Proclaim As You Go

Matthew 10:1-15

Immanuel - 5/5/24

At the very end of chapter 9, we heard Jesus say, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” -Matthew 9:37-38

Like I said last week: In this illustration, Jesus imagines the earth like a vast field, ripe for people to be gathered into His kingdom – people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And if this harvest is going to be brought in, the first place to start is on the knees.

Christ tells His disciples to pray earnestly. Pray with great effort. Pray with sincere longing – that God would move, that He would stir people’s hearts, that He would raise up workers to go into the field and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God!

But praying is where things start. It’s only the beginning. For the very next thing that Jesus does is appoint disciples to go into the harvest. Again and again, we have seen enormous crowds following Jesus around. From these crowds comes a smaller, committed bunch: Jesus’ disciples.

But out of this larger group of disciples, Jesus calls 12.

Read vs 1

Jesus appoints 12 of His disciples for a special mission, specifically for working the harvest. And look in verse 2, there they are called apostles. The word apostle comes from the Greek “Apostolos.” It literally means a “sent one.” It is a delegate or ambassador, given special authority to carry a specific message.

That’s just what we see Jesus doing. The message these Apostles will carry is found in verse 7: Proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus gives the Apostles authority in verse 1: authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. These 12 will go with Jesus’ message and Jesus’ power.

And then Matthew lists those that Jesus names as His Apostles. Peter is first, because he was their leader. In chapter 4 we saw Jesus calling Andrew, James, and John. In chapter 9 was the initial calling of Matthew. The rest are not mentioned in Matthew’s gospel; that is, except for Judas – Judas who betrays Jesus.

After he betrayed Jesus, Judas kills himself. James, John’s brother, is beheaded by Herod (Acts 12:2) in Jerusalem. The rest of the Apostles spread across the Roman Empire proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. But some went further: Church tradition tells us that Thomas traveled all the way to India and Matthew likely made it to Ethiopia.

But nearly every Apostle listed here will be martyred for the gospel, most of them dying very cruel deaths. Only John lived to old age and died peacefully, though he suffered terrible persecutions throughout his life.

Truly, these 12 were committed. Truly, they had seen something in Jesus that absolutely transformed them and changed the course of their lives. And right here, in Matthew 10, Jesus prepares them for their very first mission.

For the rest of chapter 10, Jesus will deliver instructions on how His disciples are to go on mission, how they are to become laborers in the harvest. This powerful teaching is Jesus’ second of five discourses in the Gospel of Matthew.

Read vs 5-6

A Message And A Mission

Back in 9:36, Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. They were harassed and helpless. Jesus expands this image beyond the crowds that surrounded Him, to all the people of Israel. All of Israel was in need of a Shepherd. The Apostles were going to find them, wherever they were scattered, and tell them that the Shepherd has come.

See how Jesus forbids them to go to the Gentiles or Samaritans? Jesus and the disciples were in Galilee, a predominantly Jewish territory. But they were surrounded by non-Jewish, Gentile lands to the west, north, and east. In the south were Samaritan lands. Jesus was effectively limiting the Apostles’ first missionary journey to Galilee, and only to the Jews in Galilee.

But there was a greater purpose. The Jews were the chosen people of God, thus they were to hear the good news of the kingdom of God first.

I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

-Romans 1:16

The gospel first went to the Jews, and then the rest of the world. For after the cross and resurrection, Jesus says to these same Apostles:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” -Matthew 28:18-19

But for now, in this very early stage of Jesus’ ministry, and at the very beginning of the disciples’ career as Apostles, the mission is limited to Galilee. To the Jews first.

Read vs 7

Again, this is the message the Apostles are to carry with them. It is verbatim, Jesus’ own message.

Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” -Matthew 4:17

John the Baptist also proclaimed the same message:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. -Matthew 3:2

The Apostles are not sent to preach topical sermons, they are not sent to give their interpretation of what Jesus has been doing, they are sent to proclaim His exact words: the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Any deviation from what Jesus Christ says, and their mission fails.

The kingdom of heaven is at hand: Meaning, it is near, it is imminent, it is almost upon them. Those who hear such a message must, therefore, respond with urgency. There is no time to wait. Come today and receive the kingdom.

And this message they are to proclaim as they go, everywhere they go, all along the way. While they journey to their destination, they are to proclaim. While at their destination, they are to proclaim. Returning from their destination, they are to proclaim.

Again, with their message, we see Christ giving them authority.

Read vs 8a

The only miraculous act we see the disciples performing in the gospels is the casting out of demons (Luke 10:17-20). The rest of the miracles we see occur in the book of Acts, though there is no record of a leper being cleansed by them that I could recall.

But what is more important is that in Matthew 8 and 9, these were the same works that Jesus performed to demonstrate His incomparable power, and His authority as the Son of God. Thus, Jesus sends these 12 Apostles with His same message and His same authoritative acts. This is less about the miracles and more about the powerful and unique authorization from Jesus.

To be clear, the authority to perform these miraculous works was given only to the 12. The rest of the disciples, out of which the 12 were called, were not given this same authority. We can therefore deduce that the authority Jesus gave to the 12 Apostles was unique; not for all disciples through all time.

So, Jesus gives a peculiar authority to the Apostles for laboring in the harvest. And then Jesus goes into the strategy that is to guide them while they are out there working the harvest.

Read vs 8b-15

Look at what Jesus says the disciples should not do:

1. Vs 9 - Acquire no money for your belts. In other words, do not charge for your services. It was customary at that time, among both Jews and Gentiles, that traveling teachers and philosophers would expect payment from the people who were listening. Jesus says, don’t do that. This is not a money making venture.

2. Vs 10 – Take no bag, extra tunic, or footwear. Don’t pack extra clothes.

3. Vs 10 – No staff. Take no protection.

The theme of these don’ts is that the disciples are supposed to travel light, taking very little with them, and not worry about their provisions. Their strategy will be to faithfully proclaim in the authority of Christ, and to depend upon God for all their needs.

Here we should be reminded of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:32,33

Just as the Apostles were going out to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom, so was Jesus setting them up to simultaneously seek the kingdom. How awesome! The very message they proclaim, they must remain dependent upon!

The harvest, ripe and ready, is dependent upon the spiritual provision of the kingdom of God – which the disciples proclaim. At the same time, the disciples are dependent upon the harvest for physical provision. There is an interdependent relationship here. No one is independent. No one can thrive without trusting in Christ, whose authority and message is proclaimed, and who is ultimately responsible for all provision.

Now look at what He says the disciples should do:

1. Vs 10 – This one is implied, but the laborer deserves his food. This means, expect that the laborer will find provision from the harvest.

2. Vs 11 – Find who is worthy. Find the people that welcome you and your message.

3. Vs 11 – Stay with those worthy people.

4. Vs 12 – Greet the worthy house (house means household, those who live in that house).

5. Vs 14 – If no one receives you, or if a household proves worthless, shake the dust from your sandals and leave.

Notice, as the Apostles go out on mission, there will be two results. Some people will receive them, proving themselves to be worthy. Other people will reject them, proving themselves to be unworthy. The worthy will receive peace, the unworthy will receive judgment – for they have rejected the kingdom of God.

Here at Immanuel, we call these worthy people, “Persons of Peace.” We get that term from Luke 10, where Luke calls these people “sons of peace.” In both Matthew and Luke, the disciples are to greet with peace. If a worthy person receives that greeting, receiving also the disciple and his message, then peace rests upon that person. They are a person of peace.

You must capture the importance of this. As the Apostles go and proclaim, they are to look for persons of peace. They are to stay with them and minister to them. In return, those persons of peace will provide for the disciples. Christ has chosen to expand His kingdom through persons of peace!

Let me now show you how Jesus’ words do apply to all disciples through all time. As I have said, the authority Jesus gives to the 12 Apostles is uniquely powerful. But in verse 8, when Jesus says, “you receive without paying; give without pay;” isn’t that true for every disciple of Jesus?

Your faith is a gift, your life is a gift, your inheritance is a gift, and your mission is a gift. You have earned none of it. So too should you give without expecting anything in return. We have now shifted from things only true to the 12 Apostles to things true for every one of Christ’s disciples.

2 Principles for Mission

The authority given to the Apostles is unique, but the principles of the mission are for every disciple. The fundamental principles are twofold:

1. As you go, proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God.

2. Seek and disciple Persons of Peace.

Now, I would like to give you a simple way to know if you have found a person of peace. If you have taken Ambassador Training, or any other 4 Fields Intensives, then you’ll be familiar with what I am going to do next.

Draw Traffic Light

The 12 Apostles had a unique ministry in all of history. Unless your name is listed in the gospels as an Apostle, or your name is not Paul of Tarsus, then you are not among them. You have not been given the same authority as they had been given, and neither has anyone else.

That said, there are apostles today. As Paul writes, among prophets, evangelists, and shepherd-teachers, Christ also gave the church apostles.

[Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. -Ephesians 4:11-12

Today the title “apostle” is used and abused. There are countless false apostles claiming to hear new revelations from God, boasting of unverifiable miracles, and filling their money bags with gold, silver, and copper. Because of these abuses, we don’t use the term apostle very often.

A true, modern-day apostle is someone who takes the word of God to people who have never heard it before. True modern-day apostles are frontier missionaries. Garrett Simerson is a modern-day apostle. The Lord has called Garrett to take the message of the gospel to unreached peoples in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.

Again, an apostle is a delegate or ambassador, given special authority to carry a specific message. Today, apostles have a specific calling to go to places unreached by the gospel. Not all of us have this apostolic calling on our lives, but all of us are called as ambassadors.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come…All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. -2 Corinthians 5:17,19,20

Though we are not all called as apostles, and though none of us are the 12 Apostles, everyone who is a new creation in Christ is an ambassador for Christ. All of us have been authorized to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God. All of us are to be working the harvest, looking for persons of peace.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The church has prayed for God to send laborers. Will you serve the Lord of the harvest? Will you work the field? Will your life be marked by not just faith, but also obedience? Will you proclaim as you go?