November 19, 2023
Matthew 9:35–10:15

Title: Now Hiring, pt 1

Outline:

1. The White Harvest
2. Equipping The Twelve
3. Sending The Twelve (1/2 this week)
4. The Job Description (next week)
5. The Package (next week)

We have seen the religious leaders charge Jesus –and by default in that recent case– the Holy Spirit of the most abominable thing: they charged Him of casting out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Later in Matthew, Jesus will tell His naysayers that, “the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (12:31) ¶ Matthew now proceeds to explain to the disciples that the people of the cities and villages were like sheep without a shepherd. He commands His disciples to play earnestly for workers to help with the shepherding ministry. After the disciples obey their individual calls to follow, Jesus proceeds to send them out with very detailed instructions on exactly what they are to do as they speak life into the crowds’ lives. Afterwards he explains what they are to expect from His enemies and how to defend themselves in the courts.

The White Harvest Of God (9:35-38)

35 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

• A few points that Matthew wanted to bring out here.
• Jesus was thorough.
• Jesus was busy in His ministry.
• Jesus didn’t look past people.
  - The religious leaders were not shepherding.
  - When others saw the people, they didn’t seem to see “harassed and helpless.” That is precisely what Jesus saw.
  • Jesus saw people who needed spiritual help.
  • People are the to-do-list in the kingdom.
    • The worship of God, #1.
    • The helper of people, #2.
    • That is the work in the kingdom. These are the priorities.
• He had compassionate eyes.
  • Jesus will rebuke people that should know better the things of God. But He showed compassion to the helpless.
  • Jesus saw that the people were ready to be helped and given His hope.
• Jesus commanded pray for those willing to go to the fields and work.
  • The word we see here for “pray” is not the typical word in the NT. ESV modifies the word “pray” with the word “earnestly.” The phrase “pray earnestly” is one word in the original and can mean not only >>
    1. to want, [but may also mean >>]
    2. to desire, long for [>>]
    3. to ask, beg (Thayer)
• Jesus has a call to prayer and THEN to the work.

APPLICATION

• What keeps us from seeing people with compassion?
• Pride: our pride and others’.
  • Americans have to be some of the most prideful people ever born on the planet.
  • We often respond with frustration and anger to the helpless.
  • I often wonder how Jesus would have responded to our people as a culture.
  • But nevertheless, Jesus came and died and rose again from the grave for such sinners as us.
• Vastness: Who can calculate the spiritual need of humanity? It’s a weighty thing to look at the need just in the Churches, much less at the lost billions outside the kingdom.
  • We can feel overwhelmed.
• We fail to see the value in people.
  • We forget that people value intrinsic value. To be human is to be an image of God. We often respond with indifference to the images of God.
• But it is always time to roll up the sleeves and get to the work at hand.
  • Sadly, many Christians will find anything to do but work in the fields of God.
  • Morgan said it best, “The trouble is not that the fields are not white. The trouble is that the labourers are not ready.”[371, The Gospel …,_ p. 78]
  • We must be intentional by getting in the fields of people.
  • The fields are always white.

TRANSITION: The White Harvest >> Equipping The Twelve

Equipping The Twelve (10:1-4)

10:1 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. 2 The 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; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

• And he called to him his twelve disciples
  • “As soon as he [Jesus] remarked that number, every Jew of any spiritual penetration must have scented ‘a Messianic programme.’”[876, Hunter, The Message …, p. 62; English spelling retained.]
  • Even though we know these were ordained, special men that were the first building blocks to the Church, we have relatively few details of the apostles life really. (Barclay) In this section the focus is on the work and how it is to be properly done, not so much about the workers.²
  • These Twelve became extensions of Jesus’ ministry and their duties included the same things they had heard and saw with the power needed to get the job done.
  • In most respects one must conclude that there was not anything necessary special about these men. They seemed to be very ordinary men. “They had no wealth; they had no academic background; they had no social position. They were chosen from the common people, men who did the ordinary things, men who had no special education, men who had no social advantages.” (Barclay)
  • One thing we do know is that these men were an “extraordinary mixture.” Matthew, the tax-gatherer, would have been regarded by the other men as one who “sold himself into the hands of his country’s masters for gain, the very reverse of a patriot …” (Barclay) There was also Simon the Zealot as recorded in Luke 6:15. Josephus described these Zealots as having an impregnable “attachment to liberty” holding the firmest of view that “God is to be their ruler and Lord.” (Antiquities, 18. 1. 6) (Barclay) They were, what Barclay called “the patriots par excellence among the Jews, the most nationalist of all the nationalists.”
• and gave them authority over unclean spirits,
  • The unclean ones were placed under the men’s authority. That really is extortionary.
  • to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
    • Notice the close relationship between unclean spirits and disease.

APPLICATION

• Power given to the Twelve does not necessarily mean that this equipping extends to every Christian; in fact we know it does not. >>
  • But we have been equipped, as the Church to accomplish bringing God’s will to earth and accomplishing everything He desires to do.
  • The Holy Spirit gives gifts as He determines. (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4)
  • We also now that God has equipped each one of us for service in the Body of Christ. If you are not working in your spiritual gift there is a hole where you belong.
• Is there such a thing as exorcism and healing ministries in the 21st Century?
  • While these ministries are widely taught in Catholic and Pentecostal circles, both of these ministries usually make conservative, Bible church types very uncomfortable.
  • There is some good reasons for this. Namely, there has been many charlatans come around with their “ministries of casting out demons” and “healing the sick.” Imposters who take the unsuspecting’s money.
  • This has always been true of any gift that comes with outward signs like tongues, healing and even the mechanics of teaching.
  • The case for exorcisms continuance is based not only from post-Ascension exorcisms in the NT, but also from reports from the mission fields.
  • Although we should note, that we don’t find the specified gift of exorcism listed in the spiritual gift passages of the NT; we do find Christians are still equipped with the gift of healing in 1 Corinthians 12.
• Two truths we have covered several times from the word:
  • Every sickness is not related to demonic forces, but some are.
  • Every sickness is not related to disobedience, nut some are.

TRANSITION: Equipping The Twelve >> Sending The Twelve (with instructions)

Sending The Twelve (Read 10:5-15)

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

• We see that here, the disciples were prohibited from going to the Gentile and Samaritan audiences.
• The lost sheep of the house of Israel should be their focus. >>
  • This phrase “the lost sheep of Israel” is the whole nation as we know from Jeremiah 50:6. (cf. Blomberg, Matthew, 171; Harrington, 140; et al.)
• Why were the Gentiles and Samaritans not to hear of the kingdom at this time? Plumptre astutely answered, “that it did but recognise a divine order, the priority of Israel in God’s dealing with mankind.” >> (English spelling retained.)
• Paul later would put it this way –as you recall: "to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.”

7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

• The disciples were to proclaim a message. Proclaim = lit. to publicly herald (Thayer) the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
• Plumptre suggested that the repetition of the self-same word “herald” as describing “the Baptist’s teaching and then our Lord’s seems to suggest that this was actually a formula of proclamation.” Perhaps the Lord’s “envoys” were to stand at the gate of each village, town and city and “announce that His kingdom had come near”.
• Here they were to explain, in part, that the kingdom is about doing God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. (Barclay)
• What is the kingdom:
  • Anytime God’s will is being done the kingdom is active.
  • A synonym for the kingdom is the NT contract it would seem.
  • Jesus is the King of the kingdom, and He was at hand.

Verse 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.

• Their messages too will be validated with the like humanitarian miracles that Jesus had done.
• They were to not only teach of and herald about the kingdom , but also to do the things the King was doing.
• The disciples were given broad privileges in that they had received delegated power from Jesus to bless the people and validate their delegated ministries as well.

Verse 8b You received without paying; give without pay.

• They were to do these things without payment because they also received them without paying Jesus.

Verse 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

• Jesus told the twelve not to set out to acquire gold or silver or bronze for their belts. Literally, for their “girdles”, which the Jews wore round their waist like money belts of last century travelers. (Barclay)
  • The Greek for ESV’s “Acquire” could mean take along or receive. Both may be in view. (Constable)
  • So it could be that they were not to take their monetary or “emergency” needs with them or they were also not to take payment for their ministries OR both.
• Jesus also instructed the twelve not to take a bag for the journey.
  • This bag would have been one of two things: something like our backpack or day-bag filled with provisions that they would use while traveling on foot out of town. (Plumptre) Or it could possibly by “a beggar’s collecting bag”; these bags would be laid out by “wandering philosophers” “after addressing the crowd.” (Barclay; cf. Blomberg, Matthew, 171)
• Finally, Jesus said that the workman deserves his food. “Once again the Jews would recognize this. It is true that a Rabbi might not accept payment, but it is also true that it was considered at once a privilege and an obligation to support a Rabbi, if he was truly a man of God.” (Barclay)
  • They were to “travel lightly” (Constable) and to remain in a state of daily need and be supported by their hearers.
  • Barclay summed these things up well: “Here then is the double truth; the man of God must never be over-concerned with material things, but the people of God must never fail in their duty to see that the man of God receives a reasonable support. This passage lays an obligation on teacher and on people alike.” (Barclay)

APPLICATION

• What was neat about discipleship is that discipleship patterns were already in place. >>
• The disciples had already heard what they were to teach, herald what they had seen heralded, seen what they were to do, and go where they were instructed.
• We have that same clarity today. The earth is now the expanded mission field, everything else remains the same. That’s clarity.
• This implies that to be equipped to disciple, one must be fully away of Jesus’ ministry as recorded in the accounts of the gospel.
• Barclay said a good point best, “The Christian is not meant to bring to men his own opinions; he brings a message of divine certainties from Jesus Christ …” >>
• We must know the Word of God if we are to herald and teach accurately.

Notes

^{Notes from above may not be in numerical order above.}

¹ Douglas R. A. Hare, The Theme of Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel According to St. Matthew, p. 104. Cited by Constable.

² This sentence is derived from a quote from Alfred Plummer. His quote however gives the wrong impression by its use of the word “glorified” in association with the work the disciples were charged with doing with in my view. Here is a link to the quote from Heartlight-org: https://www.heartlight.org/gallery/6277.html. (Cf. Barclay)

³ This idea seems like a good fit considering Hart’s translation of verse 11: “And, whatever city or village you enter into, carefully ascertain who within it is a worthy man, and stay with him until you should depart.”

Works Cited

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Click here to access the works cited web-page for this document, save those marked as “Notes” or “Other Works Cited”–if any. Most of these cited works correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of general background information and references, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with. ¶ Furthermore, there may be numbered notes that are URL linked; these are usually retained numbered notes from Thomas Constable’s, “Dr. Constable’s Expository (Bible Study) Notes.” These links are preserved “as is” at the time of this work’s formation and I usually include other citation information from Constable as well (e.g. authors’ names).

Other Works Cited

Note: All of the resources below were cited in at least one of the sermons in the Book of Matthew but not necessarily this one.

Augsburger, David. Dissident Discipleship. Brazos Press, 2006.

Barclay, William. Barclay’s Daily Study Bible. Westminster Press, 1955-1960. Sourced digitally from studylight.org/commentaries/eng/dsb.html.

Blomberg, Craig L. Matthew. New American Commentary, vol. 22, ed. David S. Dockery, et al., Broadman Press, 1992. May be sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/matthew0000blom

________. Preaching the Parables: From Responsible Interpretation to Powerful Proclamation. Baker Academic, 2004. Sourced from archive.org.
(https://archive.org/details/preachingparable0000blom/page/82/mode/1up)

Bruce, Alexander Balmain. The Training of the Twelve. Ed., A.C. Armstrong and Son, reprint 1984, Kregel Publications, 1971 edition.

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” The Expositors Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, Ed. et al., Zondervan, 1984.

_______. The Sermon on the Mount : an Evangelical of Matthew 5-7 Exposition. 1978, Baker Book House, fifth printing, 1989. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/sermononmounteva0000cars/page/54/mode/1up

_______. When Jesus confronts the world : an exposition of Matthew 8-10. Originally published by Inter-Varsity Press in 1988, Paternoster, 1995. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/whenjesusconfron0000cars/page/n3/mode/1up

Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest. Our Daily Bread Publishing, web ver.

Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison, Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. T. & T. Clark, 1988. Was sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/criticalexegetic0001davi/page/n7/mode/1up. Unavailable on Nov. 14, 2023.

Evans, Craig A. The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: Matthew-Luke. Victor, 2003. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/bibleknowledgeba00crai/mode/1up

France, R. T. The Gospel According to Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1985.

_______. The Gospel of Matthew. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2007. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000fran/page/n6/mode/1up

Harrington, Daniel J . The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series, vol. 1, A Michael Glazier Book, Liturgical Press (publ.), 1991. Sourced from archive.org.
https://archive.org/details/gospelofmatthew0000harr/mode/1up

Hendriksen, William. New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke. Baker Book House, 1984.

Phillips, John. Exploring the Gospels: John. Loizeaux Brothers, 1988.

Plumptre, E. H. “Matthew.” Commentary for English Readers, Charles John Ellicott, Compiler/Editor, Lord Bishop of Gloucester Cassell and Company, Limited, 1905. Sourced from BiblePortal.com. Click here for a list of the authors of the CER.

Robinson, Monte. The Way of Discipleship. Independently published, 2021. Web, aimdiscipleship.org/book.html, accessed Oct 2023.

Wiersbe, Warren. The Wiersbe Bible Commentary. 2 Volumes, David C. Cook, 2007.

Yancey, Philip. The Jesus I Never Knew. Zondervan, 1995.

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