The Gospel according to Matthew
1-2. The ancestry and birth of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.
3-4. Jesus’ ministry begins; John’s baptism, Satan’s temptations, first disciples called.,
5-7. A summary of Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, crowds were astounded.
8-9. An account of Jesus’ healings; the authority of Jesus is questioned and defended.
10-12. Jesus sends apostles on a short-term mission; then continues his own ministry.
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We noted last week that Chapter 10 is a commissioning speech meant to send the new apostles or missionaries out to extend Jesus’ mission since six mission teams could reach more villages than Jesus could while leading the disciples around. The first half of the speech consists of instructions for how to conduct themselves when they enter a village. Their welcome will depend on the strength of First Century Jewish hospitality.
Now, in the second half of the speech, Jesus takes up the real possibility that instead they might be rejected and shunned by people in a particular village and that might lead to further acts of persecution. So, they should be prepared for this response as well and see it also as an opportunity for ministry since their response will be an occasion to explain that they are in God’s service on behalf of God’s messenger, Jesus the Messiah.
10: 16-18. “I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the gentiles.
Jesus’ last reference to sheep was that the people were scattered and confused, just like a leaderless herd of sheep. Now it is the apostles that Jesus likens to sheep because they are helpless. Then he counsels them to be wise, yet innocent. Why? John Wesley’s first rule for ministry was: “Do no harm.” In worldly terms, the apostles are defenseless. They are not crusaders, not even Christian soldiers, seeking to conquer through strength. What chance do they have?
10: 19-20. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
The best odds in the world: They are ambassadors of the Son of God, and the Spirit of God will give them the right words at the right time. Might they be harmed? Remember the mission. Jesus was sent not only to live but also to die. Apostles, ministers, and missionaries are sent out to live, preach, and on occasion, to suffer harm. The message that they bring offers salvation, but it also confirms condemnation if it is rejected.
10: 21-23. Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this town, flee to the next, for truly I tell you, you will not have finished going through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Jesus appears to be looking beyond this first mission trip for the apostles to things that will happen to some of them in the future. This language may only mean that there will be plenty of places of refuge to run to, when needed. The coming of the Son of Man may mean that Jesus will follow up on their ministry, which he does in 11: 1, or it may refer to the resurrected Jesus’ second coming. Although, there has not yet been much talk of the crucifixion or resurrection.
10: 24-25. “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
Jesus employs a double analogy here to make a point about what kind of treatment the apostles should expect. If the master or teacher is disrespected, then the slave or student should expect nothing better. In the previous chapter, some Pharisees said that Jesus could order demons around because he was the leader of the demons (Beelzebul). If they demonized Jesus, surely they would not hesitate to demonize the apostles. Sounds scary. Glad we don’t demonize people today.
10: 26-31. “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
But that is not the scary part. The scary part is the future disposition of the soul. In European and American history, we have a pretty scary narrative about hell. Some of this is collected in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). The poem has Dante being guided through the afterlife by the Roman poet Virgil, so it is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatoria, and Paradiso. In the Inferno, which is hell, Dante is shown 9 concentric circles that go lower and lower into the earth, with the lowest levels of hell populated by corrupt politicians, sowers of discord, liars, and traitors. The flames, the screams, and the despair have remained part of our popular imagination.
However, the word here in Verse 28 is Gehenna, not hell. In Jewish thought of the time, Gehenna was pretty bad too. It has a long history that haunted the imaginations of First Century Jews. The word’s origin points to Ge Hinnom, ‘the valley of Hinnom’. The name shows up several times in the Old Testament, but the relevant instances locate the Ammonite practice of child sacrifice to the god Molech there during the reign of several kings. It was to Josiah’s credit that among his reforms was the destruction of the altar in the valley.
Then the prophets took up the story. God, through Jeremiah, counts this among the sins of Judah.
“For the people of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD; they have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name, defiling it. And they go on building the high place of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire–which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth until there is no more room” (Jeremiah 7: 30-32).
10: 32-33. “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
When he uses the term ‘Gehenna’, Jesus alludes to this narrative that draws on a physical place of destruction during war, and a spiritual place of destruction. He urges the disciples to speak anyway, since the message will get out anyway. As these verse say, faithfulness to Jesus will secure their souls.
10: 34-36. “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
This is rather shocking, especially for Christians who lift up family and family values. Also to Jesus’ statement that “I have not come to bring peace to the earth.” Take that out of context and put it on your bumper sticker!
Really, Jesus is just warning the disciples not to expect peace and harmony when the gospel is preached because, as I have said, the gospel cuts both ways. If there were not the wrath of God and eternal damnation, then why is there an urgency to preach that the time of decision is now? Some will hear and repent, others will miss the point and rebel. That is the way humans are. Decisions may go right and left even within a family.
10: 37-39. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
Really, it is a matter of one’s central allegiance in life. One’s allegiance to Jesus need not require rejection by one’s family, though sometimes it does. Where family historically is embedded in Islam, for example, and tensions are heightened, as they are today, then either silence or separation may be the only choices. In India, some are questioning whether a rejection of family, as early missionaries required, was really necessary. Believers in Jesus can remain in the home, village, or city as ‘Bakhti Iesu’, people devoted to Jesus, and thus become a witness to how much better it is to be a Jesus follower than some other god.
10: 40-42. “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous, and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
What if, by your hospitable welcome, you were welcoming Jesus? Well, you are when the person embodies the spirit of Jesus. Notice here that the disciples are called ‘little ones’, and associated with both prophecy (preaching) and righteousness (doing justice). Notice also the generosity of God, in forgiving us, in restoring our standing, and in giving us rewards, more than we deserve .