Matthew 10

Matthew 10:1

Two blind men followed him. This account is given only by Matthew. Blindness is still very common under the burning sun and among the blinding sands of the East. No sight is more common than blind beggars. The want of attention to the eye when first diseased is one reason why this affliction is so common. [Thou] son of David, have mercy on us. The title, “son of David”, applied to Jesus by these blind men, as well as by those healed at Jericho, implied his Messiahship, as it was understood that the Christ was to be the son of David (Jeremiah 23:5 Psalms 132:11 Matthew 22:42 Mr 12:35 Romans 1:3).

Matthew 10:2

The blind men came to him. Not until he was come into the house he was seeking. Believe ye that I am able to do this? He demands, as condition of the blessing, that there should be an expression of faith.

Matthew 10:3

According to your faith be it to you. Faith is the hand which takes what God offers, the spiritual organ of appropriation.

Matthew 10:4

Jesus straitly charged them, etc. Their changed condition would sufficiently tell the story without their indiscreet babbling. They failed to obey, which they should have done, whether they understood the reason of the command or not. Note the three great lessons about our Lord: (1) He is the Life (John 11:25 14:6). He not only breaks the bonds of mortal death, but endows the soul with spiritual life. (2) He is the infallible Physician (Mr 2:17 Lu 5:31,32). Diseases of the body, sorrows of the heart, and sins of the soul that no man can heal, disappear at his touch. (3) He is the Light of the world (John 8:12). At his word sightless eyes see. At his word darkened souls are flooded with light.

Matthew 10:6

A dumb man possessed with a devil. Compare Lu 11:14. A complication of physical and spiritual maladies. See PNT Matthew 8:29.

Matthew 10:7

It was never so seen in Israel. Filled with wonder at the cure, the multitude declared that no prophet had ever done such wonders. They were right.

Matthew 10:8

The Pharisees said. With their usual perverseness they gave a sinister explanation. Through the prince of the devils. In other words: He gets power from the devil, instead of God, to cast out demons.

Matthew 10:9

Jesus went about all the cities. He began to widen the area of his ministry.

Matthew 10:10

When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. The Lord seldom looked upon a crowd of the poor, lost, human beings without being moved with tender compassion. Because they fainted, and were . . . as sheep having no shepherd. A figure representing their spiritual condition. They “fainted” under the burdens placed on them by pretended shepherds, Pharisees and scribes. They wandered, as sheep left without care.

Matthew 10:11

The harvest truly [is] plentiful, but the labourers [are] few. First the people are represented under the figure of sheep, scattering abroad, without a shepherd’s care; next as a ripe and abandoned harvest, ready to be lost unless reapers are sent to gather it.

Matthew 10:12

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest. The Lord of the harvest is Christ. When we pray the Lord for anything we must work to fulfill our own prayers. If we pray for laborers, we must be willing to become laborers ourselves, or to send and sustain other laborers.

Matthew 10:14

The Call and Charge to the Apostles SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 10: The Twelve Apostles. The Charge. To Whom Sent. How to Go. What to Preach. How to Act If Received or Rejected. Persecution. Prudence Required. Trials to Be Met. Need Have No Care for a Defense. Fear Not Men, but God. The Father’s Care. Not Peace, but a Sword. Loving Christ More Than Father or Mother. No Kind Act Lost. He had called unto [him] his twelve disciples. Compare Mr 3:13-19 Lu 9:1-6. The twelve had already been called, and had attended the Lord for some time. They were now commissioned and sent forth as apostles. This must be connected directly with the last three verses of the preceding chapter, which should belong to Chapter 10. 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.

Matthew 10:15

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. Of the twelve apostles there are four lists, found in Matthew 10:2-4 Mr 3:16-19 Lu 6:14-16 Acts 1:13. They differ in the following particulars: (1) Luke, in the book of Acts, does not insert the name of Judas Iscariot, who was then dead; (2) both in the 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; (3) 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. 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 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; there was neither priest nor scribe among them; all were from the ranks of the common people.

Matthew 10:18

Go not into the way of the Gentiles. The Jews called all “Gentiles” who were not Jews. Samaritans. The inhabitants of Samaria, a district between Judea and Galilee; descendants of a remnant of the Ten Tribes, mixed with Gentiles colonized there. They accepted the five books of Moses, but worshipped on Mount Gerizim, instead of at Jerusalem. They and the Jews had been for ages bitter enemies.

Matthew 10:19

The lost sheep of the house of Israel. The lost descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Compare this commission with the one given to the apostles after the death and resurrection of the Lord (Matthew 10:5,6 28:19). In this commission the apostles are forbidden to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, and are confined to the house of Israel. In the other they are commanded to go into “all the world” (Matthew 24:14) and to “preach the gospel to every creature” (Mr 16:15); to go “first to Jerusalem, and to Judea, and to Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 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 in 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 also were under 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” (Colossians 2:14).

The old covenant passed away when the new came into force, sealed with the blood of Christ. After the death and resurrection of Christ, 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 a new commission that would send the gospel to all the world. The old covenant was with the seed of Abraham; the new covenant embraced all nations. See Hebrews 8:13.

Matthew 10:20

Preach, . . . The kingdom of heaven is at hand. John the Baptist, and Christ also, had preached, “The kingdom is at hand” (Matthew 3:2 4:17). It had not yet been inaugurated. So the apostles were still to preach. It was near, but not in existence. There was no such charge in the second commission. Then “all power . . . in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18) was in the hands of Christ. He became King after he suffered, and his kingdom was inaugurated on earth on the day of Pentecost. When he was “lifted up” (John 3:14), he became King.

Matthew 10:21

Heal the sick, etc. Not only in order to do a beneficent work, but to demonstrate that they had the Lord’s commission.

Matthew 10:22

Provide neither gold, etc. Because “the workman is worthy of his meat” (Matthew 10:10) and those to whom they preached should supply all their wants. Compare 1 Timothy 5:18 1 Corinthians 9:7-14. This has always been the law of Christ.

Matthew 10:23

Nor scrip. A wallet, or valise. Nor shoes. They were allowed to wear sandals, such as the common people wore (Mr 6:8,9). They should go with simply their ordinary wear. They were required to dress as the people. Nor staves. With the staff each one had, but without an extra supply. A staff was always carried in walking over the rugged mountains of Palestine.

Matthew 10:24

There abide. With some one noted for hospitality and worth. They were not to board round from house to house.

Matthew 10:25

When ye come into an house, salute it. Courteously salute the household.

Matthew 10:26

Let your peace come upon it. The Oriental salutation is, “Peace be with you”. If the household were hospitable and friendly, let this blessing rest upon them. If they proved unfriendly, leave them to their own course and its results.

Matthew 10:27

Shake off the dust of your feet. This was done when there was a positive rejection of the gospel. It was a symbolical act, signifying that all responsibility for the stubborn household or city had ended. Compare Mr 6:11 Lu 9:5 Acts 13:51. Nor can the gospel be forced upon an unwilling people in any age.

Matthew 10:28

More tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc. The cities of the Jordan valley destroyed for their sins in the time of Abraham (Genesis 19:1-28). These cities did not have the opportunity, and hence, not the responsibility, of those to which Christ or his apostles preached.

Matthew 10:29

As sheep in the midst of wolves. Defenseless by human means, among the fierce and cruel; among bitter enemies. Wise as serpents. Prudent, discreet. Serpents are very cautious in avoiding danger. Harmless as doves. Guileless and innocent as doves. The dove, peaceful, never preying on other birds, has always been a symbol of innocence.

Matthew 10:30

Beware of men. The wolves. To the councils. To the local courts to be tried for heresy and other offenses. They will scourge you. This punishment was inflicted on offenders in the synagogues. See Acts 22:19 26:11. The Talmud states that scourging was inflicted by the officers of the synagogue. In their synagogues. The Jewish assemblages corresponding to modern churches.

Matthew 10:31

Ye shall be brought before governors. Before the civil tribunals, like criminals. And kings. This was literally fulfilled in the case of James, the brother of John (Acts 12:1,2), and Paul (Acts 26:1).

Matthew 10:32

Take no thought how or what ye shall speak. They are not told to take no thought what they shall preach, but that the Holy Spirit will give them utterance when they make their defense before civil magistrates.

Matthew 10:33

Your Father. Not “Our Father”. The Savior never says, “Our Father”, except when he teaches the disciples to pray (Matthew 6:9 Lu 11:2), but “My Father” and “Your Father”. God was his Father in a different sense from that in which he is our Father.

Matthew 10:34

The brother shall deliver up the brother. The rest of the family shall turn upon their own kindred who accept Christ, and become their bitter enemies. This has been fulfilled thousands of times in every age.

Matthew 10:35

Ye shall be hated of all [men]. As they assailed and sought to destroy all evil, and evil is wont to unite against them. Jews and pagans made a common cause against early Christianity. The wicked and perverse hate it still. He that endureth to the end. Holds out faithful. Perseverance gives proof of genuine faith, and is sure of reward.

Matthew 10:36

Flee ye into another. They were not to rashly expose their lives where it would do no good, but go elsewhere and continue preaching. Life is a sacred possession, and must not be flung away. It may be given up for the sake of Christ. Till the Son of man be come. A reference primarily, no doubt, to the Lord coming into his kingdom. See Matthew 16:28. He was thus to come in the life time of some of the apostles. He did thus come in the establishment of his kingdom in power on the day of Pentecost. He also came in judgment on the Jews at the destruction of Jerusalem. This event ended Jewish persecution. There is also the final coming to judge the world, but the meaning here does not include that.

Matthew 10:37

The disciple is not above [his] master. The disciples must expect to be treated like the master.

Matthew 10:38

Called the master . . . Beelzebub. The prince of evil, Satan, is meant.

Matthew 10:39

Fear them not therefore. Because Christ shall triumph, and all shall be brought to judgment, where every secret shall be made manifest.

Matthew 10:40

What I tell you in darkness. In privacy. The Lord had to teach them in private before he could send them forth. Upon the house tops. The flat roofs of eastern houses made a conspicuous pulpit. The Lord directs them to speak in the most public manner. In Syria proclamations are still often made from the house tops.

Matthew 10:41

Fear not them. Of men, who can only destroy the body, but cannot harm the soul. But rather fear him, etc. Fear God, who can condemn the soul to banishment. The command is to fear not the displeasure of man, but that of God. In hell. See PNT Matthew 5:22. The word in the Greek is “Gehenna”, not “hades”.

Matthew 10:42

Two sparrows. Among the smallest and least valuable birds, yet under the Divine care. So cheap as to be offered in pairs for an insignificant coin, but God notes the fall of one.