The Mission of the Itinerant Disciples

English Standard Version Psalm 62

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

6  He only is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7  On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8  Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

Introduction

Last week we laid the groundwork that what we are reading in Matthew 10 is specifically geared toward the 12 Apostles and also at another time the 72 disciples in Luke 10:1-12.

This week we will be reading some of the specific commands Jesus gave His Apostles. Specifically, we will address (1) What they were to say, (2) What they were to do, and (3) What their mentality was to be.

Vv. 7-8a The Message and Miracles

It is true that God works for the good of those who love Him (Rm. 8:28), but He also intends to work for His glory in all things. God declares in Isaiah 42:8 “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

So, what we see in the beginning of these commands is not Jesus giving glory to the Apostles, in sending them out specifically with Him granting them authority over demons, diseases, and death. No, what Christ is doing here is propagating the message of the gospel before its fulfillment. He is proving His message by sending out His disciples ahead of Him, spreading His own fame in the nation of Israel before it goes out into the whole world.

They were to be a sort of “herald” or “town crier” that was to spread a particular message.

…proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Now, remember, this meant something very clear to the people the disciples encountered… The kingdom of heaven was both geographically near (Jesus was coming), but it was also chronologically near (the gospel was to be fulfilled in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection). The disciples didn’t know that second part in full, but they were smart enough to realize that something was happening.

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Here was a man who had knowledge beyond the scribes and Pharisees, worked miracles in near-unbelievable ways, and they had the honor of following Him. Now, they were sent out with more than just the content of His message, but they were also going out with His miraculous signs and wonders.

What an honor this must’ve been! But, remember when the 72 returned amazed at this level of power they held… “Do not rejoice [in the power you’ve been given], but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” Jesus essentially says in Luke 10:20.

Therefore, the purpose of these miracles over demons, diseases, and death was not so they could marvel at their newfound authority… It was for them to spread the fame of Jesus and the wonder of His teaching in places where one man would be too limited to reach as quickly as Jesus intended to reach them.

The message that they proclaimed “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” was the exact same that Jesus had been proclaiming, and John the Baptist before Him in Matthew 3:2. John the Baptist was a herald ahead of Christ, and now so were these Apostles.

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Now, I do think it’s essential that we ask the question: “What about now?” Are these same commands in verse 7 and the beginning of 8 of Matthew 10 applicable to us? Are they normative for disciples of Christ today?

Answering this question becomes tricky, because the message is still normative and so is being a herald of Christ. BUT, the authority and the ability to perform miraculous signs is not. If they were normative, then I promise that services would be significantly more lively than they are now!

One commentator was very helpful to me in thinking this through, and I want to share some of my own conclusions here.

1. These signs and wonders were laying a foundation for Christ as He went into these towns

a. We must remember the time period that Jesus was in when we read this chapter. Jesus is God, but He is also man. He limited Himself to the spatial reality of only being in one place physically at a single time. Therefore, He sent these men into towns to lay a foundation for when He entered after them

2. These disciples were given limitations

a. When Jesus says “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons,” He has also said “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans” (v. 5). They were to stay close to home at this point, and even though there is casting out of demons and healing diseases in the book of Acts AFTER Jesus ascends into heaven, these miraculous acts were still limited to the Apostles (and Paul who was given the role of Apostle by Jesus in Acts 9)

Therefore, we cannot look at this text and assume that miraculous authority has been granted to us today. If we were to compare with the list of spiritual gifts in, say, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, we’d first of all be dropping near the end of a non-exhaustive list of Paul and missing the whole point of his argument. But, in it he writes

“For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues…” and so on and so on.

“Gifts of healing” in this case, actually means receiving various kinds of healings. One person is healed from cancer, another from leprosy, another from the flu. This can be done through medical means, or it can be done through miraculous intervention on God’s part. Either way, a person receives a healing from God.

“The working of miracles” here means that somebody would be a conduit by which God decides to miraculously intervene in someone’s life.

But, before we derail much worse from Matthew 10, I simply want to point out that Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 12 is not that these “gifts of the Spirit” are levels of authority given to each person, but manifestations of the Lord’s grace in a person’s life. They aren’t necessarily permanent, but the authority that Jesus appears to have bestowed on the Apostles carried over and was normative for them, but is not normative for us.

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Christ laid a foundation for His ministry, and used that foundation as a test for others to see the quality of His work. Now, instead of seeing these things in our day, we read of them as truly attested and preserved for our benefit. Instead of performing these works, we declare with absolute certainty

“Yes, the Lord did this. Yes, the Lord is true. Yes, the Lord will provide mercy, new life, salvation, and resurrection. I know these things because I read what God has preserved, and therefore I have faith in Him and His message.”

Do miraculous things happen today? Yes, by the gracious hand of God. But are they normative like they were to be as the Apostles were sent out? No, they are not.

Like I said, service would be much more exciting if they were.

And I am filled with grief over those who act as if they are.

Vv. 8b-10 Urgency

When we continue reading the rest of verse 8 and up to verse 10, we read that Jesus intended His disciples to go with urgency. They were not to acquire money from those they healed (for they received without paying and should give without pay).

This is very similar to how Christ performed in His miraculous healings. He had modeled to the disciples how to do this, and He intended them to do the same. They were, after all, acting on His authority and not using their own power.

Jesus did not heal those sick with demons and then hand them a bill. Or remove a person’s leprosy and then they would find His fees in their mailbox when they arrived at home from work one day. Neither were the disciples of Jesus meant to do that.

He also advised them to “Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff…” They were to travel quickly, not getting all their affairs into order and taking extra supplies.

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This would be hard for me, frankly. I’m the one who counts the number of days I will be travelling and grabs an extra set of socks and underwear for every 5 days I’ll be gone. “Maybe I won’t be able to do laundry,” I think, so I plan accordingly.

However, there are times where the Lord calls us to grab what we have and go! These Apostles were being sent with the command to take only what they could carry, but they weren’t left destitute on their journey. Instead, Jesus tells them they are to go like this “for the laborer deserves his food.”

That means that they weren’t supposed to carry extra and plan for destitution and starvation because the Lord would provide for them. He would give them food.

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But how would He do this for them?

He would provide for them through households that were receptive to the gospel message, the good news that they were bringing.

Vv. 11-14 Care and Rejection

“And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it…”

Jesus is telling the Apostles this: When you come into a town, find someone who is accepting of this message you’re bringing, and stay there until you need to leave. Greet those who are in the home, and if they are actually accepting, stay and further build them up with your proclamation.

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There are several implications here for modern ministry for pastors, but also for regular Christians.

Let’s say you make friends with an unbeliever. They are receptive to the gospel and you further build into that relationship. You invite them and their family over for dinner, you do Bible studies together, go out for recreation together. Your families have picnics and play at the park, or you just have coffee and talk.

They are accepting of the gospel, so you pray for them and their salvation. And you spend as long as you can proclaiming and displaying the gospel to them.

The hope is that one day they will accept the gospel, they will become fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

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But what if they don’t? What if this friendship remains worldly, and your family is expending all this energy on them and they are never repentant, even trying to drag you into sin with them.

You’re working and working, being drained of all your energy and hope that this will ever become a salvific friendship…

Well, Jesus says, “but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.”

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For the Apostles, this would’ve been more of a household that says something like “Yes, we see what you’re doing and might like what you’re saying…. But let me show you how you’re wrong!” They would’ve been invited into a home that was not receptive to the gospel they were bringing. Or maybe they would want to see how they might perform these miracles for themselves, or maybe someone who wanted to capitalize on their abilities and make money off them.

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For us, however, the implication would be if someone was draining us of our emotional energy, our care, our compassion, or even our finances. If they have no interest in the good news of the gospel, it might be high time to shake off the dust from your feet and move on.

We’ve all had those projects that drain us and will never be completed. Jesus knows this pain of ours in the context of evangelism, and He discourages the Apostles from being dragged into it.

The message of the Apostles was urgent, and so is ours today. If an unbeliever is draining you of your urge to share the gospel with them, shake the dust off your feet and move on.

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This is not callous, it’s the reality of evangelism. There are other souls to be saved, other condemned people in need of the gospel. In the Apostles’ case, other towns and households that are in need.

If the laborer deserves his food, then a household or town that deprives him of food is not worthy. Neither is an unbeliever who hampers your joy in Christ. If he or she is draining you of your evangelistic zeal, move to another prospect.

This is how we can apply this command of Christ today.

V. 15 Degrees of Judgment

Now, verse 15 contains a statement that I simply want to point out to you all. To the town that does not listen to the Apostles, Jesus says “Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.”

“…it will be more bearable.”

I know you’ve all been told that God sees all sins as equal at some point in your Christian walk, but Jesus seems to imply that those who reject the Apostles and their message are worse off than Sodom and Gomorrah.

If you’re not familiar with Sodom and Gomorrah, God turned them into a pillar of salt in Genesis chapter 19. It was considered one of the worst judgments God ever brought on a place in all of the Old Testament.

Yet here, Jesus implies that those who reject His Apostles are worse off than one of God’s most severe judgments every recorded in Scripture.

God does see all sins as equally condemnable (all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God // Romans 3:23), but He does not see them as equal in their level of punishment. This is shown as true all through Leviticus and Deuteronomy, where one sin gets you banished, another requires a sacrifice, and others require death.

Those who reject the gospel message of the Apostles, and also those who reject the gospel message from you, will be punished more severely than Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment. They heap greater condemnation on themselves.

That is, by the way, not your fault as the proclaimer, but their fault as the unresponsive. Ezekiel 3:18-21 shows this to be true, that if a person is not warned when they could’ve the blood of that person is on your own hands. “But,” the Lord says, “if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul” (3:19).

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You, if you are a Christian, have a responsibility to share the gospel with those around you. The good news of salvation through Christ from sin. If you are not doing so, you bear the blood of that person’s condemnation on yourself. It is forgiven in Christ, but it should weigh you down still.

But if they reject the gospel, if they reject the good news of the foundation for salvation having already been laid by Christ, then they will suffer greater judgment than just being turned into salt.

Their blood and guilt lay in their own hands as they approach the fires of Hell. Free your own conscience by telling sinners of the salvation in Christ, but know that they who reject Him face varying levels of punishment for their sins.

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Some will suffer more than others in Hell. They will be tormented by God’s fiery wrath for all eternity depending on their level of rejection of Him.

Shake the dust off your feet if they are unresponsive. Let them approach their own condemnation. But do pray for them, that the Lord might have another of His servants to declare the gospel again and again to them. Perhaps He intends to save them later down the road, or perhaps He intends to judge them on the Day of Judgment.

Conclusion

I want us to close today on that somber note. I want us to remember that we are not Apostles who carry the authority of Christ over demons, disease, and death. I want us to remember that we are on an urgent mission, and that sometimes we, too, are called to go quickly and hastily without preparing ourselves a way. I want us to remember that the salvation of sinners is not our responsibility, but proclaiming the gospel to them is. We cannot be weighed down with guilt over those who do not come to salvation, but we should be weighed down by the guilt of not declaring the way of salvation to them.

And, lastly, I want us to remember that God gets justice for all sins. That is either done through eternal torment of their rejection of Him and the varying levels of their rejection, or it is done through the blood of Jesus atoning for all the wrongs that person has done.

Rest on the mighty, sovereign, and gracious promise in that gospel. Jesus’ blood has overcome your sin as long as you put your trust in Him, friend. That is a message worth proclaiming.