Matthew 10:16-20 - Sheep among wolves

We can not afford to have any rose-tinted views of mission. This applied to the disciples and still applies today. Jesus said He was sending them out as sheep among wolves. We are in a spiritual battle, therefore there will be spiritual attack. Now spiritual attack will usually take very concrete forms.

So how are we to handle this situation? We are to be shrewd and innocent. We are not to be naive, we should have our eyes open to the reality of what people can be like, what authorities can be like. At the same time we are not indulge in the same manipulative and deceitful tactics that the world might employ.

Jesus then tells them plainly that there will be times when they are handed over to men and flogged. Now, as far as we know, this did not happen to them on this particular trip, but we certainly do read of it happening in Acts on several occasions. 

When it does happen the natural reaction is to look to ourselves, to think that we are the focus of attack. The truth is that we are witnesses on Jesus' behalf. This, if you like, is the downside of being a disciple of Christ. The upside is that at the right time the Holy Spirit will give the wisdom and words that are needed. We are to live as Christ's ambassadors. 

Matthew 10:9-15 - Travelling light

The disciples were not to take any money, bag, extra clothes or staff. Now we should note that Jesus is not establishing a law of mission here. It does not mean that every evangelist or missionary must not take extra clothes etc. As always, it is the principles that count. In particular we should note that Jesus was not envisioning that they live in want, but that people would provide for them.

So when they entered a town or village they were to find a "worthy" person and stay with them, this would be someone who would welcome them into their home. Once located they were to stay there for the duration of their stay in that town, not flitting about from one place to the next.

The principles are that they should travel light, that God would provide what they needed. It is wise to be organised, but we do not need to have every single little detail sorted out. Such an approach can hamper action.

Nor were they to worry over much if a town did not welcome them. Instead they were just to accept it and move on to the next place. They were there as representatives of Christ, and co-workers with Him. It was for God to worry about whether the place accepted or rejected them.

Matthew 10:1-8 - Sent out

The twelve had been called, and now are sent out with the same authority that Jesus had, authority to cast out demons and to heal the sick. This is a pattern for the way that God works. He calls people to Himself, people who will trust and obey Him. Then He shares some of His authority and power with them. God's plan is that man works and lives in fellowship with Him, He shares all that He has with us. There is never any need to seek to grab something from the Lord, for if only we knew it, He intends to share all things with us (Romans 8:32).

This includes sharing the work of the kingdom. We are not passive recipients of the benefits of the good news, rather we are participants in the work of extending the kingdom. This includes sharing in His sufferings.

The twelve were given clear instructions. They were not to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans. Now this most definitely does not mean that God had no interest in them. Incidents in Jesus' life (John 4, Good Samaritan) show this, along with the events that unfolded in Acts, but now was not the time. We need to trust God and stick to His instructions. This will help us avoid a lot of unfruitful activity. People may put enormous pressure on us to do other things, but we should stick to the part of the work that God has assigned to us at this time.

Just like Jesus, they were to proclaim the message that the kingdom of God was near, and to heal people and cast out demons. They had received, now they were to give freely. Please note these important points: (i) they did not receive in order to give;  (ii) we are not to give in order to receive. We are to receive AND we are to give. The kingdom operates on the principle of giving and receiving, and on the principle of grace. Our evil hearts will try and turn this giving and receiving into a law (and this is where some forms of prosperity teaching go horribly wrong). God gives to me because He loves me. And the more like Christ that I become the more I will give freely to others.

Matthew 9:35-38 - Workers needed

Again we see a summary of Jesus ministry: teaching, proclaiming, healing. All three should be a part of the churches ministry today, but notice also that healing is listed third. Miraculous healings should be part of the life of a people who are walking with God, but they are the consequence and the confirmation of the gospel. Jesus went to every town and village, the good news was for everywhere.

What do we see when we look at the people? Jesus had compassion on them for He saw that they were "harassed and helpless", and He also saw that there was a harvest that was ready. May God give us the same eyes to see.

What was His response? First, what is a common evangelical response? To make people feel guilty for not being concerned enough about evangelism. Now it is absolutely true that we are not concerned enough about evangelism, but if making people feel guilty about it was going to do any good the problem would have been solved ages ago.

Jesus response was to ask the "Lord of the harvest" to send forth workers. As Paul says in Romans 10, how can someone preach unless they are sent. We need God to work in our hearts to produce fruit that will last.

Matthew 9:27-34 - Healing and demons

Two blind men follower Jesus calling on Him to have mercy upon them. After Jesus had gone inside they went in after Him. Jesus asked them if they believed He was able to heal them. 

Matthew is wanting to draw attention to the importance of faith. The blind men did believe, and so Jesus restored their sight. 

However, faith and obedience did not go together. Jesus instructed them not to tell anyone, they did the exact opposite. So again we see a warning on using miracles as an "advert" for the gospel. Miracles should happen, they should be a part of the work of the church, (or the work of God through the church to be more precise), but if we make them the main focus we are straying from the path.

Next Jesus cast a demon out of a man who was mute. So sometimes physical ailments require healing, sometimes they are the result of demonic activity. The Pharisees put all this down to the work of the prince of demons. When people attribute something to the devil it is often their own self-interest that they are seeking to protect.

Matthew 9:18-26 - Faith to heal

The synagogue leader went to Jesus because his daughter had died. Mark says at first she was very ill, then messengers came with the message that she had died. Matthew condenses this into the phrase "she has died". Mark seems to be more interested in the human aspects than does Matthew. The man recognised Jesus' stature and knelt down before Him. He believed that if Jesus laid His hands on the girl she would get well. So Jesus and the disciples went with the man.

On the way a woman who had been subject to bleeding for many years touched Jesus. This bleeding, as well as being physically troubling, would have been embarrassing and would have rendered her "unclean", unable to take part in religious activities. She knew that if she could just touch Jesus' cloak she would be healed. 

So these two people both had faith. The synagogue leader demonstrated it in a "respectable way", but we might tend to mock the woman, thinking what good would touching His cloak do? The point is she had faith in Jesus, touching His cloak was the expression of this. We need to be careful here. There are some "healers" today who offer to pray over handkerchiefs and things like that. Now there are instances of that in the Bible, but the key thing is that it was the faith that counted. We can easily turn the "touching the cloak" into the thing that heals. We need to focus on faith. We must not, on the one hand, dismiss actions which are an expression of faith, nor on the other hand make these actions into religious rituals.

When they got to the leader's house there were many mourners there. Jesus ushered them out of the room. This was not the time for mourning, but for healing. There are times to get well meaning "mourners" out of situations. Jesus then simply healed the girl.

So in both cases the faith "worked".

Matthew 9:14-17 - Don't be fast to judge

John's disciples came to question Jesus, asking why His disciples did not fast, whereas they, along with the Pharisees, did often. John had been sent to  prepare the way. John knew what his purpose was, that Jesus was infinitely greater than he was. His disciples apparently did not fully appreciate this. The One they were preparing the way for was different from John, so all sorts of things would be different.

In church history there have been numerous movements, revivals, etc. For a time they have prospered, but all too often have then decayed or stultified. We need to realise our role in life. What God has called us to do now is vital and is of great importance, it is part of the kingdom, but at the same time what comes next will be greater. For of the increase of His government (kingdom) there is no end (Isaiah 9:7). What we have now is not "it", it is the current stage on the way to the ultimate goal. So what comes next will be even greater and different. We need to ensure that we do not become people who object to the next thing that God does.

We also see that some of their "fears" were groundless, for Jesus said his disciples would fast in the near future, it was just that now was not the time. We need to beware of letting our emotions and limited thinking stopping us from seeing what God is doing. John's disciples thought "they are not fasting now, they will never fast, they should be fasting". They were wrong, for Jesus' disciples were right not to fast at that time, but a time would come when they would fast. When we get all het up about something, we need to watch ourselves, because we are probably getting all worked up about nothing.

We need to realise too that God is doing new things, and new things require new vessels, new ways of doing them.