35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for 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 laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 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 Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 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, 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. 15 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. (Matthew 9:35–10:15, ESV)

Introduction (9:35-36)

Matthew moves us from Jesus 101 to Jesus 201 here (Bruner):

• Matthew’s Bracket: He repeated Matthew 4:23 here—“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.”
• The bracket points to a progression.
  • 101: Jesus’ Work and Words.
  • 201: Jesus’ Work and Words (through his disciples).
  • Kingdom Collides with Darkness:
    • (1) Through Jesus
    • (2) Through Us

Theme: The compassionate King who collided with darkness now multiplies that collision through disciples he gathered.

But we must first dwell on the beauty of Jesus’ compassion for the crowds (9:35-36).

• • OT: Yahweh was often displeased with Israel’s shepherds (Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 50:6):

• “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.” (Ezekiel 34:4–5)

Jesus’ compassion is the engine behind all the disciples do.

• Our motivation does not start with a desire to:
  • Change the world.
  • Be approved by God.
  • Win an ideological war.
  • Show off our strategy and strength.
• Our motivation starts with the compassion of Christ.
  • Biblical Illustration: Moses at the burning bush (Ex. 3:7-10). God saw his shepherdless people. God was moved with compassion for them. God sent his man to deliver them.
  • Example: is there a way to tie the Splenda in the church coffee cart to the love of Christ?

1. Plead with God to close the gap (9:37-38).

37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

There is a gap between Jesus’ compassion and the harvest. What can close the gap?

• Gap: shepherds.
• Gap: harvesters/laborers.
  • Note: There is a flock and a harvest that someone else has produced.
  • We are called to reach that flock and labor in that harvest.

But rather than try to become the laborers he wants, we must first pray.

Who are his disciples in this verse?

• Likely a broader group exhorted to pray (recall other disciples in 8:21)
• Then the Twelve are chosen from the broader group.

For what do we pray?

• That he would send out laborers into his harvest.
  • Send out: same word for violently casting out demons.
• We want God to chuck laborers out to the world.
  • Note: workers must be thrust out of their creature comforts.
  • Note: we don’t exclusively pray for (a) a moral world or (b) a just world, but (c) a world-connected to the steadfast love of God is found in Christ Jesus.

Sometimes we are the answer to this prayer.

• And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8, ESV)

• “Prayer is the act by which the people of God become incorporated into the presence and action of God in the world. Prayer becomes a sacrificial offering of ourselves to God, to become agents of God’s presence and action in the daily events and situations of our lives. How different this is from the idea of prayer as asking God to change our situation without any involvement on our part!” (M. Robert Mulholland Jr., Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation)

2. Embrace the prismatic goodness of the teams He makes (10:1-4).

1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 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 Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

This is no ordinary list.

• • Feature 1: Now called apostles, and only here in Matthew.
  • Feature 2: Twelve naturally symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, making these apostles spiritual heirs of God’s promises—and Jesus the messiah-king with a new kingdom.
  • Feature 3: The groupings are intentional.
    • Peter is mentioned first—and Judas last.
    • They are listed in pairs, conjoined by the word “and.”
    • Teams within the team: Across all four New Testament lists of the apostles (in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts), the names fall into three distinct groups of four.
  • Feature 4: Radical lack of uniformity (diversity)—their new commonality is Jesus.
    • Extreme left and right together: Jesus put a tax-collector and a political revolutionary on the same team.
    • Cave of Adullam: David’s team—their new commonality was David.

• And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. (1 Samuel 22:2)

Prismatic: every one of these disciples would reflect Jesus in their own (biblical) way.

• • A singular light (Jesus) broadcast in diverse ways (the twelve, the six groups).
    • A rough draft: This is the first sketch of the church comprised of every tribe, nation, and tongue (Rev. 7:9).
  • Jesus developed a team with diverse backgrounds to express his heart.

• For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:12–13)

• But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:18–20)

• • Example: Various streams flowing down from the snowmelt above.
  • Example: Is your small group a place where people who would never share a table otherwise are genuinely united by the King?

3. Go as an active representative of Christ (10:5-15).

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 

• Israel was his lost flock, so Jesus sent his disciples to them first with a message of repentance (Mark 6:12).
  • This was a temporary arrangement, as Matthew will conclude with Jesus sending these same disciples to all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.”

• Notice how they imitated Jesus as they went.
  • They proclaimed the same message—the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
  • They did the same works—heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.
  • They took the same path—give without pay.

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

• • He wanted them to travel light—Jesus expected provision through hospitality.
    • Paul referred to Jesus’ statement that the laborer deserves his food (1 Timothy 5:17-18).

• If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? (1 Corinthians 9:11)

• In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14)

• A skinnier life is a more flexible life, enabling time and space for the mission.

11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart.

1. Find out: search out—a bit of recon.
2. Not the morally superior, but the receptive.
3. They were to search for open doors.
4. Us too.

12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, 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.

• • Sometimes we can extend our peace.
    • i.e. Sharing the peace of God as found in Christ Jesus.
    • Seeing ourselves as bringing a gift to others.
  • Other times we have to move on, yet with love and sorrow.
    • Paul and team:

• But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. (Acts 13:51; Acts 18:6, ESV)

15 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.

• Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), bywords for the worst places, did not have the level of revelation of those the apostles visited. So, though their crimes feel worse to the reader, they aren’t.
• We must accept the apostolic word: Revelation regarding Christ is a responsibility.

Though we are in a different era, we are also called to actively represent Jesus.

• • Example: Happy Hour! (at a gas station)—incongruent atmosphere.

• “Melancholic, anxious, and pining for the warmer days of the past, churches, Christian organizations, and believers can find themselves retreating from their God-given mandate, forgetting their prime place in Christ’s mission to win the world. Instead of providing a shining alternative light to the anxiety and despair of the surrounding culture, we can simply be a mirror reflecting its worries.” (Mark Sayers, Strange Days)

• Different era?
  • Jesus focused on the disciple-making and teaching aspect when he ascended (Matthew 28:18-20).
  • At the Ascension, Jesus transitioned the Kingdom strategy.
    • From: Local —> Universal
    • From: Sign Heavy —> Disciple-making and teaching
• But I want you to imagine what it was like for the Twelve to represent Jesus this way.
  • It would have been a game-changing experience for each of them (or it should have been, Judas).
  • Requirements:
    • Proximity
    • Obedience
    • Trust
    • Team

Reminder: Connected to the Compassion of Christ

• Progression: Jesus’ Compassion — Prayer over the gap — Prismatic Team — Active Representative — Jesus’ Way
• Example: Extreme Makeover—Home Edition participants chant “move that bus” before the reveal the newly renovated home behind it.
  • We are called to move the bus so people can see the incredible, compassionate heart of Christ as found in the cross of Christ.

 

Study Questions: Commissioned to Collide (Matthew 9:35–10:15)

Head (knowledge, facts, understanding)

1. Matthew almost word-for-word repeats his earlier summary of Jesus’ ministry (Matthew 4:23) here in Matthew 9:35, forming a kind of bracket around chapters 5–9. What does this repetition signal about where the story is turning — and how does the mission shift from being carried through Jesus to being carried through us?
2. When Jesus tells the disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would “send out” laborers (Matthew 9:38), the verb is the same forceful word used for casting out demons. Who is the Lord of the harvest in this passage, and why is it significant that the One they’re told to pray to is also the One who sends?

Heart (feelings, impressions, desires)

1. Jesus looked at harassed and helpless crowds—people worn down like sheep without a shepherd—and was moved with compassion (Matthew 9:36). When you picture Jesus seeing you in your most defeated, harangued seasons, what stirs in you? Is compassion the first thing you expect from him, or something else?
2. The sermon contrasted two postures toward mission: skis (gliding downhill from Christ’s compassion) versus a ski lift (climbing upward to earn God’s approval). Honestly, which one describes the engine behind most of your service right now—and how does that make you feel?

Hands (actions, commitments, decisions, beliefs)

1. Jesus assembled a deliberately diverse team—a tax collector and a zealot on the same roster, united by nothing but him (Matthew 10:2–4). Is there someone you’d never naturally “share a table with” whom the King has placed alongside you? What would it look like this week to treat your common ground in Christ as deeper than your differences?
2. Before sending anyone out, Jesus first commanded prayer (Matthew 9:38)—and sometimes we become the answer to that prayer (Isaiah 6:8). Where is God’s compassion currently colliding with darkness around you, and is he asking you to pray for laborers, be a laborer, or both? Name one concrete step.