As we have seen throughout our study on the book of Matthew, Matthew alternates between narrative and sermons, and the preceding narrative sections lead up to a sermon Jesus preached. At first we saw at the very beginning of Matthew, the first four chapters were all about the PRESENTATION of the King, then in Matthew 5-7, we see the PROCLAMATION of the king, what he has to say about his kingdom.
Over the last few weeks or so, we have been watching Jesus during his Galilean ministry, in which he seems to just kind of be wandering around, doing miracles, talking about discipleship. Yet, as we have kind of seen towards the end of this ministry, there is two main themes that were occurring throughout these chapters. King Jesus' ministry consisted of 1) healing the sick and 2) discipling the disciples. This is also what our ministries should look like.
Now that Matthew has presented the King's ministry, how he lived it out, we get to our second of five sermons in the book of Matthew. And this sermon relates directly to the King's ministry, The sermon on the ministry of the King. This is what chapter 10 is all about.
There is going to be a lot of interesting things that Jesus says when he gathers his twelve disciples together to send them out to do ministry. He says things like:
"Do not go among the Gentiles..."
"Raise the dead" (really!!!????)
"shake the dust off of your feet when you leave..."
"Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves"
"I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes"
"Anyone who loves his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me"
And so on.
What do we do with all of these instructions? Do they just apply to the disciples then or do they apply to us today? What are some of Jesus' discipleship strategies that we can learn in order to better disciple others as well? I think this will be a very interesting four days as we really dive in head first to the Jesus' sermon on his ministry. My challenge to you is to read through Matthew 10 and post any questions or comments that you have in relation to this chapter. Below is the chapter in full. Enjoy and have a great day.
1 He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil[a] spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[b] drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.9 Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; 10 take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
17 “Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub,[c] how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[e]
37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
40 “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”
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