Jesus Sends Out the Twelve
10 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to
drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who
is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and
his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax
collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas
Iscariot, who betrayed him. [Note that Peter is always mentioned first by
Matthew. It shows he is the leader of the Church when Matthew wrote the Gospel]
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go
rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this
message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the
dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[The Greek word traditionally translated leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin.] drive out demons. Freely you have
received; freely give. [The initial mission of the 12 was to go the Israelites,
the Jews who have been lost or may gone apostate and proclaim to them the good
news “The Kingdom of Heaven has come near” [Jesus sent out, meaning they have
become his co-worker in the work of salvation. They did not go on their own but
that they were sent out]
9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your
belts— 10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the
worker is worth his keep. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there
for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. 12 As you enter
the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace
rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not
welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust
off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and
Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd
as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed
over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account
you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the
Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to
say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be
you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child;
children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who
stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one
place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the
towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his
master. 25 It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants
like their masters. If the head of the house has
been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is
nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made
known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered
in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 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 hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for
a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s
care.[Or will; or knowledge] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t
be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge
before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before others, I will
disown before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the
members of his own household.’[Micah 7:6 ]
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy
of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39
Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake
will find it.
40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s
reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will
receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold
water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that
person will certainly not lose their reward.”
NOTES;
NOTES;
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.
10:1 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).
10:2–4 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).
10:5–6 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.
10:8–11 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.
10:13 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.
10:14 Shake the dust from your feet: this gesture indicates
a complete disassociation from such unbelievers.
10:17 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.
10:21 See Mi 7:6 which is cited in Mt 10:35, 36.
10:22 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).
10:23 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.
10:25 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.”
10:26 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.
10:32–33 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.
10:38 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.
10:39 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.
10:40–42 All who receive the disciples of Jesus receive him,
and God who sent him, and will be rewarded accordingly.
10:41 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.
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