Matthew 10
10
The Twelve Harvest Hands
1-4The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. This is the list of the twelve he sent:
Simon (they called him Peter, or “Rock”),
Andrew, his brother,
James, Zebedee’s son,
John, his brother,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Thomas,
Matthew, the tax man,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus,
Simon, the Canaanite,
Judas Iscariot (who later turned on him).
5-8Jesus sent his twelve harvest hands out with this charge:
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost, confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
9-10“Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.
11“When you enter a town or village, don’t insist on staying in a luxury inn. Get a modest place with some modest people, and be content there until you leave.
12-15“When you knock on a door, be courteous in your greeting. If they welcome you, be gentle in your conversation. If they don’t welcome you, quietly withdraw. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and be on your way. You can be sure that on Judgment Day they’ll be mighty sorry—but it’s no concern of yours now.
16“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as shrewd as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.
17-20“Don’t be naive. Some people will question your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favor, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.
21-23“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.
24-25“A student doesn’t get a better desk than her teacher. A laborer doesn’t make more money than his boss. Be content—pleased, even—when you, my students, my harvest hands, get the same treatment I get. If they call me, the Master, ‘Dungface,’ what can the workers expect?
26-27“Don’t be intimidated. Eventually everything is going to be out in the open, and everyone will know how things really are. So don’t hesitate to go public now.
28“Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands.
Forget About Yourself
29-31“What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail—even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.
32-33“Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven. If you turn tail and run, do you think I’ll cover for you?
34-37“Don’t think I’ve come to make life cozy. I’ve come to cut—make a sharp knife-cut between son and father, daughter and mother, bride and mother-in-law—cut through these cozy domestic arrangements and free you for God. Well-meaning family members can be your worst enemies. If you prefer father or mother over me, you don’t deserve me. If you prefer son or daughter over me, you don’t deserve me.
38-39“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.
40-42“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”
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Matthew 10: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Matthew 10
10
The Twelve Disciples; Instructions for Service
1Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
2Now these are the names of the twelve #In general usage the word “apostle” (Gr apostolos) means “sent one” or “messenger.” In this passage and others in reference to the “twelve,” the word “apostles” is used in a technical sense of the twelve disciples, and later Paul, whom Jesus chose. An apostle was one who witnessed Christ’s resurrection (Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor 9:1, 2). They validated their apostleship by performing “signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor 12:12), and were the foundation of the church.apostles (special messengers, personally chosen representatives): first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother; #It is believed that Salome, Zebedee’s wife and the mother of James and John was a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus.James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew (Levi) the tax collector; #Also known as James the Less or James the Younger. It is believed that his mother, Mary (Gr Maria), was a sister or sister-in-law of Mary, the mother of Jesus (John 19:25).James the son of #Possibly the Hebrew or Syriac name of the same person: Clopas. He may be the “Cleopas” mentioned in Luke 24:18.Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus (Judas, not Iscariot); 4Simon the Cananaean (Zealot), and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
5Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them: “Do not go among the Gentiles, and do not go into a city of the Samaritans; 6but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9Do not take gold, or silver, or [even] copper money in your money belt, 10or a provision bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker deserves his support. 11Whatever city or village you enter, ask who in it is worthy [who welcomes you and your message], and stay at his house until you leave [that city]. 12As you go into the house, give it your greeting [that is, ‘Peace be to this house’]. 13If [the family living in] the house is worthy [welcoming you and your message], give it your [blessing of] #I.e. “shalom” is to come upon this house.peace [that is, a blessing of well-being and prosperity, the favor of God]. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. 14Whoever does not welcome you, nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or city, #A symbolic act expressing contempt.shake the dust [of it] off your feet [in contempt, breaking all ties]. 15I assure you and most solemnly say to you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of #The cities destroyed by God because of the sinfulness of their people (Gen 19:1-29).Sodom and Gomorrah than for that city [since it rejected the Messiah’s messenger].
A Hard Road before Them
16 “Listen carefully: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be wise as serpents, and innocent as doves [have no self-serving agenda]. 17Beware of men [whose nature is to act in opposition to God], for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues; 18and you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you within that [very] hour; 20for it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; and children will rise up and rebel against their parents and cause them to be put to death. 22And you will be hated by everyone because of [your association with] My name, but it is the one who has patiently persevered and endured to the end who will be saved.
23 “When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
The Meaning of Discipleship
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a bond-servant above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the bond-servant like his master. If they have called the head of the house #I.e. an idol worshiped in the Philistine city of Ekron: Baal Zebul, lord of the high places or Baal Zebub, lord of the flies.Beelzebul (Satan), how much more [will they speak evil of] the members of his household.
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed [at the judgment], or kept secret that will not be made known [at the judgment]. 27What I say to you in the dark (privately), tell in the light (publicly); and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops [to many people]. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two little sparrows sold for a #Gr assarion, a Roman coin equal to a 16th of a denarius (the denarius was counted as a day’s wages for an unskilled worker).copper coin? And yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered [for the Father is sovereign and has complete knowledge]. 31So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore, the one who # The word “confess” used in conjunction with “before” connotes a legal statement or a testimony in a legal setting. confesses and acknowledges Me before men [as Lord and Savior, affirming a state of oneness with Me], that one I will also confess and acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven. 33But the one who denies and rejects Me before men, that one I will also deny and reject before My Father who is in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief]. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and a man’s enemies will be the members of his [own] household [when one believes and another does not].
37 “ # Commitment to Jesus takes precedence over all else. 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. 38And he who does not take his #The historical background behind this statement is that those who were about to be crucified had to carry the crossbeam to which they would be nailed or bound. In addition to the terrible agony that crucifixion inflicted, it was such a great indignity that some of the Roman writers used the word cross as a curse word in the expression “Go to a bad cross!” (Lat i in malam crucem).cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. 39Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].
The Reward of Service
40 “He who receives and welcomes you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41He who receives and welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”
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