(Luke Kephart)
An audio version of each devotion will be posted on our church podcast “Life Together at CRPC,” which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
Matthew 9:35–10:15 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10no bag for your journey, or two tunics[e] or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12As you enter the house, greet it. 13And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
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In this passage, Matthew continues to give us insight into how Jesus as the Messiah fulfills the promises of God in the Old Testament. Even more, he gives us insight into how what God began with his chosen people continues into the founding and growth of the Kingdom of Heaven, and our mission in it. In the previous chapters, Matthew has shown Jesus:
- Teaching with divine authority
- Healing the sick
- Commanding creation
- Driving out demons
These are exactly the kinds of things the prophets said God’s anointed would do. In today’s passage, Matthew shows that these earlier examples were representative moments of the extensive ministry Jesus carried out as He traveled “throughout all the cities and villages” teaching, healing, and proclaiming the message of the Kingdom.
Verse 36 gives us important insight into Jesus’ heart in all that he was doing. The people were like “sheep without a shepherd”, “harassed and helpless”, and Jesus had compassion on them. That compassion motivates him to action. What Jesus is doing here fulfills God’s promises, validates his Messianic nature, and begins the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. But the reason he does what he does is that he has compassion for them, that is, compassion for us. Throughout Israel’s history, God showed His compassion by providing shepherds—prophets, priests, and kings—but the people often did not listen, and many of their leaders failed to be good shepherds. Yet God’s compassion remained. Jesus’ compassion is not a new thing; it is the visible expression of the Father’s long-standing compassion for His people. His plan for us is born from that compassion and continues because of it. His solution is to become our true shepherd, as seen in Ezekiel 34:11-12: “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” Jesus cares just as the Father cares, and he demonstrates the heart of the true shepherd.
Yet here we see in the context of Jesus’ human life, that the need is greater than he, as a human, can meet. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few,” and so he asks the disciples to “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Jesus then calls and sends them. Jesus himself is the Lord of the harvest, and Matthew wants us to see that the one who commands the harvest is the one who provides the workers. The need for laborers isn’t just because Jesus is overwhelmed, but because he chooses to work through the disciples. He is teaching them to be like Him. He wants them to have compassion on the lost sheep, just as he does. He wants them to see the opportunity to bring the harvest, and he wants them to turn that compassion to action, as he calls them to this mission.
The disciples are not volunteers or random followers. Matthew lists each one, and the variety of people and backgrounds are notable. The men in this varied group are selected by Jesus to be the apostles, the sent ones. Matthew even includes Judas in the list—a sobering reminder that not everyone who hears Jesus, travels with Him, or even ministers in his name belongs to the Kingdom. Judas was entrusted with real ministry, yet he turned away. His presence doesn’t derail God’s plan; instead, it highlights the reality that the Kingdom advances even in the midst of human rejection.
The sending of these men doesn’t come out of nowhere. Jesus has been preparing them in everything he has already been doing in their lives. They have had their lives reoriented, leaving their homes and families and living with the teacher as disciples. They have been with Jesus during his ministry in the region, heard his teaching, seen how he interacts with people, experienced his miracles, and interacted with him personally. Perhaps even more importantly, they have received personal instruction to prepare them. The Sermon on the Mount was a lesson for the disciples. They are being sent by the Lord of the harvest, and they are given His authority to heal, cast out demons, raise the dead, and to preach the Kingdom. They have been shaped for the mission, and they go out fully equipped.
The fact that there are twelve disciples represents the twelve tribes, and their sending explicitly to the “Lost sheep of the house of Israel” fulfills the prophecies regarding the gathering in of God’s chosen people. From there the expectation is that all peoples are blessed through God’s chosen people as they become a “light for the nations” (Isaiah 49:6). It is a sequence, not an exclusion. The Jews who respond to Jesus in Matthew are the firstfruits of the restored Israel promised in the prophets—the initial, holy remnant through whom God will bring in the full harvest of the nations.
The twelve are sent in the tradition of the prophets. They go with obvious dependence on God for the message, and the power to authenticate the authority of who sent them, but they also must trust God for even those things that they might anticipate and provide for themselves. Jesus wants them to recognize their dependence on him in all things, and he wants the people to see it as well. When Jesus directs them to find those who are worthy, he’s directing them to look at people the same way that he does. The worthy are those who are humble and receptive to the message. They are not morally superior, wealthy, or socially important. They look much more like the people Jesus describes in chapter 5.
So the disciples carry nothing of material value. And by accepting no money and staying in the same home from the beginning, they avoid any appearance that God’s power can be traded for better accommodations, or anything else. Their dependence on hospitality exposes the hearts of those that they depend on, where hospitality shows an openness to the message and the lack demonstrates a rejection that results in judgement, just as in Sodom and Gomorrah. The disciples are to “shake the dust” from their feet, as those who reject God’s message have no part in the Kingdom. Hospitality is the first sign of the growth of the Kingdom.
The mission that Jesus sent the disciples on had aspects that were particular to Jesus’ expansion of His ministry through them, but they also represent a continuation of that mission to all the people of the Kingdom. The mission did not end with them, and it will be made clear that it continues. After all, the message is the proclamation of the Kingdom and the gospel. As long as God allows the opportunity for the lost to repent and believe, that mission remains for us.
As you think about our mission as followers of Jesus, consider these points:
1. Jesus’ first response to the lost is compassion, not frustration or fear. Ours should be the same.
2. Jesus prepared the laborers, initiated their mission, and sent them to the harvest, and we are equipped and sent in the same way with the same message.
3. People’s deepest need is for Jesus himself, yet he never neglected their other needs.
4. The disciples went out vulnerable, dependent, and sometimes rejected. We should not expect ease.
5. Trust the Lord of the harvest with the results. Our task is faithfulness; the harvest belongs to him.