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
1And having called to him his twelve disciples, he gave them power over unclean spirits, so that they should cast them out, and heal every disease and every bodily weakness. 2Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas the Iscariote, who also delivered him up.
5These twelve Jesus sent out when he had charged them, saying, Go not off into the way of the nations, and into a city of Samaritans enter ye not; 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh. 8Heal the infirm, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons: ye have received gratuitously, give gratuitously. 9Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or brass, for your belts, 10nor scrip for the way, nor two body coats, nor sandals, nor a staff: for the workman is worthy of his nourishment. 11But into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there remain till ye go forth. 12And as ye enter into a house salute it. 13And if the house indeed be worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in judgment-day than for that city.
16Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore prudent as the serpents, and guileless as the doves. 17But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to sanhedrims, and scourge you in their synagogues; 18and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations. 19But when they deliver you up, be not careful how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak. 20For ye are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you. 21But brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death; 22and ye shall be hated of all on account of my name. But he that has endured to the end, he shall be saved. 23But when they persecute you in this city, flee to the other; for verily I say to you, Ye shall not have completed the cities of Israel until the Son of man be come. 24The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the bondman above his lord. 25It is sufficient for the disciple that he should become as his teacher, and the bondman as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household? 26Fear them not therefore; for there is nothing covered which shall not be revealed, and secret which shall not be known. 27What I say to you in darkness speak in the light, and what ye hear in the ear preach upon the houses. 28And be not afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father; 30but of you even the hairs of the head are all numbered. 31Fear not therefore; ye are better than many sparrows. 32Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, I also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens. 33But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in the heavens. 34Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law; 36and they of his household shall be a man's enemies. 37He who loves father or mother above me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter above me is not worthy of me. 38And he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39He that finds his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it. 40He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me. 41He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward. 42And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.