Behold I send you out...

Matthew 10:1-23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 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, the one who betrayed Him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; ⁶ but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. ⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. ⁹ Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, ¹⁰ or a bag for your journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support. ¹¹ And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave that city. ¹² As you enter the house, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the house is worthy, give it your blessing of peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your blessing of peace. ¹⁴ Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.

¹⁶ “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; ¹⁸ and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ²⁰ For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

²³ “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

Today’s text is another that doesn’t fit well into image and storyline many people today have created about Jesus ministry and how we would be if we were like Him. First Jesus says:  “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”     That doesn’t line up well with the idea of inclusion promoted today. Later of course Jesus did send His disciples and us out to everyone. In Acts 1:8 He says:  “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  Still, during His own time here Jesus made it clear that His primary focus was to the nation of Israel. In Mark 7:25-29 we read of another account when Jesus strongly indicated that His priority was to minister to Israel:      But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. Now the woman was a  Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”   Jesus did grant the woman’s request and her daughter was delivered, but it was not because she demanded to be viewed equally. Rather she appealed to Jesus compassion and mercy. She recognized that while she, like we all, was unworthy, it is grace not justice we truly want from God.  

In the next portion of the text Jesus instructs the disciples saying:   “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”       Surely this does not align with today’s cultural requirement of tolerance. Christians, followers of Jesus, His disciples, are viewed as narrow minded and bigoted if they judge sin or challenge anyone who does not “heed their words.”  Yet Jesus Himself says:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)  In the text Jesus refers to the harsh judgment against the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah saying those who do not heed the message, the good news of the kingdom, will also be judged.

Jesus dispels the idea that we should expect or seek to be loved by the world. He says:   “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”       If we are following Jesus, we should not expect that we will be loved by the world. We are indeed called to show them God’s love, His mercy and His grace, but we should not expect that we will receive their love in return. Jesus says:    “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’”        If the world would hate and reject us, may it be because they hate the Jesus they see in us.

Jesus gives one final bit of advice and instruction. He says:    “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”      We are not to concern ourselves with those who do not receive the good news of the gospel. There are others who still need to hear. If the message is not received in one place, by the people there we should move on and continue to fulfill the Lord’s commission to:  "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)  We should not expect that all will receive us or the message. God says:  “For as the rain and the  snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth  And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)      We should trust God for the results as we continue to declare His word and reveal His love, mercy, grace and His righteousness and justice.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit for the revelation of Your truth, love, mercy, grace and Your righteousness in Your word.    Amen.