Matthew 9:35-10

Matthew • Sermon • Submitted a month ago • Presented a month ago

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Introduction

The Lord’s ministry has been demonstrated by Matthew over the last few chapters. But now, there is going to be a shift. The Master has been teaching the students on what to do, and now He’s going to say, “Your turn.” Not only will we see the Lord send the twelve apostles out on their first “mission trip”, but we’re also going to see Jesus’ sermon to them on what to expect. This sermon is just as relevant to all disciples of Christ as it was to the original 12.

9:35-10:1

This passage is kind of a capstone to all the previous miracles stories Matthew has told us about, but it’s also the connector with the next passage.

Matthew goes from the particular miracles we’ve seen to telling us that Jesus did all of these in all of the cities and villages. Jesus always started by teaching in the synagogues.

Matthew says, “their synagogues”. Jesus wasn’t associated with them, and yet he went to where the people were. The synagogues were places of instruction and worship. Do we go where the people are to tell them about Jesus?

His message was the Good News (Gospel): the kingdom of God is here.

“proclaiming” means preaching. Jesus was both ‘teaching’ and ‘preaching’. Is there a difference?

He also continued to heal them. I think that this indicates that the people were believing in Jesus. Remember, Jesus rarely performed a miracle where there was no faith.

This of course drew great crowds wherever Jesus went. People wanted to hear him, and be healed. But this pointed to a larger problem: they wanted a leader. A shepherd. Someone who could guide them, care for them, and love them.

Matthew describes Jesus having “compassion” on the people four times in his Gospel (this is the first, the other three times will come later).

This word for compassion is only used in the Gospel in association with Jesus. It is either directly attached to Him, or He uses it in parables. It is meant to convey a divine care for people.

And who is it that God cares so much for? People who are ‘harassed and helpless’

The imagery here describes sheep wounded and torn either by hostile animals or thorn brushes, and then prostrate and helpless.

Anyone who’s been in ministry for any amount of time has felt this. No matter how many “problems” there are, it’s not hard to just have compassion on the people in your care. As children of God, we’ve inherited this care from our Father.

I also think that Matthew is connecting the ministry of Jesus to an Old Testament theme: God as shepherd, and especially shepherding a people who are lost and hurting. This is also Matthew’s way of saying, “Jesus is fulfilling these prophecies.”

Numbers 27:16–17 ““Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.””

1 Kings 22:17 “And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’ ””

Zechariah 10:2–3 “For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore the people wander like sheep; they are afflicted for lack of a shepherd. “My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of hosts cares for his flock, the house of Judah, and will make them like his majestic steed in battle.”

Ezekiel 34:5–6 “So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.”

Many of these prophecies and passages come in the context of earthly “shepherds” who have failed their people. The Lord promises judgement on them. The leaders of Jesus’ day certainly fit this bill.

The people had no real leaders. They were basically slaves to the Romans, and had been to various empires for the better part of a 1000 years.

The religious leaders were seemingly more corrupt than caring. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and the like had cared more about themselves and making themselves look “good”, than actually caring for people. And so God, the Good Shepherd, steps in.

It’s almost as if Matthew is showing the both the Lord’s divinity (in his compassion) and his humanity (in his asking the disciples to pray for help).

The Lord compares the world to a harvest. So many people are reading for healing. So many people are ready for the Gospel. So many people are ready for hope, rest, and love. So many people are ready for Jesus.

There is no shortage of ministry work to be done. And it doesn’t just happen in churches. It happens in workplaces and restaurants, on the streets and in the clubs, in the homes and in the hospitals. Wherever you are, a harvest is waiting.

But all too often, the real problem is that there aren’t enough “workers”. So many Christians fail to realize that they are on mission. At this point, it was only Jesus. And so he encourages his disciples to pray for more help!

The “harvest” is already “his”. But it must be gathered.

Prayer is works and is powerful. All of the gimmicks and church plans fail to match this power. When saying, “How do we get a better kingdom harvest?” the immediate answer should be, “Prayer.”

Now I actually like this story, because I think there is some humor in the order of events. Jesus says, “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest”.

Who is the “Lord of the harvest”? Jesus!

We assume that they prayed this prayer. And what happened next?

Jesus called them and sent them out!

I imagine it’s like if they all had cell phones. Jesus says, “Hey, call the Lord and ask Him to send out laborers.” As the disciples start calling, they hear another phone start to ring - and it’s in Jesus’ pocket.

With a big grin on his face I imagine Jesus answering their own call in front of them. “Hey, thanks for calling. You need more workers, you say? Don’t worry, I’ve got just the people.” as he hangs up the phone he looks at the disciples and says, “Guess who the workers are that I’m sending?”

The Lord has been preparing them for this moment. This is discipleship. Here are a couple of things I want us to notice about this model:

The Lord didn’t just send the disciples out right away. They have been following, listening, learning, and watching the Lord for the better part of two years at this point. If he had sent them out when they were “spiritual infants” they would not have survived.

I think the church struggles with two things with discipleship. We either dunk people and then let them go, off to fight and learn by themselves (setting them up for failure) OR we dunk them and put too much on their shoulders too quickly (also setting them up for failure). Discipleship takes time. That’s why in many denominations, baptism actually takes place last after years of preparation and discipleship.

He gave them authority to do what he had already been doing. Remember previously when the people had praised God for giving “such authority to men”? God has always wanted his Children to share in His authority and power.

Everything that Jesus gave his disciples authority over were the exact same things that Matthew describes Jesus having authority over in the previous two chapters.

I believe that this same authority has been given to all of the Lord’s disciples who would believe it. But the apostles were the first to experience it, and they were the first to advance the Lord’s ministry.

This also tells us that the Lord never asks his disciples to do anything He hasn’t already done. As he will say later in his sermon to them in Matthew 10:24 ““A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.”

When the Lord calls us to go on mission, into the harvest field, are we going to listen? The Lord will equip us for everything we need to produce a good harvest. As your church says, “You are sent.” but will you obey?

10:2-4: The Twelve Apostles

So who exactly were the disciples that Jesus was talking to? Well, Matthew tells us that twelve specific individuals were particularly called by the Lord. Matthew is the only one of the four Gospels that calls these men the twelve “apostles”.

“Apostle” means someone who is sent. But in particular, it originally referred to naval expeditions that were “sent” off on a mission. The apostle was the leader of these expeditions. And so by calling them Apostles, Matthew (and probably Jesus) is noting that these men were going to be the leaders of this new religion. They would be the first to take the Church “on mission”.

There are several lists throughout the New Testament of these twelve apostles, and they are all mostly the same. They contain some name variations, but that’s probably because a few of these guys had nicknames or other names that they also went by.

Here is the crazy thing: for twelve guys who Jesus chose to “start” the Church, relatively little is known about most of them.

Church tradition is filled with stories, miracles, and martyrdoms for almost every single one of these men - and while I tend to think there is some truth in these stories - the reality is we don’t know much about the apostles.

I think this makes sense. Jesus didn’t pick “supermen” who were well known. Actually this was a ragtag group of individuals who, quite honestly, probably didn’t even like each other most of the time. Just look at how Jesus recruits a tax collector AND a Zealot (Zealots hated tax collectors).

And yet, these twelve men totally transformed the world by preaching the Gospel wherever they went. Their first taste of this is going to be in this very chapter, but then the mission will continue after the Ascension.

We may not know much about these men outside the little that Scripture tells us, but it can be certain that all of them (except John) were martyred for their faith in Jesus. This is, to me, one of the greatest testimonies of the resurrection.

Andrew was crucified on a sideways cross (in the from of an X).

Bartholomew (Nathanael) was skinned alive.

James (son of Zebedee, brother of John) was beheaded by Herod (as recorded in Acts)

Matthew was also “slain by the sword”

Peter was crucified upside down

Philip was crucified or hanged

Simon the Zealot was sawn in half

Thaddeus (also known as Lebbaeus/Judas) was martyred in the kingdom of Edessa

Thomas had a spear thrust through his body while kneeling in prayer

These all seem to me pretty horrific and painful ways to die for a lie. Their blood was their testimony. Hence why “martyr” means to ‘witness’.

The stories of these men, even if legendary, also tell us that they took the Gospel far and wide. From Palestine all the way to Spain, Britain, Africa, India, and perhaps farther.

Peter is listed as “first”. This tells us that Peter was probably seen as the de facto leader of the apostles. Order does typically matter, which is why the first four apostles listed are usually considered the “inner inner circle” (specifically Peter, James, and John).

And on the other end, Judas Iscariot is always mentioned last because of his status as at he betrayer.

Conclusion

The Lord is preparing his disciples for their own ministry. And in the same way, he also prepares us for ministry. All of us are called to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us.”

The beauty of these passages is that we don’t have to be special to be disciples. The twelve apostles certainly weren’t that special. In fact, they weren’t even that “good” of people. The harvest is plentiful, and the Lord just wants willing workers. If we are willing to obey, through His Holy Spirit He will give us everything we need to be successful. So church, you are sent.

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