Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 10

The following material is adopted from John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew and his Study guide.

Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

Read and summarize

Look for

— Prayers ( Blue )

— Promises ( Green )

— Warnings ( Red )

— Commands ( Purple )

The Second of five major discourses

— The Sermon on the Mount ( 5-7 )

— The commissioning of the apostles ( 10 )

— The parables of the kingdom ( 13 )

— The discourse of childlike faith ( 18 )

— The discourse of the second coming ( 24 - 25 )

Q: Jesus prayerfully chose twelve good men to be His followers and form the foundation for the church.

If you have to pick people to plant a new church, what kinds of people would be advantageous to have on your team?

What kinds of personalities might be an impediment?

The Messengers of the King ( 10:1-4 )

( 10:1-4 ) And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; 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 Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

— Jesus calls people from all walks of life

— The main feature of this list is its diversity.

Jesus chose His disciples from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences.

About all they had in common was it seems that none of them were privileged or from backgrounds of high status.

— This is very much in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

— “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.”

( 1 Cor 1:26-29 )

— consider your calling, Paul always uses the term calling to refer to the saving call of God, the effectual call that results in redemption

— He used common people and uncommon leaders; rich and poor, educated and uneducated

— God is not looking for millionaires or celebrities to do His work

— God can use anybody, no matter who insignificant he or she appears

— In fact, being successful could be a hinderance ( cf.

Matt 11:25 )

— Scripture makes no effort to mask the faults and shortcomings of God’s people

— It is a marvelous insight into the grace of God toward us to see Christ dealing so lovingly and patiently with men who are weak and unresponsive

— When you feel small and useless, remember God uses ordinary people to do his extraordinary work

( 10:2 ) Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother

twelve

twelve referring to the number of tribes of Israel, and the sons of Jacob

— These twelve, by their doctrine, were to judge the twelve tribes of Israel ( Lk 22:30 )

— These were the twelve stars that made up the church’s crown ( Rev 12:1 )

— The twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem ( Rev 21:12, 14 )

— The twelve loaves on the table of show-bread, the twelve wells of water at Elim

Peter

— Peter is always listed first in all the gospels

— He was the leader

— No other apostle speaks as often or is spoken to as often

— No other disciple was reproved as often or as severely as Peter

— No other disciple so boldly confessed Christ or so boldly denied Him

— Peter always asked questions; a person who does not ask questions has little chance for success as a leader, because he has no desire or willingness to inquire about what he does not understand

— The Lord changed his name from Simon to Peter (stone) but when he was reprimanded of sin or weakness, the Lord called him Simon ( Lk 5:4; Mk 14:37; Jn 21:15-17 )

Going Deeper

— In all four gospels the lists of the apostles are divided into the same three subgroups

— The first group includes Peter, Andrew, James and John

— The names are in different orders in the gospels but the first name in the group is always the same

— These are the men that Jesus called first

— We know the most about these men; these were his inner circle

— The second group includes Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, and Matthew

— These are the men that Jesus called next

— The third group includes James the son of Alpheus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot

— These are the men that Jesus called last

— We know nothing about these men except Judas Iscariot

— Jesus loved them all equally, empowered them all equally but because of the physical limitations of all men, He was not able to give them equal attention

— Matthias or Paul?

Something fun to ponder.

Some view Paul as the 12th apostle, as the replacement for Judas (vs.

than Matthias).

Matthias was chosen to be the 12th apostle after Judas had betrayed Jesus.

Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul mentions the twelve, and Matthias at that point was one of the twelve (1 Cor 15:5).

Note: Matthias was selected by lot as the Apostles waited for the Holy Spirit in the 10 days between Jesus ascension and Pentecost.

Just Saying……

Judas ( 10:4b )

( 10:4b ) and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him

— Judas Iscariot is synonymous with treachery and betrayal

— In Dante’s Inferno Judas occupies the lowest level of hell, which he shares with Lucifer, Satan himself

— Christ chose Judas but scripture does not tell us where or how

— Judas had no spiritual interest; he had no interest in the coming kingdom only what personal gain her might derive from being in Christ’s inner circle

— This man, though thoroughly responsible for his own wicked deeds, was an instrument of the devil ( Jn 6:70, 71)

— Being a very selfish person he was unable — or unwilling — to understand the unselfish and beautiful deed of Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus ( Jn 12:1 ff ); he was unable to see that the native language of love is lavishness

— Christ chose Judas intentionally and specifically, “for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him” ( Jn 6:64 )

— Judas is the world’s greatest example of lost opportunity

Author unknown

Still as of old,

Man by himself is priced.

For thirty pieces of silver

Judas sold himself, not Christ

Going Deeper

— We are tempted to become discouraged when our spiritual life and witness suffer because of our sins and failures

— The apostles turned the world upside not because they were extraordinary but because they surrendered themselves to God, whose power is perfected in our weakness ( 2 Cor 12:9 )

— This has always been God’s way, since He has never had anything but imperfect and sinful men through whom to work

— Noah became drunk and acted indecently

— Abraham, the father of the faithful, doubted God, lied about his wife, and committed adultery with her maid

— Isaac told a similar lie about his wife when he thought his life was in danger

— Jacob took advantage of his brother Esau’s weakness and extorted his birthright from him

— Moses was a murderer, and in pride he struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God instructed

— His brother Aaron, the first high priest, lead Israel in erecting and worshipping the golden calf

— Joshua disobeyed the Lord by making a treaty with the Gibeonites instead of destroying them

— Gideon had little confidence in himself and even less in God’s plan and power