Matthew 10

Matthew 10:1

II. THE CHOSEN TWELVE.— 10:1 When he had called unto him his twelve disciples. It is not said that the Twelve were now chosen. It had been done on previous occasions. They had been for a considerable period under the direct teaching of Christ and he now sends them forth to preach. Henceforth they are “apostles,” those sent forth. Two reasons appear to have led to this commissioning of the Twelve: first, the growing eagerness of the people to hear the news of the kingdom could not be satisfied by one preacher; second, the growing opposition of the Pharisees made apparent the necessity of not only appointing, but training, men to preach Christ’s gospel when he should be slain. This commission was, however, for a purely temporary service, and the instructions which accompanied it apply directly only to this singular preparatory mission. And he gave them power. To do the same kind of works of mercy which Jesus had done, and thus to carry out his mission. Works of mercy and love are inseparable from the true preaching of the gospel. They were to be the leaders and teachers. It was needful that they demonstrate their commission by their credentials.

Matthew 10:2-4

2-4. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. Of the twelve apostles there are four lists, found in Matthew 10:2, Mark 3:16, Luke 6:14, and Acts 1:13. They differ in the following particulars: Luke, in the book of Acts, does not insert the name of Judas Iscariot, who was then dead; both in his Gospel and in Acts he entitles the Simon who here and in Mark is called the Canaanite, Simon Zelotes; Matthew gives as the tenth disciple, Lebbeus; Mark calls him Thaddeus; Luke and Acts, Judas of James, i. e., either son or brother of James; and Mark says that James and John were surnamed by Christ, Boanerges, i. e., the sons of thunder. In other respects the four lists are identical, except that the names are given in a slightly different order by the different writers. They all agree, however, in putting Simon Peter first and Judas Iscariot last; and all agree in arranging them in groups of four, Simon Peter being first of the group, Philip the second, James the son of Alpheus of the third. There are three pairs of brothers among them: Andrew and Peter, James and John, James the Less and Judas or Thaddeus. James and John I believe to have been own cousins of our Lord. With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all were Galileans; several of them were by trade fishermen, a laborious and profitable calling; they were all laymen, that is, there was neither priest nor scribe among them.

They have generally been regarded as illiterate men (Acts 4:13); but by this must be understood, not that they were specially ignorant, but that they were not versed in the rabbinical literature, the scholastic theology of their age. Philip and Peter both appear to have been acquainted with the Greek. This is indicated by the application of the Greeks to Philip (John 12:20-21), and by the fact that the Epistles of Peter were written in Greek. Matthew was a ready and methodical writer; John evidently was a man of culture, as his writings show, and his social position was such as gave him ready access to the high priest’s palace during the trial of Jesus (John 18:16); and there are unmistakable indications that several of the Twelve possessed wealth or wealthy connections, for the father of James and John had hired servants, Peter apparently lived in his own house, and Matthew had the means to give a large party to many friends (Mark 1:20; Luke 4:38; Luke 5:29).–Abbott.

Matthew 10:5

III. THE FIRST .— 5. These twelve Jesus sent forth. The twelve had been “disciples” or learners, for a long period in order to fit them to be “sent forth,” or to become “apostles.” Their training was under the personal teaching and example of Christ. Immediately after their appointment as apostles, Christ uttered his wonderful Sermon on the Mount, the declaration of the principles of his new kingdom. It behooved him to select a number of men, in whom the riches of his life might be unfolded in every direction. For this end he needed, above all, men in whom the glory of his spirit and the peculiarity of his work might be distinctly identified; laymen, who would not chain his work to existing priestly habits; unlearned men, who would not mix up his wisdom with traditional schemes of philosophy; even comparatively uneducated men, in order that the dulled taste of a diseased worldly civilization might not disturb the culture which the spirit of the incarnate Word was to impart to them. It was through fishermen, country people, and publicans, that the word of God in the life and doings of Christ was to be declared in its purity.–Lange. Commanded . . Go not into the way of the Gentiles. There are two commissions, one before and the other after the resurrection. In the first the apostles are forbidden to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, and are confined to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. In the second they are commanded to go into “all the world” and to “preach the gospel to every creature;” to go “first to Jerusalem, and to Judea, and to Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.” The first commission is Jewish; the second is world-wide. Yet both are given by the same Lord; why this wide difference? Because the new dispensation was not ushered until after the resurrection. The Jewish law, national, exclusive, a wall of partition from Gentiles, was yet in force.

Christ, “born under the law,” and the apostles were debtors to it until it was removed. They could not keep it and yet become missionaries to the Gentiles. But when Christ died the old dispensation, the law, died with him. “The handwriting of ordinances was nailed to the cross.” The old covenant passed away when the new came into force, sealed with the blood of Christ. After the death and resurrection, the law ceased to be binding upon the apostles. The distinctions of Jew and Gentile were destroyed. Hence, under the new covenant, the world-wide covenant, there was called for a new commission that would send the gospel to all the world. Any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. Religiously there were three divisions of the human race; Gentiles, embracing the whole heathen world, all not of the blood of Abraham; Jews, who were the direct descendants of Abraham; and the Samaritans, a mixed race, partly of Jewish and partly of Gentile blood. They inhabited the district between Judea and Galilee, and were the descendants of heathen tribes who were sent into the territory of the Kingdom of Israel when it was destroyed, who inter-married with Jews, and were partly instructed in the Jewish region. They received the law of Moses, had an altar on Mt. Gerizim, and expected the Messiah. The Jews regarded them as heretics, and had no dealings with them. They received the gospel with greater readiness than the Jews.

A small remnant of the Samaritans still have a synagogue at Nablus (the ancient Shechem or Sychar), an ancient manuscript of the Pentateuch, and annually celebrate the passover on Mt. Gerizim.

Matthew 10:6

6. Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It is often the case that men, as well as sheep, are lost, and are not conscious of it. It was so of the Jews. Priests, scribes, doctors, Pharisees, were all lost, were out of the true paths and had wandered from God, though they knew it not.

Matthew 10:7

7. Preach . . . The kingdom of heaven is at hand. John the Baptist, and Christ also, both had preached, “The kingdom is at hand.” It had not yet been inaugurated. So the apostles were still able to preach. It was near, but not in existence. There was no such charge in the second commission. Then “all power in heaven and on earth was in the hands of Christ.” He was King. The Kingdom was set up.

Nor were the apostles now directed to explain in what the kingdom of heaven consisted; they were simply to proclaim that it was near. In this respect their teaching was to be patterned after that of John the Baptist. Matthew 3:2. It was their office in this mission not to instruct the nation, but simply to raise an expectancy, and so prepare the way for instruction which Christ afterward afforded, and which the apostles themselves were afterward directed to give the Gentiles. Matthew 28:19. It is not a law nor even a precedent for us; but is it not always the first work of the preacher to awaken a spiritual appetite, even if it be not very intelligent at the beginning.

Matthew 10:8

8. Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, etc. To those who see in the external acts of Christ’s ministry a parable of his spiritual work, and especially in his ministry to the body a type of his ministry to the soul, it will not seem fanciful to trace that parallel here. The wise apostle of Christ will sometimes treat sin as a sickness to be cured, (comp. Galatians 6:1-2), sometimes as a leprous pollution to be cleansed away, (Acts 8:22-23), sometimes as a spiritual death, the remedy for which is a spiritual resurrection, (Ephesians 2:4-5), sometimes as a possession of the soul by an evil spirit that must be cast out. Acts 13:10-12; Acts 19:18-19. He needs to exercise sometimes gentleness and long-suffering, sometimes the purifying power of loving-kindness, sometimes spiritual vehemence, sometimes courage in combat with opposing evil.–Abbott. Freely ye have received; freely give. The gospel and the power to work miracles were bestowed upon them without money or price. They were to impart them as freely to others. AND . The disciple of Christ who prays for laborers for the Lord’s harvest must be willing to go himself as a laborer. The worker for Christ must be chosen, called, and commissioned of Christ himself. The worker for Christ needs, and may possess, an endowment of power for his task. The worker for Christ bears benefits to men’s bodies and blessings to men’s souls. The worker for Christ should be plain in life, and unincumbered by worldly affairs, that he may give all his time and thoughts to his work. For the work of preaching the gospel Christ seeks men, and not angels; men saved from sin; men trained in his work; men who have communed with himself. PREACH THE GOSPEL.–Scott, in one of his poems, refers to the beautiful custom of ancient Scotland of assembling their clans by means of the fiery cross. A light cross of wood was charred at its point, and the flames quenched in the blood of a goat. This was sent around to the villages and homes of the clan, each one sending it on to his next neighbor, with only the name of the meeting-place. And every one was bound under fearful anathemas to obey the sign. “When flits this cross from man to man, Vich-Alpine’s summons to his clan, Burst be the ear that fails to heed! Palsied the foot that shuns to speed!“So is Christ’s cross, scorched with his sufferings, stained with his blood, the summons to every disciple to go forth and preach the gospel.–Peloubet.POINTS FOR . 1. Note the Lord’s compassion, what for and what it has led him to do. 2. Note the contrast between the " Good Shepherd” and false shepherds. They lose their sheep; he saves them. 3. Note that we must have Christ’s compassion, and its fruit is missionary effort. 4. Observe that we cannot sincerely pray for laborers unless we are ready to labor.

We must say, Go, help others to go, and go ourselves. We must be willing to send our sons, as well as other people’s sons. 5. Point out distinctly the difference between the First and the Second commission. 6. Ask the class to name the three most important of the apostolic band and to outline their lives. 7. Emphasize that all Christians are called to carry on the beneficent work of Christ. (1) We find what is the beneficent work of Christ. (2) The call to enter upon that work. (3) We see that power to do the work is given with the call. And (4) we consider who are called, and the great variety of workers needed in Christ’s vineyard, each with his own work to do.

Matthew 10:32

CHRIST.–Matthew 10:32-42. GOLDEN TEXT.–Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven.–Matthew 10:32. TIME.-A. D. 28. Immediately after the first commission to the apostles. PLACE.–Somewhere near the sea of Galilee. HELPFUL .–Matthew 16:13-16; Acts 8:35-37; Romans 10:8-11; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 12:8-12; Matthew 10:9-31. LESSON .–1. Confession of Christ; 2. Peace or a Sword; 3. Taking Up the Cross.. The Lord not only called the twelve disciples and educated them for an apostleship, but he appointed them and commissioned them to go forth and preach. In connection with the commission he gave a charge, and spoke a discourse.

The present lesson is the concluding portion of that discourse. This portion of the discourse is peculiar to Matthew, though some of the sayings occur in the other gospels. As such trials and emergencies as are described did not occur on this first missionary journey of the apostles, some have supposed that the discourse belongs to a later period. But Matthew, himself an apostle, and present, would be most likely to record the whole discourse. The Twelve alone were prepared for so early a revelation about persecution.–Schaff.I. OF CHRIST.— 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men. The Lord has pointed out in the preceding part of the discourse the hardships which will visit his disciples, the hate of the world and persecution. Then to encourage endurance he gives various grounds of encouragement.

1. The Master was called on to suffer and the disciple is not above the Master.
2. Every secret will be brought to light and all injustice visited upon his disciples will be made known.
3. Their enemies might kill the body but they could not destroy the soul.
4. The Father’s watch-care would be over his disciples continually, and
5. The last and greatest motive to faithful endurance was that every one who confessed Christ before men he would confess before his Father in heaven. To confess Christ does not mean to accept some particular creed, but to publicly acknowledge the Lord, and to live before men as his servant. It implies,
6. A confession of faith in him with the lips, such a confession as Peter made. Matthew 16:16, and the Eunuch, Acts 8:37. Paul describes this confession in Romans 10:10 when he says: “With the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” It implies,
7. An acknowledgment of Christ by obedience and by giving the life to his service. Confession is a demonstration of faith, (1) by public acknowledgment, and (2) by an obedient life. A verbal acknowledgment of Christ is not enough if the life is a denial, for it then shows that the acknowledgment was a lie. The two must correspond. Him will I confess. Christ sitting on the throne of judgment promises to acknowledge as his own faithful brother, as one saved by his grace, every one who has thus acknowledged him before men. All who come out on this side and who remain true to him spite of temptation, trial and tribulation, will receive the eternal reward.

Matthew 10:33

33. But whosoever shall deny me before men. The Jews denied him when they rejected him as Messiah. All who refuse to receive him as their Lord and King deny him still. The recreant disciple who through the cares of the world turns away from Christian life denies him. Peter denied him in the hour of trial, through fear, but repented, confessed him boldly, even unto death, and was forgiven. The denial of Christ may be the silent denial of a life that refuses him, or may be made with the lips, or may show itself in deeds. In the times of persecution which he had just described there would be a great temptation to deny him to save one’s life. The Church of Philadelphia, one of the Seven Churches of Asia, was commended because in a time of persecution it had not denied the name of the Lord. Him will I also deny. The treatment awarded above will be that visited by men on the Lord here. Those who receive him will be received; those who reject him will be rejected; those who confess him will be confessed and those who deny him, denied. To be denied by Christ is eternal condemnation. As an explanation of what confession or denial before the Father is, turn to Matthew 25:31-46 and read Christ’s description of the eternal judgment.

Matthew 10:34

II. PEACE OR A SWORD.— 34. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. These seem like strong words from him whom the prophet called “The Prince of Peace,” at whose advent angels sang of peace and good will among men; and he pronounced a blessing upon peace makers. At first glance it would seem that this passage was inconsistent with those who describe him as the Prince of Peace. It is not, however. He came to create peace, peace among men, peace between man and God, peace in the human soul; but the immediate effect of his mission was to stir up commotion. Often a place has to be conquered. All who attempt to reform the world, deliver men from thraldom, or lift them to a higher life will meet with opposition and arouse contention.

Elijah, John the Baptist, Luther, Wilberforce, the anti-slavery and temperance reformers are examples. Christ has to conquer a peace by overcoming the evil that is in the way of peace. Hence, to preach the gospel of purity and peace always arouses the opposition of the evil doer. Evil has to be put down before peace can prevail. Hence, while the great end that Christ proposes is peace, the immediate result of his coming, and of the preaching of the gospel, was opposition and bloodshed. I come . . but a sword. The only sword that Christ or his followers use in the conflict is the Sword of the Spirit, but the persecutor has in every age turned upon them the carnal sword. Christ and almost every one of the apostles listening to him died by violence. Their preaching unsheathed the sword, but it was bathed in their own blood.

Matthew 10:35

35. For I come to set a man at variance with his father. This was not the Savior’s object, but the effect. The conversion of individual members of the family would cause variance. In nearly all quarrels, except those about religion, the members of the same families stand together, but in religious feuds the family circle is often broken and its parts arrayed against each other. When a man abandons the religion of his ancestors, his own kindred feel more keenly than others the shame which the world attaches to the act, and are exasperated against the supposed apostate in a degree proportionate to their nearness to him. Jesus came to set a man thus at variance with his kindred, because this evil is unavoidable in saving some.–McGarvey.

Matthew 10:36

36. A man’s foes shall be of his own household. This has been verified thousands of times. Many a convert has been turned out of home and banished by kindred, because he had confessed Christ.

Matthew 10:37

37. He that loveth father or mother more than me. The Lord does not require of us to love these less but him more. Love for him must become the dominant principle of life. This is the idea in the strong expression of Luk 14:26-27. The connection with what precedes is: Love to Christ may divide families and separate parents and children, but is superior to family affection, due one who has done more for us, and to one who has stronger claims. No parent has loved us with a supreme, pure, unselfish love like that of Christ. Not worthy of me. No one is worthy of Christ, but the love Christ gives creates the love that Christ claims, and is the reward for all the trials and self-sacrifices here spoken of.–Schaff.

Matthew 10:38

III. TAKING UP THE CROSS.— 38. He that taketh not his cross. Luke adds, daily; not once, but all the time. The cross is the pain of the self-denial required. The cross is the symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful death. Christ obeyed God, and carried out his work for the salvation of men, though it required him to die upon the cross in order to do it. And ever since, the cross has stood as the emblem, not of suffering, but of suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel; as the highest ideal of obedience to God at any and every cost. Observe, his own cross, not some other man’s.

Compare Hebrews 12:1, “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Observe, too, on the one hand, that the Christian is not merely to bear the inevitable cross laid upon him, but to take up the cross voluntarily. The connection between this and the preceding is clear: Not only must you accept the doctrine of a suffering Messiah, if you are to be my disciple you must possess my spirit of willing self-sacrifice for love’s sake. The point of duty for us, as for the Master, is not to seek the cross, but by the cross to seek the glory of the resurrection, which is found in no other path. The cross for the cross, never; but the cross for the Lord, always.–A. Monod. And follow me. To follow Christ is to take him for our master, our teacher, our example; to believe his doctrines, to uphold his cause, to obey his precepts, and to do it though it leads to heaven by the way of the cross. It is not merely to do right, but to do right for his sake, under his leadership, and according to his teaching.–P. “The Christian,” says Luther, " is a Crucian.” The Savior pictures to his hearers a procession. He himself takes the lead with his cross. He is the chief Crucian. All his disciples follow. Each has his own particular cross. But the direction of the procession, when one looks far enough, is toward the heavenly glory.–Morison.

Matthew 10:39

39. He that findeth his life shall lose it. Whoever counts his life of so much value that he will preserve it by sacrificing his Christian integrity, or will renounce his religion to save his life, will find in the end that he has lost his soul forever for the sake of a few fleeting years; while he who gives up all things, even life itself, will find an abundant reward in the life eternal. All self-seeking is self-losing. Even in the spiritual things, he who is perpetually studying how to secure joy and peace for himself loses it. A certain measure of self-forgetfulness is the condition of the highest success even in Christian grace.–Abbott. As if one should say to a husbandman, “If you spare and keep your grain you lose it; if you sow it, you give it life.” For who is so ignorant as not to know that the grain sown is lost to our sight and perishes in the earth? But, by the very means of rotting in the dust, it springs forth to a renewal of life (John 12:24-25).–Bede.

Matthew 10:40

40. He that receiveth you, receiveth me. They would go forth in Christ’s name, as his servants and embassadors. They carried his message, and to receive it and them was virtually receiving him. An insult offered to a king’s representative is an insult to the king. Matthew 10:4141. In the name of a prophet. That is, because he is a prophet. The apostles themselves were prophets. He who hospitably received a prophet, as a prophet, would receive the reward due a prophet, or become a partaker of his work and reward. The same would be true of a righteous man.

Matthew 10:42

42. Whosoever shall give to drink to these little ones. By the “little ones” are probably meant Christ’s disciples. A cup of cold water only. The smallest act of kindness. If done “because be was a disciple,” or out of regard for Christ, he should never lose his reward. Good deeds are never lost. AND . Of the man who is so silly as to be ashamed of Christ, Christ will be ashamed. What a proof of a weak mind that a man should be ashamed to save his soul to turn away from hell, and to follow a divine Lord! Christ will not allow us to be cowards. We must be soldiers, soldiers who keep flags flying and proclaim their calling. must be made with the lips, and in act. There must be faith in the heart, but it must not be kept in secret. Christ demands a confession of faith in him before men. Too many confess a creed instead of Christ. To the confession of the mouth must be added the demonstration of life. Baptism is a profession; the daily life, attendance at worship, keeping the ordinances, speaking for Christ, all these are acts of confession. Christ made the “good confession” and was sentenced to death for it; we make the good confession and the sentence of death is taken away. THE SWORD.–The Christian is a soldier. His life is a battle. Sin is aggressive. He must carry the war into Africa and fight sin. Wrong and Right will grapple and he must be for the Right. It is when the battle is over and eternity comes that he shall have peace. Then he shall sing of victory and wear the white robes of a victor. BEARING THE CROSS.–In The Cross-Bearer, a little book published by the American Tract Society, is a series of illustrations from French pictures, showing the right and the wrong ways of bearing the cross. One picture represents the disciple as sawing off a part of his cross. He would bear the cross, but the one Christ gave him was too heavy. Another is dragging his cross behind him with a cord, being ashamed of it. Another is worshiping his cross, crowning it with flowers, instead of bearing it; praising religion, but not practicing it. At last one comes with his Master before him, bearing his cross, while the disciple walks in the Master’s footsteps, and carries his cross exactly like the Master does.–P.POINTS FOR . 1.

Note the four things spoken of in this lesson as belonging to discipleship of Christ: (1) Confessing, or professing; (2) Fighting; (3) Bearing his standard (the cross); (4) Suffering. 2. Note that these are all duties of the soldier: He must (1) take the oath to his country and leader; (2) Fight bravely, (3) March under the flag; (4) Be willing to endure hardness as a good soldier. 3.

Bring out what confession is, point to Peter’s confession, that of the eunuch; that of living and dying for Christ; show who the confessors are. 4. Show what denying Christ is; how Peter denied; how Judas denied; how the Jews denied him; how sinners now deny him. 5. Point out how Christ brings war; why the Christian must be a warrior; what sword we must fight with; what we must fight; when peace will come; who are counted victors. 6. Having brought out how the soldier is enlisted, and what weapons he fights with, next point to his banner. Show that the soldiers of every country bear a banner; what that of the Christian soldier is; how he bears the cross; how he prepares to bear it. 7. Show that the cross is borne, not by wearing crosses, or bowing before crosses, or making the sign of the cross, but by following Christ, the great Cross-Bearer, taking his example, denying self, suffering for him, and doing his work.