January 7, 2024
Matthew 9:35–10:42

Title: Now Hiring, pt 3

Constable had a fitting title for this section of Scripture that we’ve been in last month: The" Mission Discourse". Chapter 10 includes very specific directions that Jesus gave the disciples to prepare for the dangerous mission work of the kingdom. These 42 verses record the Twelve’s specific, detailed instructions about what they should say, where they should go, and to whom they should minister. Jesus also gave guidance to His disciples in view of mounting opposition and His anticipated rejection. These instructions have been at the core theology of the persecuted Church until this day. (Constable) The Disciples were being sent out as sheep amongst wolves. Jesus assured them they would be mistreated by people in authority, but they were to accomplish their heralding of the good news, the gospel, in Israel with the accompaniment of the same miraculous power Jesus had. As we continue our feast on these instructions, we first see that the disciples were to have no fear. As you recall from last time, the potential for fear would come at the hands of legal persecution.

Have No Fear (10:26–33)

• On the heals of pointing out His own persecution to the Disciples, Jesus started to focus on the proper reactions to what the Disciples too would experience: Verse 26 “So have no fear of them,
  • The reason they could go out with no fear is because of the instructions we read here in this chapter 10.
  • Jesus already instructed them that they would be treated worst than Him.
  • He continued to give additional reasons on why the Disciples could go out without fear.
• Reason #1: Don’t fear—justice will come. Verse 26b for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
  • The disciples were to have no fear for they would one day receive justice for injustices suffered.
  • As Americans we would feel that the loss of freedom here and now as our primary concern. In our culture, we do not like to suffer ever—for any reason. Perhaps this is true of most Christians today.
  • This reason given here would not satisfy most American hearers today: you will receive justice later!
  • Exacting justice will be served for all evils.
  • Because of this reason, the Disciples were to go out in boldness. Verse 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
  • It is thought that heralding in villages was often done from from the most the tallest and most central rooftop one could obtain permission to use in a given city or town.
• Reason #2: Don’t fear—you live forever. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
  • People cannot harm us as an eternal beings. COMMENT
  • This is who you are for eternity, so their authority is limited to the physical, temporal world.
  • The eternal security we have as Christians should bring in a public confidence and confession of Christ.
  • Instead of fearing their persecutors, they were to Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
  • Fear God = reverence with a deep understanding of God’s holy judgments and powerful abilities.
  • Fearing man diminishes our fear of God.
• Reason #3: Don’t fear—the Father will be with you. Verse 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
  • In the first century, most people ate fish as their occasional weekly meat source.2 When they ate other meat, it was only on "rare"3 and "special occasions."4
  • Poor people ate sparrows for their protein due to their budget friendly cost. >> (Wight, p. unknown)
  • As we see from the text, two sparrows could be bought for the smallest copper coin (what would be our penny).
  • Explicate: you will not fall dead apart from the Father’s will and God’s company.
  • This passage seems to suggest that God checks off on those that die from persecution as well.
  • We will never be separated from the love of Christ.
  • If we face death, God has checked off on it and He will be with us and He will give us the grace we need to remain strong.
  • God’s sovereign will is being done in the animal kingdom even among the lowly sparrow and so then of course in His children’s lives.
• Reason #4: Don’t fear—God knows us intimately. Verse 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
  • This speaks to God’s infinite knowledge and attention God gives to His children and their affairs,
  • Christians often assert that God only cares about the big things in our lives and that He remains “unconcerned about the details.” Here we see Jesus correcting that false assumption. Instead we see God has concern with the minutest parts of our lives. (Constable)
  • “To hold a conception of God as a mere […] Commander-in-Chief [—so to speak—] who cannot possibly spare the time to attend to the details of His subordinates’ lives … is to have a god who is a mere bunch of perfect qualities … [Philips said,] God [has] the capacity to hold, [all details of the universe] in His mind at the same time. This, the Christian religion holds, is the true and satisfying conception of God revealed by Jesus Christ …”[914; Philips, p. 39]
  • This also speaks to God’s love for us. >>
  • McGee said—“The Lord Jesus loves you more than your mother loved you. Did your mother ever count the hairs on your head?”[911; 4:60]
• Reason #5. Don’t fear—you are valuable to God. Verse 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. COMMENT
  • Next we see Jesus raising the bar on expectation due to the knowledge Jesus taught here: verse
• Reason #6 is in the form of a warning. There will be like treatment for those that won’t have a voice due to persecution. Verse 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
  • If we don’t acknowledge Jesus, He will not acknowledge us.
  • Stated positively, disciples must acknowledge Jesus publicly.
  • I can’t say what Jesus is teaching better than Barclay so let me read you his quote: “One cannot fulfill the basic requirements of being a disciple privately.” >>
  • We have talked about this many times. >>
  • But remember, the terms believer and disciple are not synonymous here as they are in other parts of the NT. In this context, confessing Jesus before others “means acknowledging Him faithfully in spite of pressure to do otherwise. Jesus will acknowledge faithful disciples as such to His Father. He will not give this reward to unfaithful disciples who cave in to pressure to deny Him.”[915, Barclay, 1:403-4] (Constable)
  • “Jesus probably [will look] at the whole course of the disciple’s life” for this reward it seems. “One act of unfaithfulness does not [seem to] disqualify a disciple from Jesus’ commendation.” (Constable)
  • Remember the examples we have already talked about: Peter’s failure of denying he knew Christ in the courtyard of the high priest and in the next passage too we will read about John the Baptist’s questioning of Jesus being Messiah while he was in prison. Obviously these men will be great in the kingdom as is the witness of the Scriptures.

TRANSITION: No fear >> Jesus’ purpose

Jesus’ purpose on earth. (10:34–39)

• Jesus wanted to make His mission clear to the Disciples:
• 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.
• I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
  • He is explicate in His intentions regarding relationships.
• The sword is not for physical war but instead to make distinctions between people two groups of people. >>
  • Jesus is explicit with these next examples as to leave no room for misunderstanding. >>
  • Verse 35 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.
• Verse 36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.
  • Peace on earth good will to men. Yes, in Christ!
  • God gives a chance of grace for His good will towards mankind, but it is through the ministry of His Son. Otherwise division.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:14, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
  • Jesus came to separate His redeemed people from the lump of humanity.
  • This idea is one-sided—God sided. He make the rules. He makes the contract with humankind. Humans have no negotiating power.
  • God contract: Believe in my Son, if not, something else.

Jesus gives the job requirements to His Disciples:

• A qualified applicant to Jesus’ school of discipleship must prioritize Jesus over everyone else. Verse 37 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.
• A qualified applicant to Jesus’ school of discipleship must prioritize his calling and work over all other endeavors. Verse 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
  • ILLUSTRATION: The cross as a symbol and pendant.
  • “In the ancient days the criminal did actually carry the cross-beam of his cross to the place of crucifixion, and the men to whom Jesus spoke had seen people staggering under the weight of their crosses and dying in agony upon them.”[922, Barclay, 1:408]
• A qualified applicant to Jesus’ school of discipleship must lose his own life. Verse 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
  • Our goals must be His goals.
  • Our will dies to His will.
  • "The person who lives for the present loses the real purpose of life."1[923] (Constable)

TRANSITION: Jesus’ purpose in discipleship >> The Rewards

The rewards for service (10:40–42)

• 40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.
  • We all are in one very large joint ministry. Everything is intertwined.
  • We minister as One Body, the Body of Christ.
• 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward,
  • Does this point to receiving a blessing from the prophet while he is being hosted? Yes, it does.
  • But it is more than that as well.
• We see a like truth in verse 41b: and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.
  • Paul understood this. >>
  • Philippians 1:3-5 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
• Verse 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
  • The point is that no act of kindness towards a disciple goes unnoticed AND RECORDED.

APPLICATION

• Some things we need to keep in mind:
• Wiesbe said it well, “Keep in mind that the theme of this last section is discipleship, not sonship. We become the children of God through faith in Christ; we are disciples as we faithfully follow.”[926, The Bible …, 1:40]
• Jesus called the Disciples. "Jesus does not compel men to do his work; He offers him the work of the kingdom. “Jesus does not coerce; he invites.” He give a "summons which [we] can accept or refuse.” (Barclay)
• Some of what Jesus told the Twelve to do in this chapter 10 applied only to them at the time. But most of what Jesus taught His Twelve disciples applies to His disciples today. “These include: preach the gospel, help people, live simply, move on if you are rejected, use wisdom and discernment, [be harmless,] expect persecution, do not be afraid, remain faithful to God, and remember your reward.” (Constable) >>
• With opportunities to join in the work of discipleship.

Notes

Notes from above may not be in numerical order above.

1 Constable cited, William Hendriksen, New Testament Commentary, Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew, p. 477.

2 Wight cited, “Edmond Stapfer, Palestine in the Time of Christ, pp. 185, 186.”

3 Wight cited, “W. M. Thomson. The Land and the Book, Vol. I, p. 98.”

4 Wight, 51.

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.

Wight, Frank H. Manners and Customs of Bible Lands. Moody Press, 1953 ed.

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

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