Matt 10:24-42 "Sending the Twelve Part 2"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City! This morning we finish our series on The Authority of the King. In Matthew Chapters 5-7, we heard the Sermon of the King (The Sermon on the Mount), and the Matthew demonstrated throughout Chapters 8-10, that Jesus had the power or the Authority to do all that He said.

We saw Jesus express this power through various demonstrations of His exousia…His authority. Matthew shared numerous miraculous accounts in Jesus’ ministry where He healed, instructed, calmed the wind and the seas, forgave, overrode traditions, raised the dead, and delegated authority to His Twelve to carry out the mission.

And, that’s where we find ourselves today. Jesus is sending His Twelve Apostles out to preach the message of the Gospel to the weary and scattered lost sheep of Israel. And, they have been granted authority to heal the sick and cast out demons…both of these miraculous messianic signs authenticated the message.

Last week, we looked at the first half of Jesus’ 2nd Major Discourse Matt 10:5-42:

Matt 10:5-15 “Instructions about the Mission” (Who to go to…Jews; where to go; what to bring; and how to respond to those who accept or reject them).

Matt 10:16-23 “Consequences of the Mission” (Jesus tells them they will be persecuted).

Matt 10:24-42 “Motivations for the Mission” (Jesus comforts, admonishes, and speaks about rewards).

Today’s message is entitled, “Sending the Twelve Part 2.”

Let’s Pray!

Matt 10:24-25 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!”

From Vss 16-25, Jesus was honest with His Twelve that persecution will come, so here in Vss 24-25, Jesus comforts and inspires them that He has experienced the same mistreatment.

Apparently, the disciples will need to be reminded of this message, for Jesus repeats this message:

Luke 6:40 “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.”

John 13:16-17 “Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

John 15:20 “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant 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.”

I appreciate that Jesus repeated this messages to the disciples. And, I appreciate that the disciples were sometimes a little thick. Sometimes we’re a little thick, and we need to hear God’s message more than once. I know He has repeated messages to me. Repetition is the key to learning.

But, what is Jesus saying here?...

In V24, Jesus explains a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. I believe Jesus is saying, ‘Don’t expect you won’t be persecuted, because I was persecuted and I am above you in rank as the teacher and master.” Or, perhaps Jesus is not asking anything of the Apostles that He Himself has not already experienced…He is leading by example.

In V25, Jesus says almost the same phrase… “It is enough [sufficient/satisfactory] for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.”

If trouble came Jesus’ way, it would come their way, and it did.

In V25, Jesus also reflects back on a earlier accusation, by the Scribes and Pharisees, as they blasphemed the Holy Spirit by slandering and accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.

We see that accusation partly in Matt 9:34, but fully in Matt 12:24 (which chronologically occured prior to Matt 9…Matthew writes Thematically…not chronologically).

Slander may seem mild compared to beatings, imprisonments, and martyrdom, but slander typically will lead to greater forms of persecution.

Notice the hierarcy in these verses...Jesus is the teacher and master... the Apostles (and us today), are the disciples/students and servants, Gk. doulos/slaves.

Most of us are ok being called a student. Some of us get uncomfortable with the idea of being a slave.

Notice He changes the relationship from disciple/teacher, servant/master TO those of a household, with Jesus being the head…that’s an easier relationship to accept.

In John 15:15, He also calls us “friends.”

Additionally, we are referred to as the “bride of Christ.” 2 Cor 11, Rev 21

In any relationship, there are moments and dynamics when we may find ourselves in various roles. My wife is my bride, my best friend, sometimes I teach her and sometimes she teaches me, and so forth…and it’s all good.

In my relationship with Jesus, I’m happy to assume any of these roles, even slave, so long as I am in relationship Him.

Ps 84:10 “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” (NIV)

Matt 10:26-27 “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 27 “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.”

Jesus will tell his disciples 3x in Vss 26-31 “Do not fear.”

In Vs 26, Jesus is encouraging them not to fear those who would persecute them…namely the Religious Leaders.

In the Book of Acts, the Religious Leaders try numerous times to silence the disciples from preaching in Jesus’ name…from preaching the Gospel.

The Gospel message was covered or concealed in times past. No prophet knew exactly how God would redeem mankind, but this Good News…this Gospel message would be revealed…it would become intimately known.

Jesus had been teaching the disciples privately (telling in the dark or hearing in the ear). He would preach a parable to the multitudes, but then reveal the truth, the meaning only to the disciples.

But, the time was coming, when the disciples would speak in the light (openly…in broad daylight), when they would preach on the housetops the truth of the Gospel (which was easier for them…because their roofs were flat).

Mat 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

The 2nd time Jesus tells His disciples “do not fear,” He references physical death…which is something many people naturally fear.

But, the believer should not fear death. We say “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord,” and this is true. We do not need to fear death by persecution...death by old age...death by accident...death by Covid or any other disease.

In 2 Cor 5, we are encouraged on this difficult topic…2 Cor 5:1-8 “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, [our body] is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens [glorified body]. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, [aging, disease, injury] not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life [eternity]. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. [the in-dwelling Holy Spirit is an earnest…a promise of what’s to come] 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

This is what you call “heavenly homesickness.”

When you walk in faith and are confident in God’s promises…death is nothing to fear. Death is but a door we walk through to enter into glory where there is no more sickness, no more tears, and where we are in the presence of God.

So, Jesus encourages His disciples that they may die physically, but the persecutor cannot kill that which is eternal…the soul (which is our intellect, memory, emotion, personality). Our spirit is also eternal.

“Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell...

The word ‘hell’ here is gĕĕnna, gheh´-en-nah

A word of Hebrew origin...“ge ben hinnom”... Ge- “Valley”…Ben- “Son of” Hinnom. The Valley of the Son(s) of Hinnom. Also, referred to as Topheth (of Tophet).

1st occurence in Joshua 15:8…referenced numerous places in the OT. Today, there is a Gey Ben Hinnom park…same name, but very different vibe.

Historically, this valley was an OT cult site for Molech... worshippers of this idol (that looked like a man with a bull’s head) would heat this metal idol to intense heat and sacrifice their children on it’s red hot hands. It was custom to beat drums loudly during this sacrifice, as part of their idol worship and likely to drown out the screams of the babies.

The sacrifice of the firstborn was thought to ensure financial prosperity. And, we may think this a brutal practice, but about 800k abortions occur every year in the USA…brutal practices like late-term abortions are becoming normalized…and for what? Selfish reasons...just like the worshipers of Molech. We’re not so different.

If you have been part of an abortion, know that Jesus Christ offers forgiveness. When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, there is nothing that can separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

In 2 Ki 23:10, Josiah (a great king) abolished the practice of Moloch worship and child sacrifice. The Valley of Hinnom became so hated by the Jews that it became their trash dump which would include disposal of dead bodies of animals and executed criminals. Jer 31:40 refers to this place as the “valley of the dead bodies.”

Fires constantly burned and smoldered to deal with the waste…thus Jesus uses Gehenna as an illustration of the final hell…the Lake of Fire where the unjust will be judged.

Interesting that Jesus says “both body and soul” being in hell.

Acts 24:15 declares “...there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust...” meaning all people (saved and unsaved) will be resurrected…the whole person (body and soul) is resurrected…either to glory or to torment.

And, hell indeed is torment…not Annihilationism

Annihilationism is a faulty “doctrine that the souls of the wicked will be snuffed out of existence rather than be sent to an everlasting, conscious hell.”

Verses 28 is one such verse that refutes this teaching.

The word “destroy”…Gk. apŏllumi / ap-ol´-loo-mee, in the context of Matthew 10:28, is defined by Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon “to devote or give over to eternal misery.”

And, Thayer was a Unitarian Universalist (who either do not believe in hell, or do not believe it is permanent). But, he knew the sense of what was being expressed in this verse…eternal punishment.

Jesus is telling His disciples, in V28...fear God more than man...persecution by man is only temporary, God has power to judge eternally (reserved only for the unbeliever).

If we fear God, obey His commands, and walk in faith…even if the result is death…we still have nothing to fear because once we pass death into eternal life…there is reward and joy and presence with God. This takes faith.

Jim Elliot, the missionary who was killed in 1956 (at age 28) in Ecuador…said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” (Journal entry dated Oct. 28, 1949…Jim Elliot was age 22 when he penned that phrase.).

In V39, Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Jim probably had verses like this on his mind.

Jim Elliot, and his companions were persecuted for their faith. Not wasted lives…but, faithful lives that created a ripple effect in that country, and throughout the world.

Matt 10:29-30 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

Jesus now uses another illustration…sparrows are typically mentioned in scripture to illustrate God’s care for even the smallest creatures.

Ps 84:1-4 reads, “How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. 3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. 4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.”

Two sparrows were sold for a copper coin as food to the poor. In Luke 12:6 it states, “Are not five sparrows are sold for two copper coins?” That’s not a contradiction…that’s just a sale…one bonus sparrow for 2 copper coins.

Copper coins...Gk. assarion...about 1/16 of a Roman denarius, a day’s wages. Maybe $10 or so today in the USA (less in many other countries).

The idea is a sparrow had relatively little value to mankind, but in contrast... God takes notice...not even one of these birds dies apart from God’s will.

The Apostles are being encouraged that despite expected trouble, they are in God’s hands. He watches over them closely…even to the finest detail of the number of hairs on their head.

God cares for you this same way…he notices the smallest details of your life. And, God has a purpose and a plan for your life. Therefore...

V31, DO NOT FEAR! …you are of more value than many sparrows. God notices even one sparrow, and by comparison disciples are worth many sparrows.

This is an encouragement to trust God. Since God is sovereign over the tiniest of details, can we not trust Him with larger and more significant matters? We can!

We do not need to fear or worry about tomorrow. We can trust God! He is not distant…He is not indifferent…He is well aware of the details of your life, and He cares.

In Matt 6:25-26 during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus shared… “...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Of course you are!

Matt 10:32-33 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

In verses 32-39, Jesus hones in on the characteristics of a Disciple.

V32...“Therefore” looks back on what He just said. Persecution will come, but God places great value on your life. Jesus said 3x “do not fear.” So, a disciple should be characterized by their BOLD confession of Jesus Christ before men.

Jesus lays out parallel proclamations...

In the temporal…the disciple who confesses Jesus before men…In eternity, Jesus will confess the saved believer before His Father. Rev 3:5 “…I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

The disciple’s confession of Jesus should be observed in both ‘life and lips’...

If your lips confess Jesus, but your life reflects carnality…this is hypocrisy.

If your life confesses Jesus, but your lips are silent…this is foolish. It is not profound to “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words.” Use words...

Rom 10:14-15 states, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

Some call those verses the “heartbeat of Christian missions.” In missions, God calls disciples to go out and preach the Gospel. Those who hear the Gospel and believe are saved.

But, if you don’t use words, all your good deeds are just humanitarian efforts…kind, but it’s vital to confess Jesus before men…to use words…to share the Gospel.

The unsaved person denies Jesus before men and thus is denied before the Father in heaven.

This form of denial is not like Peter’s denial of Jesus 3x when he was under pressure. Jesus forgave Him, restored him, and called Peter to “Feed my lambs...”

Denying Jesus before man, is not a moment of weakness, but a continuous rejection of Jesus. When a person lives their life saying, “I don’t believe in Jesus.” How can Jesus’ heavenly response be anything but, “I never knew you.”?

Matt 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

First century Jews did not understand that Jesus would come twice…they expected Him to rule and reign in His first coming.

But, the purpose of His first coming was to defeat sin, hell, and death. To restore mankind’s relationship with the Father which was severed by sin in the Garden of Eden.

Rom 5:1 “...having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...”

That’s what Jesus did in His first coming. Jesus is the Prince of Peace…first bringing peace with God. Peace on the vertical.

In His second coming, Jesus will bring peace on earth…peace on the horizontal. He will come again to rule and reign.

But, in His first coming…the Gospel did not bring peace on earth. The Gospel message divided, like a sword divides…and some of the greatest division…some of the most personal divisions first century Jews, and believers today face…are divided family relationships...

Matt 10:35-36 “For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’”

Discipleship is categorized by a willingness to pay the cost. For some of the disciples, there would be a personal cost.

Family relationships, V35, especially amongst the Jews, would be divided. Jewish followers of Jesus Christ were ostracized from family and society.

In the Book of Micah, Israel’s sin had become so bad that there was similar treachery of family members betraying one another as they had become a godless nation. V35, here in Matt 10, is reminiscent of Mic 7:6 “For son dishonors father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.”

In the early church, many Jewish believers in Jerusalem became poor. They were ostracized by friends and family and no one gave them a job. They suffered financially. Rom 15:26 speaks about a voluntary offering taken up by Gentile believers in Macedonia and Achaia... to help the poor believers in Jerusalem.

Most of us cannot relate to this level of hatred by family when you came to believe in Jesus Christ. I can think back on college friends who didn’t want to be friends anymore because I changed. No longer did I enjoy drinking, clubs, and pursuing women like I once did. My heart changed. I gravitated to light. They loved darkness. And, what communion has light with darkness?

My family is predominately Catholic, but they are generally accepting of me.

But, it’s my family members who don’t believe that get a little edgy around me. Especially those who knew me when I was caught up in drugs. “And, now he is a Pastor?”

It’s fine though. Jesus said in Vs 25 “It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher.” And, what did they say about Jesus, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.”

If you have a testimony of rejection by friends and family for His name’s sake, you are in good company.

For believers who were formerly Muslim, or live in a country that persecute Christian, they are living these verse out. Many have been ostracized by family.

Matt 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

Verses 37-39 reflect the ‘conditions of discipleship.’ There is a cost that family may reject you as you follow Christ, but there is also a personal condition that you must embrace…you must love Jesus above all!

Love in these verses is fil-eh´-o / philĕō (to be a friend…to be fond of). If your friendship with your parents or children exceeds your fondness of Jesus…He says you are not worthy of Him. This is one of many “hard sayings” of Jesus.

It’s not that Jesus is saying that love and affection for our family members is wrong, only that loving them more than God is wrong. Our priority is love…Love God first, and Love others…in that order. We are to love family, friends, and even our enemies, but our love for God must be supreme.

3x in Vss 37-38, Jesus uses the phrase “worthy of Me” which is similar to what He said in Vss 9-13. Worth in the eternal economy is defined by who you say Jesus is. Is He Lord and Savior? If your answer is yes, you are worthy.

In V38, Jesus uses the illustration of taking up one’s cross. We have romanticized the cross…tattoos, jewelry, bumper stickers, but the cross was the death penalty…in the most brutal of fashions.

And, the brutal death the disciple must die is death of self. Letting go of anything in life that would detract from being obedient God’s calling.

But, the life of the flesh must be put to death. Selfish ambition, sinful desires, the pride of life…all of these must be buried.

In V39, Jesus promises, through a paradox, heavenly rewards…find your life and lose it…lose your life for My sake and find it.

Key words… “for My sake.” Who are you living for?

Finding ones life speaks about a person who is self-focused. They live for themselves. They deny Jesus, thus they lose their life eternally…in the age to come…they are on the broad road that leads to destruction.

The narrow road that leads to life is found by the person who believes in Jesus…they lose their life for Christ’s sake, and by doing so they find life now and eternally.

Turn to Mark chapter 8. In Mark 8:34-38, Jesus taught a similar, yet expanded message…again with similar purpose…these are the conditions of discipleship...

Mark 8:34-38 “When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

Discipleship...being His follower, His servant… it’s not free.

Salvation was not free…it cost God the death of His Son…it cost Jesus His life and taking on God’s wrath…why should it be free for us? “A servant is not above his master.”

Jesus concludes this discourse with an encouragement about rewards...

Matt 10:40-42 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

Jesus in His final words, prior to sending His Twelve, reminds them that they are being sent with a message…they are Christ’s Ambassadors with a message from King Jesus who was sent directly by Father God…

In a sense they (and all disciples more broadly) are prophets as they are proclaiming His message…

They are righteous men representing the name of a righteous man…namely Jesus. Their message is righteous in that believing the message makes one righteous.

Jesus also refers to them as “little ones” for as they face persecution they will be humbled and treated as though they are insignificant, though they are cared for by God. A reward will be given to anyone who extends them mercy.

Eternal rewards will be granted to the merciful, to those who receive the disciples and more importantly those who receive and believe the message they carry…that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The bible is not explicit as to what a “prophet’s reward” or a “righteous man’s reward” is, but if Jesus is offering it…know it is good. V42 indicates that whatever rewards we are given will not be taken away “…he shall by no means lose his reward.”

The rewards spoken of in these verses should be primarily viewed through the lense of the the Bema Seat Judgment, which happens sometime after the Rapture.

The Bema Seat Judgement is not a judgment of punishment. Believers are rewarded for their faithful and pure service to Jesus. This is a judgement where eternal rewards are distributed.

“Judgment Seat” in certain NT verses, in Gk is bēma, (technically bay´-ma, though more commonly pronounced Bema). I have a slide of a judgment seat that shows a raised platform which was an official seat of a judge. In a court room today, the Judges bench is also raised. Two NT verses state Pilate sat on a Judgement seat during Jesus’ trials.

1 Cor 3:11-15 gives us a picture of our Bema Seat Judgment… “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day [The Day of Judgment…the Bema Seat] will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved [there is no loss of salvation at this judgment], yet so as through fire.”

2 Cor 5:10 states, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

Scripture speaks of 5 Heavenly Crowns...Victor’s Wreaths (stephanos): These are the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, and the crown of life.

Scripture speaks of believers being clothed in white garments and having their names written in the Book of Life. Rev 3:4

Jesus will confess the believer’s name before the Father and His angels. Rev 3:5

It also seems that rewards are proportionate to faithfulness. In Luke 19, the Parable of the Ten Minas…one faithful servant is entrusted with ten cities, another with five.

Rom 14:12 tells us another aspect of this judgment, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” That sounds intense.

As we stand before Jesus, we will give an account of our lives…

Did we serve faithfully?

Did we make disciples?

Did we live a life of holiness?

Were we victorious over sin?

Did we tame the tongue?

For our failures we suffer loss…those rewards are burned…and for our victories, we receive rewards.

And, I know that God will judge fairly and perfectly…He is the perfect and just Judge, so if you are living a life of faith…you have nothing to fret.

I still have a lot of questions about these rewards. Scripture gives us glimpses of the Bema Seat, but presently we only know in part. And, that’s ok…we can look forward to things to come!

Next week, we will pick up in Chapter 11 where Matthew will shift his theme looking at “Challenges to the King’s Authority”…read ahead.

Worship team come.

In our lives, we have been so insulated from persecution as Americans. It’s difficult to relate to these teachings of Jesus as He prepared His disciples for persecution because we have had tremendous freedom.

But, we live in a scary time in our country, and 1 Tim 2:2 tells us we are to pray “for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

So, let’s pray for our leaders now…for the peace of this country…that this country would come to peace with God…for revival…and prayer for our steadfast commitment to Jesus Christ no matter what may come in future years. Amen?

Let’s pray!