2/16/25 - Matthew 10: I Send You
Jesus sends out His disciples on their first missionary journey. His guidelines called for brutal meagerness and radical trust. The message was simple, but it wasn’t just a message of words but a message of displayed power and acted-out faith.
Firstly, Jesus sends them out with a message and signs to accompany the message. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” His next words are not a suggestion but a command to them. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have been given, freely give.” The good news, the Gospel message, is that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The revelation we have been given by Jesus is that the Kingdom of Heaven is not found in a location but amid the gathered body of believers, amid the Church.
How much do we believe that? As someone who’s been a Christian his whole life, I have trouble wrapping my mind around the vibrant vision Jesus has of the Kingdom of Heaven alive and well in the midst of the Church. Evangelism has been condensed down to mere words, and often, when we see purported videos of people driving demons out or healing, my first reaction is trying to discern whether it’s a production or if it’s genuine. We have grown accustomed to a dry and comfortable version of the Kingdom of Heaven that doesn’t drive us to our knees seeking the power of God to accompany the message. Oftentimes, the message has turned into a narrative form of moralism rather than the message that the Kingdom of Heaven is here.
Jesus didn’t just send out His disciples to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand; He sent them out to prove it. How could you refute the Gospel message rationally if instead of arguing talking points, you were trying to explain away someone being raised from the dead? All of a sudden, arguments against the Gospel message would seem as silly as the Pharisees claiming, “He drives out demons by the power of demons.” How much do we really believe this aspect of the Gospel? How much do I believe it?
Jesus then gives His disciples guidelines for their first missionary journey. Charge nothing for doing these things. Freely you have received, freely give. How many of us, if we discovered we could raise the dead, would not be at least a little bit tempted to market their gift to make a profit off of it? I think one of the reasons it’s so hard to believe the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven being vibrant, alive, and actively working in our and others’ lives is because of the abuses others have made by making a show out of it and turning to their advantage and profit. You have your Paula Whites, Jesse Duplantises, and Benny Hinns, making emotional pleas that you cannot experience the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven unless you give their specific ministry a check for $1000, $10,000, or $100,000 dollars, with paid actors in their audience to fall under the “power” of their preaching and theatrics, calling it the Holy Spirit. It would be so easy to take the message and power of the Gospel and twist it for unjust gain. Jesus prevents His disciples from entertaining the possibility.
Further, He not only instructs them to charge nothing for their work but also to take no money with them for the journey. This missionary journey was to be a practical application of faith. Jesus has told them to not worry about provisions on the Sermon on the Mount, and now He puts them into a situation where they have to not just believe that theoretically but to put it into practice. But Jesus gives them some assurance for their provision: “The worker is worthy of his keep.” God will provide what’s needed, and He will use people to make that provision. Rather than allowing them to be creative with their income or come prepared to provide for themselves beforehand, He calls them to a radical faith that what is needed will be presented to them along the way because not only does God affirm and reward the worthiness of their work, but He prompt the hearts of people to be generous who will also affirm and reward the worthiness of their work.
One would think that this missionary trip would be met with smashing success. Jesus is sending them out with a simple message, a message that results in the power of God being put on display, people being healed, demons being cast out, and the dead being returned to their loved ones. If I were among the disciples, I would assume that the next while was going to be nothing but smooth sailing and blue skies. Jesus just said that people’s lives are going to change and that provision would be made, so why stress?
Jesus tells them to be on their guard. A phrase which we tend to think of as meaning watch for danger and be suspicious. Rather, the word in the Greek that is translated into this phrase means, “be discerning and prepared.” He foretells that they would be locked up, flogged, mocked, and mistreated in all kinds of ways. He tells them to act gently without guile but to have their wits about them. Not everything is going to be peachy keen, so be prepared.
The troubles Jesus warns the disciples about include but are not limited to being locked up, flogged, and betrayed by even their families. Whereas one would assume preaching with power accompanying it would result in people being overjoyed and excited, Jesus seems to indicate that people would likely hate them for it. Why would people hate the disciples for doing these amazing things? The reality is that the Gospel message is disruptive and intrusive. It forces us to acknowledge the truth or deny it, and those who deny the truth usually do so because it’s not profitable. It challenges power structures, the pursuit of wealth, conformity to the status quo, indulgence in pleasure-seeking, and empty religion. All of which are things that we tend to like.
An example of this is found in Acts 19. When Paul visited Ephesus, the impact of the Gospel changed the lives and lifestyles of enough people to start impacting the economy negatively. A silversmith named Demetrius gathered other business owners and craftsmen to talk about this Paul guy who’s message tanked the smithing industry because not as many people were buying idols anymore. The Gospel challenged the way things had been, and the reaction of those who were losing money because of it was to hate and harm.
So why does Jesus warn His disciples to be on guard? I think this aspect of Jesus' teaching is something that is left out too much. We worry about numbers, and we worry about people leaving the church so much so that we’re willing to cut out uncomfortable topics to keep people happy. But the consequences are brutal. How many of us came to Jesus thinking that doing so was going to make our experience of life easier? How many of us were shocked when we actually got more drama because of Jesus?
The reality is that following Jesus is costly. We can’t follow Jesus assuming he’s going to make everything better for us; we do so because He claimed to be the way, the truth, and the life, and the only path to God the Father, and we believed Him and believing that, there is no other alternative. We have crafted a version of the Gospel that lets us have Jesus without the cross, that allows us Jesus without the “brother betraying brother to death” bit. And when we don’t warn one another that believing in Jesus means that we will suffer for it, when that trouble comes, people fall away, bitter and resentful, because the version of Jesus they were given didn’t promise hardship but promised to take it away.
But while the Gospel doesn’t take trouble away, it gives redemptive value to it. The warning to the disciples of trouble to come came also with redemptive opportunities. Our suffering is no longer meaningless but means life for those around us. Where would the imprisonment lead? To opportunities to share the Gospel before kings and rulers. Where would persecution in one town lead to? The Gospel was being spread to other towns and villages. Where does being villanized and mocked lead? To being like Christ.
Jesus warns them of trouble to come so that they can not only be prepared for it but not be afraid of it. If we can’t help being afraid, He reorientates our focus to be afraid of God instead of people. If you have to be afraid, don’t let your fear stop you from sharing the Gospel. Instead, let your fear drive you, as there’s someone more terrible and powerful than mere man who can only kill the body, someone who will hold you accountable for the responsibility He’s given you.
But Jesus doesn’t want us to live in fear, nor should we become dependent on being afraid of God’s retribution to follow Him. So He reassures us that God is a caring Father. He’s aware of what goes on in the world, and He has every hair on your head numbered. You mean something to God, and He values you.
We have a responsibility to share the Gospel, and if we, out of self-preservation, try to preserve our lives and keep silent, we’ll lose our lives in the end. Eternity will be lost to us. But if we throw caution to the wind, entrust ourselves fully to the grace of God, and share this disruptive message of Heaven intruding in on earth, we will have powerful company in the midst of our troubles.
Jesus accentuates the disruptive nature of the Gospel by quoting Micah. He warns us outright that the message of the Kingdom won’t bring us peace in the telling. The message isn’t a balm to a broken world but rather a sword, severing the world from its devotions, priorities, and idols. This is not a peaceful process but a devastating one. When we read the book of Revelation, this reality is manifested to its climax. The very thing that prepares the world for the coming of Jesus, which is peace and joy for the people of God, is destruction, confusion, and rending for the enemies of God.
When Micah wrote, “a man is against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law, a man’s enemies are the members of his own household,” he is writing that the enemies of God have so completely taken over that justice and mercy have been trodden, faithfulness is nowhere, everyone does violence and wickedness, and those who try to live faithfully to God are betrayed and destroyed by their own family. Jesus alludes to Micah in the future tense to say that these conditions are coming again. To follow Jesus means trouble and even family betraying you to death.
Micah finishes off his assessment with a statement that the disciples would have been familiar with and might have even thought of while Jesus is quoting him: “As for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior, my God will hear me.” This is the hope that Jesus gives: if we stick to our task, despite what goes on around us and what people do to us, we have hope in God’s salvation. And anyone who welcomes who welcomes us welcomes Him and will be rewarded for doing so. And if we welcome one another, and encourage one another, and help one another along the way, we will not lose our reward.
The point of following Jesus and sharing the good news isn’t so that our lives will become better. We live in a fallen and messed-up world. For us to experience that would mean we’ve left this life and joined God in another where all has been made right. In the meantime, we will have trouble. Everyone goes through it, and we won’t escape going through things. Not only do we have help, but we are promised a reward that changes the focus of our suffering into something meaningful and helpful to us and others.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven in our midst is disruptive, it’s powerful, and Jesus as the light of Jesus was despised because it exposed the evil of mankind’s deeds, so also the message we preach and live out exposes and we should expect that to be like Jesus means that we will be treated like Jesus. But just as Jesus’ suffering meant life for everyone, our suffering, the crosses He calls us to bear, means life for others around us.
So may God help us to proclaim this message boldly, fearlessly, and expectedly. To see His kingdom come and His will be done. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!