Life Project Blog

Matthew 10:16-23

Jesus is about to send His disciples out to proclaim the Kingdom and He has given them unprecedented authority. Yet He has insisted that they take nothing along to help them, no money, no food or supplies, and He told them they are to be depending on the generosity of strangers for their sustenance. That may sound a little rough to us, but now He tells them the hardships they are likely to encounter, and in doing so, He speaks of an age to come, an age of battles and violence… the age we live in. As He tells the disciples of the hardships they will face, He might even remind us of the book of Revelation.

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (10:16)

The disciples will encounter more than just those who reject their message- they will also encounter violent opponents. Jesus likens the situation to sheep among wolves, for they will be without defenses. How should they respond to such dire circumstances? They must be as shrewd as snakes. This is an allusion to Genesis 3:1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.” In crisis, the disciple must be clear-headed and carefully think through his actions; not rash or impulsive. They must also be as “innocent as doves”, meaning that they must be entirely pure in motivation, seeking only to do what is right. As Jesus would later demonstrate, this purity would often silence His opponents.

Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. (10:17-18)

These things did indeed take place later as Jesus predicted here. Notice that not only will the disciples be badly treated, but their treatment will bring them opportunity to proclaim the Kingdom to the Gentile authorities, and as we know, this is what they would one day do.

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, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (10:19-20)

Along with this dire message is a message of hope and God’s provision, for God will speak His message in and through you, and thus you will know who is ultimately in control of events, even in the middle of spiritual warfare with a powerful foe. The disciples, soldiers in the front lines of spiritual warfare are assured of their ultimate victory by this; their futures are very bright indeed, even though this world may view them as weak.

Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 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. (10:21-23)

Persecution is even more ominous in these verses as families are torn apart by the combination of the Kingdom message and the violent reaction of this world, as the spiritual warfare of the heavens is manifested on earth. Yes, this is what will happen in our age- it is what began in Acts. Honestly, this is a message we need to understand today, for it is unfolding all around us in this world of ours; it is as fresh as the morning news, sad to say. Yet the day of the Son of Man is coming… One can only wonder what was going through their minds as Jesus spoke to them; what had they gotten themselves into? Yet, Jesus isn’t quite finished just yet; there is more to come next time.

Matthew 10:1-15

In the prior section, Jesus told His disciples to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send workers; now He informs His disciples that they are the workers the Lord of the Harvest has sent. The text doesn’t really say how the disciples felt about this, but if you have ever prayed that God would send someone to meet a need, and then realized that He sent you, you will have an idea.

In verses 5-15, Jesus gives them a series of imperatives, 16 in all, which serve as a set of “ground rules” for their adventure. First, He tells them to go to the lost sheep of Israel, and not to either Gentiles of Samaritans. Next, He tells them they are to proclaim the Kingdom as He has been doing, and with their authority to heal and so forth, they are to perform miracles as Jesus has done, accepting no payment. They are not to take any cash or supplies with them; they will find people along their way to take them in. They should give a welcoming house their greeting, and if deserving, their peace and if no one will welcome them and listen to their message, they are to leave that town to its fate.

It always strikes me that this set of instructions is a paradox: On one hand the disciples have been given unprecedented authority. They bear with them the proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven, and the ability to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, drive our demons; the whole package that Jesus has used, and essentially, they are taking His place on this road trip. Yet they are completely vulnerable having no money and no provisions. They may not accept payment for healings done miraculously, and they must depend on strangers for the necessities of life; who travels like that?

We need to grasp this picture: They have with them all of the authority of Jesus, and at the same time, they must depend entirely upon God for their sustenance.

In this way, they are just like us, for we have His authority to proclaim the Kingdom and bring healing to those who will listen, and to the extent that we will place our full faith and trust in God, we will build His Kingdom. As was the case with the disciples, the only thing that remains to be seen is our level of trust in God.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Matthew 9:35-38

In these verses, we have a summary of the events in the early Galilean ministry of Jesus that connect several chapters together. In 4:18-22, we saw Jesus call disciples, in 4:22-25, we saw a summary of His activities. Then in 5:1-7:29, we had Jesus’ ministry in words, followed by His ministry in deeds in 8:1-9:34. Now, in 9:35 we have a summary of those deeds and words; this will be followed by action in 9:36-11:1 as the disciples are sent out to replicate what Jesus has been doing.

In order for us to make sense of this series of events, we need to recognize two things: First, Jesus Himself IS the Kingdom in a body, thus wherever He went, the Kingdom went with Him. Second, we must realize that the disciples were not simply along for the ride, they were being taught to become the Kingdom themselves, even though I doubt they understood this at the time. Ultimately, however, they became the embodiments of the Kingdom by the indwelling of the Spirit at Pentecost.

Matthew summarizes the action in verse 35, and then shares what Jesus was seeing in those crowds; a harvest. He had compassion for the people, not condemnation; He loved them and knew that in spite of the constant presence of their religious leaders, nobody was there who could show them the way to God, and so they were helpless and adrift in a harsh world. So there Jesus was; He could make speeches, and He could form relationships with some, but there were simply too many people who needed Him; there simply were not enough hours in the day for Him to heal everyone who needed Him.

That is where His disciples come into the picture. As He tells them to pray to the “Lord of the Harvest” for more workers, little did they know that they were going to be those workers.

Here’s a question to ponder: When we look out at those people “out there”, do we see helpless people who need a loving shepherd, or do we just see the “wicked”?

Matthew 9:27-34

In this passage, Jesus encounters a blind man and a man who was demon possessed. I need not tell you that He handled the situation in both cases, restoring sight to the one, and driving out the impure spirit from the other. By this time, we have seen these kinds of things before, and yet the people of that day were not reading about His miracles in a book, they were seeing them for the first time, and Jesus was getting their attention.

If you read the verses you will see that the blind man called Jesus “Son of David” in recognition of His Messianic position. I point this out to you because it would be entirely too easy to read the story of the life of Christ, and when the people reject Him, to simply conclude that nobody recognized who He was. Yet in Matthew chapter nine, verse 27, a blind man recognized Him.

People with sight had no excuse.

Jesus healed the blind man “according to your faith”. We might read this and just conclude that the man believed, but we should notice that there is more than just believing, for this man acted upon his belief, and placed himself in Jesus’ hands, with the result that his sight, already significantly more keen than most, was restored. Today, many “believe” but few are willing to put themselves in His hands, and their sight is not restored.

After this, Jesus came upon a man who was demon possessed and mute. Jesus drove out the demon and the man’s speech was restored; the witnesses were amazed. Naturally, both men told the world what had taken place, even though the once blind man had been told to keep his mouth shut, and the news of the Kingdom spread like wildfire throughout the land. Sadly, however, the story ends on a sour note, for when they heard the news, some Pharisees, always the Pharisees, weren’t pleased at what Jesus was doing, saying that He was able to drive out demons by the power of the “prince of demons”.

So begins the plots to kill Jesus that would ultimately backfire on the “prince of demons” and his little friends.

I can’t help thinking about people I know today, people who are excited about spreading the news of the Kingdom in our time, and people who see healing all around them. Yet as I reflect on such people, I also can’t help thinking about the modern day Pharisees that I know. To be honest, I know many more of these “Pharisees” than the others, and I never cease to be amazed at the creative ways in which they criticize those who are enthusiastic about the Kingdom in our time, for it would seem that tradition and kingdom don’t really mix all that well, even now.

Matthew 9:18-26

In this story, Jesus is interrupted in His conversation with John’s disciples about fasting when a synagogue leader comes and kneels before Him to ask that He bring the man’s dead daughter back to life; an unusual request to be sure. Jesus heads for the man’s house, His disciples in tow, when a woman who had suffered from chronic bleeding for many years touched His cloak. She believed that if she could just touch His cloak that she would be healed of her affliction. When she managed to do so, Jesus stopped, telling her that her faith has healed her, and Matthew reports that at that moment, she was healed. Off again Jesus goes… just another day of bringing the Kingdom to earth.

When Jesus reached the man’s house, many people had gathered inside; Jesus told them to go, for the child was merely asleep. They actually laughed at Him, for they knew she was dead. The man managed to get the crowd out of his house and Jesus went to the girl and took her hand; she awakened and rose from her bed, very much alive. Matthew ends the scene by telling us that news of this spread through the region; somehow I suspect this might be a slight understatement.

In this section of Matthew’s Gospel, we see Jesus doing things. Remember that in chapters 5-7, we read His teaching as He proclaimed the Kingdom, teaching about the new way of life that followers of God would lead. In chapters 8-9 we are watching Jesus do the work of the Kingdom, and thus far, we have seen Him do some amazing things, but here for the first time, we see the ultimate victory of the Kingdom of Heaven over death itself, and this dear reader, is our great hope as followers of Jesus Christ and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. What a glorious thing it is to be His follower!

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Matthew 9:14-17

It is a matter of some conjecture when this scene takes place; could it have been at Matthew’s dinner, or maybe right after? Could this question have come as a result of John’s disciples hearing about Matthew’s bash? I don’t know, the text doesn’t say and the context is not quite clear, so I’ll leave the debate to others. In any case, they pose a question to Jesus that reveals their lack of comprehension regarding Jesus and His relationship with the Kingdom that John was preparing the way for.

In His answer, Jesus uses an apocalyptic reference from the prophets, namely in likening Himself to the bridegroom, an illusion to the prophetic concept of the Messianic Banquet that we have already discussed multiple times in our study of both Revelation and Matthew.

Jesus’ point appears to be that the Kingdom is here; after all, that’s what He has been proclaiming all over the countryside for some time now. With the coming of the Kingdom, it is no time for mourning and fasting. This is an interesting point when you consider it in the context of the fasting of the Pharisees, which we covered in Matthew 6; their fasting was prescribed by the Law twice per week, and they added frequent fasts on top of that to show their piety… and then of course there is fasting during certain festivals. These Old Testament practices were done in the hope of the Messiah’s coming, and in mourning for the sinfulness of the people. Now, the Messiah is present, and all of the previous unctions are over with; fasting at that time would have been inappropriate. Jesus illustrates this with two metaphors, the patch of an old garment and the use of old wineskins for new wine. Jesus is the new cloth and the new wine in the illustrations, and the Old Testament ways are the old cloth and the old wineskin, with “old” being the operative term.

Yes, the time for fasting and mourning will come when Jesus dies on the cross, but as we know, the grave will not hold Him, and He will return after the resurrection. Then He will be taken into heaven; another time of fasting, and then He will return again in the Person of the Holy Spirit who is with us to this day. Do we live in a time of fasting? (This is our controversy today). Opinions differ on this, but to my mind, the Bridegroom is here with us even now in the indwelling Holy Spirit.