Matthew 10:5-15
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”
This is quite the pep talk.
Jesus is about to send the disciples out into the mission field. He has, as we’ve seen, summoned and equipped them and now is sending them to carry on his work of proclaiming the in-breaking kingdom of God in word and deed. But as he sends them out, he also gives them some pretty specific instructions, instructions which clarify their mission and, truth be told, Matthew’s authorial intent.
A word on what I mean by that may be in order.
As we’ve observed before, Matthew, like the other evangelists, is not merely a human recording device, taking down word for word what Jesus said. Nor is he an investigative reporter, checking multiple sources in order to offer the most accurate depiction of Jesus’ ministry. If these were the goals of any of the evangelists, then the multiple differences between their accounts would make them miserable failures.
Rather, Matthew is a literary artist and faithful leader of a congregation who is drawing from multiple sources to craft a story with a particular goal – to confirm a group of Jewish Christians in their faith that Jesus is Israel’s promised messiah, to teach them how to be faithful disciples of Jesus, and to encourage them to do so even when it is difficult. For this reason, each story he tells – whether borrowed from Mark, shared with Luke, or coming from another source altogether – is carefully written, arranged, and edited toward a particular goal, a goal we get several clues about through his telling of this part of the story.
Notice, for instance, that Matthew stresses the importance of the disciples avoiding Gentiles and Samaritans and focusing their efforts on Israelites, an emphasis absent from Luke’s version of this scene. We may read this today as unnecessarily exclusive. What’s wrong, after all, with Gentiles and Samaritans? But dismissing Gentiles and Samaritans isn’t Matthew’s point at all. Rather, to Matthew Jesus is preeminently the Jewish Messiah, the One who fulfils and completes the law given to the Israelites. For this reason, Matthew’s Jesus is understandably most concerned about the fate of Israel.
This becomes important, even poignant, when we remember that Matthew is likely writing to Jewish Christians who are struggling in their faith, facing opposition to their beliefs, and desperately need encouragement. Remember, it’s as if Matthew is saying, Jesus came for you. All that he did and said was so that you would believe. So hang in there! And so the mission of the twelve is directed to “the lost sheep of Israel,” those who are struggling and need a good shepherd.
We’ll consider more of Jesus’ instructions tomorrow, but for now I thought it might help to use this passage as something of a window to look into the intentions and interests of the evangelist we call Matthew. For by looking through this particular scene and window we’ll be able to make greater sense of Matthew’ larger story of Jesus of Nazareth.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for faithful evangelists like Matthew, who told and retold the story of your Son so that his community – and ours – might be encouraged in faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Post image: Rembrandt, “St. Matthew and the Angel,” 1660.
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