and your soul in hell. 29Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. 30Even the hairs on your head are counted. 31So don't be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.
Telling others about Christ
(Luke 12.8,9)
Jesus continued:
32If you tell others that you belong to me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you are my followers. 33But if you reject me, I will tell my Father in heaven that you don't belong to me.#2 Ti 2.12.
Not peace, but trouble
(Luke 12.51-53; 14.26,27)
Jesus continued:
34Don't think that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came to bring trouble, not peace. 35I came to turn sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, and daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law.#Mic 7.6. 36Your worst enemies will be in your own family.
37If you love your father or mother or even your sons and daughters more than me, you are not fit to be my disciples. 38And unless you are willing to take up your cross and come with me, you are not fit to be my disciples.#Mt 16.24; Mk 8.34; Lk 9.23. 39If you try to save your life, you will lose it. But if you give it up for me, you will find it.#Mt 16.25; Mk 8.35; Lk 9.24; 17.33; Jn 12.25.
Rewards
(Mark 9.41)
Jesus continued:
40Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me. And anyone who welcomes me also welcomes the one who sent me.#Lk 10.16; Jn 13.20; Mk 9.37; Lk 9.48. 41Anyone who welcomes a prophet, just because that person is a prophet, will be given the same reward as a prophet. Anyone who welcomes a good person, just because that person is good, will be given the same reward as a good person. 42And anyone who gives one of my most humble followers a cup of cool water, just because that person is my follower, will be rewarded.
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