Lesson 10 - Matt. 9:35-38; 10:1-8 - LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Matt. 8:5-13, we covered the story of a Roman centurion who approached Jesus and begged Him to heal his paralytic servant. That a Roman military officer would come to Jesus to ask Him anything was in and of itself amazing. Centurions were answerable only to higher officers and to the Roman emperor. When Jesus offered to come and heal the servant, the centurion responded by saying, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed" (v. 8). His reply showed us two important things about the centurion's mind-set toward Christ: (1) That he came to Jesus with an attitude of complete humility. Although this centurion was himself a man of considerable authority, he lowered himself by willingly placing himself under Jesus' authority. By doing this, the centurion modeled the right attitude for any human being who seeks to establish a relationship with Jesus. And (2) When the centurion pleaded to Jesus for help, He demonstrated unconditional faith by believing in Jesus' power to heal his servant. Bible scholars say that the main reason that Matthew placed such stress on the significance of this centurion's faith was to show the movement of Jesus' ministry from the Jews to all people. This incident foreshadows the great insight that later came through another centurion's faith, Cornelius (Acts 11:18), which resulted in making the message of the gospel available to Gentiles.
This week, in Matt. 9:35-38; 10:1-8, the apostle give us a wide-ranging overview of Jesus' earthly teaching and preaching ministry. The first section, Chap. 9:35-38, describes Jesus' great compassion while looking out over the crowds of people who have come to see him. He notices that they are careworn and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Seeing this, Christ tells his followers that the harvest is plentiful, but there are too few workers. The second section, Chap. 10:1-4 describes the call of the twelve apostles, Jesus' core group of hand-picked followers, collectively referred to as "twelve"; then in verses 5-8, Jesus follows this with detailed instructions to His 12 apostles for their missionary trip to the towns of Galilee.
Read Matthew 9:35-38 - HE FELT COMPASSION FOR THEM
35 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
v. 35: "Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." - This verse summarizes the heart of Jesus' ministry in Galilee and also provides the rationale for the new phase of His ministry with the sending of the twelve. Notice the action verbs-Jesus goes about (1) "teaching", (2) "proclaiming" and (3) "healing." In the next section, Jesus will greatly expand this effort by commissioning His apostles to become His partners in ministry.
v. 36a-b: "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited" - The word used for "compassion" (Gk. splag-chnizomai), literally means moved in the inward parts and is derived from the root word for bowels. It is an especially strong term that expresses feelings that impact the deepest part of one's being. The word used for "distressed " (Gk. es-kyl-menoi) describes being treated with no pity or mercy. And the word for "dispirited" (Gk. errim-menoi) literally means being laid flat. Jesus deeply cares about these people at His very core.
v. 36c: "like sheep without a shepherd." - Jesus knows the crowd is helpless-that is the nature of sheep-helpless. Rams can protect themselves and goats are nimble runners, but sheep are even incapable of foraging for themselves. They must have a shepherd to survive. This phrase should remind us of the OT passages that portray God's people as a flock neglected by its shepherds, i.e., the 'bad kings' (Jer. 23:1-6; Ezek. 34:1-10; Micah 5:2-4). The Pharisees saw the common people as chaff to be destroyed and burned up, whereas, Jesus saw them as a harvest to be reaped and saved.
v. 37a: "Then He *said to His disciples," - This could be the larger group Jesus addressed in the Sermon on the Mount or it could just be the twelve. The text doesn't make it clear.
v. 37b: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." - Here, Jesus uses an agricultural metaphor to instill His disciples with compassion for these multitudes. Jesus shares his vision of Israel as a field containing many stalks of grain. They needed to be gathered for placement in the barns of the kingdom. If they weren't gathered, they would die where they were if the workers failed to bring them in very soon. However, there weren't nearly enough workers to accomplish this huge task.
v. 38: "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." - We might have expected Jesus to call the disciples to immediately go to work, but instead, he commands them to pray to the "Lord of the harvest to send out the workers." In other words, the action is entirely in the hands of the "Lord of the harvest." The project facing these disciples was outwardly overwhelming. Based on our natural human instincts, we would probably think to ask God to send great evangelists, talented musicians, effective fundraisers, and wise managers. But no, Jesus tells them to pray for "workers" (Gk. ergatés [er-gat'-ace]), a term describing common field laborers. Relying on Human initiative isn't the effective solution; it's the Spirit empowerment of God. God uses ordinary, behind-the-scenes laborers as His disciples. Today we need millions telling billions-a seemingly overwhelming task, but no job is too big for God. Amen?
Matthew 10:1-4 - HE SUMMONED HIS TWELVE DISCIPLES
1 Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 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, the one who betrayed Him.
v. 1a: "Jesus summoned His twelve disciples" - This is Matthew's first reference to "twelve." Before this, he only mentioned Peter, Andrew, James, and John by name. He "summoned" (Gk. proskaleo), them as a king commands his subjects. That all 12 were present at this interval implies that He had called others along the way, who simply weren't identified until now. We know from Scripture that the number 12 represents perfection in terms of God's power and authority (Gen. 7:20: Josh. 3:12). The number 12 also suggests the that the disciples inherited the function of the 12 tribes of Israel-in effect, establishing a new Israel over which Christ will rule in the End-Times. Their names will be inscribed on the wall of New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:14).
v. 1b: "and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness." - Without Jesus' authority, these disciples would have no power. He gives them authority to exorcize unclean spirits and to heal every disease and illness. Jesus' proclamation and the powers he gave them go far beyond what we would call normal Christian ministry today; yet, in reality, our communities are ravaged by demonic forces, violence, injustice, and all kinds of human suffering, while the church often remains irrelevant except to the few who venture to come through our doors. So, to follow Jesus' model, we Christians must get out of our pews and become the church among our communities in evangelism and meeting social needs.
vv. 2-4: "Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and 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, the one who betrayed Him. - This is Matthew's only reference to twelve "apostles." The word "apostle' (Gk. apostolos [ap-os'-tol-os] means one sent by another to represent him and act with authority in his name. Notice that Jesus names them pairs to indicate how they are to be sent out. This same list also appears in Mark 3:16-10, Luke 6:13-16, and Acts 1:13. Other apostles will be added later: Matthias (Acts 1:26), Paul (Acts 14:14), Barnabas (Acts 14:14), and James, the half-brother of Jesus (Gal. 1:19).
Read Matt. 10:5-6 - DO NOT GO IN THE WAY OF GENTILES
5 These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
v. 5: "These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;' - These instructions may seem odd in light of the fact that Jesus treated Samaritans and Gentiles positively in His ministry (John 4:1-42; Matt. 8:15-13; 15:22-28). There are at least two possible explanations: The principle "for the Jew first, and also for the Greek" (Rom. 1:16) seems to be at work here. This prefigured the all-Jew early church in Jerusalem, which would become the mother church for the spread of the gospel (see Acts 1-12 generally). Moreover, the geographical term "way of the Gentiles" seems to be a restriction on the areas to be visited rather than a total ban on contact with Samaritans and Gentiles. His objective seems to be that first, they were to focus their efforts on Galilee, the area most responsive to Jesus' ministry.
v. 6: "but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." - The practical impact of this was to limit their ministry to Galilee, as mentioned above. It was also the part of Palestine most open to new revelation and the gospel message that went with it. In any event, when the resurrected Jesus later appeared to His disciples, He gave them a new commission to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15).
Read Matt. 10:7-8 - FREELY YOU RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE
7 And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.
v. 7a: "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" - The disciples/apostles were to proclaim the same message preached by John the Baptist and Jesus: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," (Matt. 3:2; 4:17), except that that Jesus does not include a call to repent. The "kingdom" had drawn near to them in the person of the king, Jesus Christ, and Israel must decide whether to accept or reject Him as Messiah (Savior).
v. 8a: Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons." - This is, in effect, a carbon copy of Jesus' earthly ministry (see, Matt: 9:35, above). Note again the action verbs that tell them what they are expected to do: (1) proclaim, (2) cure, (3) raise, (4) cleanse, and (5) cast out. We need to realize that what Jesus was instructing the 12 apostles to do was clearly beyond their human abilities. Apart from the Holy Spirit, they would be helpless to perform any of these things.
v. 8b: "Freely you received, freely give." - The disciples themselves received the gospel as a free gift, so they are commanded to give it to others as a free gift. While they are not permitted to charge fees for their teaching and healing, v. 10 allows them to receive subsistence-food and shelter. They are to be itinerant preachers who make no provision for the journey-no bag, no extra clothing or sandals, no staff. The premise applied here is that the apostles must depend upon the people to whom they minister for their sustenance-and by extension, depend on God for their needs.
APPLICATION-Becoming Workers in the Harvest.
1. We need to see lost people as Jesus saw them. Jesus and the disciples saw the same scene-the approaching crowd of people. But Jesus saw them with different eyes than the disciples did. What Jesus saw was the great spiritual need of lost people. (Matt. 9:36). There was likely nothing unusual about the crowd that approached Jesus and the disciples that day. There may have been a few more sick and disabled people than normal crowd, but no more than on previous days. But the disciples probably thought, as they did on another occasion when the needs were overwhelming (Matt. 14:15), "Send them away!" But Jesus saw them differently and He felt compassion for them both physically and spiritually; and Jesus had a cure for both conditions. Jesus also saw the great need for workers in the harvest. But the harvest of these lost souls would require many more workers. The main point of application is that as, one of Jesus' sheep, He wants you to see yourself as a worker in His harvest.
2. We need to feel for lost people as Jesus felt. In the text, it says that Jesus felt compassion for them. The Greek word for compassion translates to very deep feelings, literally gut-wrenching. He didn't angrily blame them for the mess that they had made of their lives, although He could have. Instead, He felt authentic, compassion for them. So, do we feel compassion for sinners, or do we shrug and think, "the situation they're in is their own fault-they should have known better"? The reality is they are headed for hell-eternal damnation--unless we follow Jesus' example and not only feel but actively show genuine compassion for them. Because Jesus cares, so should we.
3. We need to do for lost people what Jesus did. What did Jesus do? He ministered to people's spiritual and physical needs, and He prayed for more workers. "Ministry" means service, and every Christian is called to serve Christ. He has given us unique gifts and opportunities; and we are to take what He's given us and use it to serve the people He places in our path.
4. Like Jesus' disciples, we are commanded to go to the lost sheep. As disciples of Jesus, all ordinary Christians (that's me and you!) have the ability to proclaim that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand" by sharing our personal witness with others. We don't need to be professional preachers in order to honestly tell people that Jesus loves them and has a plan for his or her life, not to harm them but to give them hope and a future-eternity in heaven with Him.
