35 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (Matthew 9)
Matthew 10 seems to begin, truly begin, at the end of Matthew 9. Jesus has compassion on the people. Realizing that as a human He cannot be everywhere at once He enlists some workers to help Him. This made me realize:
God is in need of workers to help Him. He chooses to work through humans.
Chapter 10 begins with Jesus' calling the disciples. He calls 12 from those who have been following Him around, listening to His teaching, watching His miracles. These 12 He sends out into the world renaming them apostles.
There is a difference between a disciple and an apostle.
"The term disciple is derived from the New Testament Greek word "μαθητής" coming to English by way of the Latin discipulus meaning "a learner". Disciple should not be confused with apostle, meaning "messenger, he that is sent". While a disciple is one who learns from a teacher, a student, an apostle is sent to deliver those teachings to others. "
In realizing this I was interested to see what the rest of the chapter said about the mission of an apostle.
The apostles were sent specifically to the Jews. This was Jesus' direction. Matthew's inclusion of this detail really shouts to me of his desire to have his Jewish listeners understand that God had not abandoned them as His special people. He reached out to them first. It's made me wonder ...
Do I have a particular group of people I am an 'apostle' to?
The next few verses of the chapter are insights into what the first apostles were to do and what they could expect.
The apostles were commissioned to heal, raise the dead and drive out demons, cleanse and preach. They were told to find someone in the town who was sympathetic to their message and to stay with them. They were not to take extra supplies, money or clothes.
Unlike a modern pop star or politician they would not travel in the comfort of a tour bus, with stores of food, wearing the latest fashion dry cleaned and pressed. They would not have the support of a posse of followers, nor the protection of police or body guards. They would just go.
They would face opposition. They'd be arrested. As a result of their message there would be death, rebellion, hatred. Families would be split apart as some accepted their message and others didn't. They would be afraid.
They would need to be shrewd, on their guard, yet innocent.
Jesus' sums up the perspective they would need in v.28 "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
This seems to typify the Kingdom of God; what is different about living with God's verses the world's perspective. This is the 'Big Picture'. The emphasis is off the temporal and on the eternal. The emphasis is off the physical and on the spiritual. Verse 39 repeats this idea,"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Woven within these daunting predictions and commands are Jesus' words ...
Words of comfort:
26 "So do not be afraid of them."
30 "And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."
And words of insight:
40 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me."
The apostles were to be God's representatives. But more than that. Those who received God's messengers and the message they brought received God Himself!
Do we have what it takes to be an apostle? Do we have what it takes to preach God's message, "The Kingdom of Heaven is near!"? Do we have what it takes to preach it boldly, courageously, facing opposition, enduring conflict? Are we caught up in the preparation? Or are we able to keep an eternal perspective recognizing that God is over all, that the lost souls around us are more important than our comfort? Are we willing to be God's messengers? What does it take?
Chapter 10 ends with this verse, "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."
Jesus was moved by compassion (as recorded at the end of chapter 9) and here we read how He values being compassionate to 'little ones'. The apostles' commissioning with all its challenges and commands is book-ended by compassion.
It's as simple as a cup of cold water. It's a life motivated by compassion.
Compassion motivated Jesus to call the first disciples and send them into the world.
Compassion overrides fear, it realigns our mind to have Jesus' perspective. Compassion propels us into places and into relationships we might not choose to enter.
We too can have this compassion! As recipients of God's compassion - His love that has drawn us into a forgiven, redeemed relationship with Him -He now infuses us with His compassion for others.
We do indeed 'have what it takes'.
"The Saviour of men came to seek and to save
The souls who were lost to the good;
His Spirit was moved for the world which he loved
With the boundless compassion of God.
And still there are fields where the laborers are few.
And still there are souls without bread,
And still eyes that weep where the darkness is deep.
and still straying sheep to be led.
Except I am moved with compassion,
How dwelleth thy Spirit in me?
In word and in deed burning love is my need,
I know I can find it in Thee."- Albert Orsborn
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