Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TEN

Part II

Verse 11: When you enter a city or town, find some generous person there and stay in his home until you leave.

With these instructions Jesus shows that He had no intent on making beggars out of His disciples. Charitable giving was encouraged throughout Israel. The Psalmist said: “How blessed are those who care for the poor! When calamity comes, Adonai will save them. Adonai will preserve them, keep them alive, and make them happy in the land.”¹ But the Jewish teachers also taught against taking alms under false pretenses. Let the person know who you are and what you plan to do with their gift of support.

Perhaps seeing these instructions in the context of their own day, two early church fathers gave their impressions of what Jesus was really saying here. First, Jerome says: “Entering a new town, the apostles were unable to know what kind of persons they were meeting. Therefore a host must be chosen according to his reputation and the judgment of his neighbors. Otherwise the dignity of the message preached might be tainted by the ill repute of the recipient. Since they must preach to all, only one host is to be chosen; and they are not to bestow favor on persons with whom they stay but to receive it.”² Then Chrysostom adds this to what Jesus said: “You are intentionally to seek out honorable persons. You are not then to move from house to house, looking constantly for better fare, which would vex those who would be receiving you and give you the reputation of gluttony and self-indulgence. This seems evident in His saying.”³

In the mind of these two scholars, and others as well, Jesus was giving His followers instructions on how to ensure they were welcome into whatever town they entered. In all towns there were those who had reputations of being good, honest, and honorable people. If such town leaders were to openly receive these disciples of Jesus, then certainly they would be much more acceptable to the town’s residents. As such, Jesus was then warning them not to take advantage of such hospitality. Nor should they pick and choose for even better accommodations so that their prestige would rise even higher.

There is certainly nothing wrong with a pastor and his congregation showing guest speakers their respect through proper etiquette by providing the best accommodations they can afford. But for any guest to complain that what they have been given is not up to their standards is a slap in the face of those to whom they came to minister.

On one occasion when I visited a rural church in what was then called Yugoslavia, the host did not have a spare bedroom in the small house where they lived, so they put me up in a tool shed that had been turned into a small bedroom. As I went to lay down on the mattress and put my head on the pillow, I found out that they were not filled with feathers, but straw. As I lay there thinking about these less than comfortable conditions and how far I had driven to speak to this small congregation, I also thought of all that my Savior endured when He was here on earth, and suddenly the straw felt much better.

Verses 12-14: As you enter that home, say, “Peace be with you.” If the people in that home welcome you, they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished for them. But if they do not welcome you, they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. And if the people in a home or a town refuse to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place and shake the dust off your feet.

While the greeting of “shalom,” meaning “peace,” was a common greeting, it carried more inferences in Hebrew than just “be at ease.” It also wished tranquility, safety, well-being, welfare, health, contentment, success, comfort, wholeness and integrity.⁴ When such a greeting was met with joy and openness, then Jesus says the peace that you wished them will come true. We know what happened each time Jesus said: “Peace.”⁵

However, as they went in peace to share the good news and be used by God to heal the sick and deliver the bound, should they be rebuffed they were not to insist on staying or try and win the host over to their cause. There was a teaching in Judaism about uncleanliness. Among them was one on the dirt or dust of Gentile lands. It speaks of private domains and how when one enters there, because of the dust it maybe an unclean place.⁶ In other words, they either did not know you were coming and so were not prepared for visitors, or they knew you were coming but didn’t bother to prepare for your arrival. So we can take it that in this case anyone refusing to welcome the ambassadors of the gospel were to be considered unworthy of staying with.

We must keep in mind that Jesus was not sending out these disciples on a permanent basis where they would settle down and continue growing the number of believers they were able to win to the Gospel. This was a temporary outing in order for these disciples to exercise the power and authority given to them by the Lord. It was a training mission. Jesus knew that once He left, they would be on their own and so they needed to learn how to spread the Gospel through teaching and miracles. So the instructions and restrictions Jesus gave them for this transitory effort should not be held as the model by which the Gospel is to be spread today since the church is now an established entity.

We must understand that this commission by Jesus was in line with the customs and traditions prevalent in His day. Even as far back as Job, we can see this custom, “The people in my house know that I have never let anyone go hungry. I always invited strangers into my home so that they would not have to sleep in the streets.”⁷ And later on during Lot’s time we read: “That evening the two angels came to the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting near the city gates and saw them. He got up and went to them. He bowed to show respect and said, ‘Sirs, please come to my house, and I will serve you. There you can wash your feet and stay the night. Then tomorrow you can continue your journey.’ The angels answered, ‘No, we will stay the night in the city square.’ But Lot continued to ask them to come to his house, so they agreed and went with him. Lot gave them something to drink. He baked some bread for them, and they ate it.”⁸

Jesus also uses the salutation of His day. We note that this is the same greeting Jesus used after His resurrection when He visited His disciples in the Upper Room. But what Matthew’s scribe did not include here was the normal responsive Jewish greeting, “Blessed be the one who comes.” That’s how they welcomed Jesus on His way to Jerusalem on the donkey.⁹ But our Lord restricted this salutation to only those homes where they were welcomed. In those days it was not customary to show respect or be courteous to wrong doers. As a matter of fact, Jesus told them that if they were not welcomed, to shake the dust off of their feet as a way of saying, “I’m not wasting my time with you.”¹⁰

Verse 15: I can assure you that on the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

But our Lord makes it much more stringent with His warning that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better treated on judgment day than those who reject His followers. Was this warning just an unguarded verbal outburst from our Lord? Did He fail to assure Himself of correct exegesis? Is this a crack in His sound theology? If not, then we must take notice of its implications.

First, He affirms that there is such a thing as a Day of Judgment for all who disobey God and reject His word. Secondly, He suggests that the judgment carried out on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was still not the worst to be feared. His message was commensurate with what the rabbis taught saying: “The men of Sodom have no portion in the world to come, since it is said, ‘Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly’.¹¹ ‘Wicked’ – in this world, ‘and sinners’ – in the world to come, but they will still stand in judgment.”¹²

One Jewish commentator made note on this Scripture by surmising: “The reason that God, after a lengthy interval, again speaks to Abraham might be that Abraham had second thoughts about having driven Lot away seeing that 1) he practically had forced him to associate with wicked people, and 2) he himself now left without relatives, and still had not sired any offspring. God therefore decides to reassure Abraham at this stage”.¹³ Therefore our Lord warns, any town that has seen a Man more righteous in their midst than Lot was in Sodom and Gomorrah that refuses to hear the Gospel, will be in danger of an even worse judgment. Lastly, He contributes to a theory that when this judgment takes place, varying degrees of tolerance will be evident. The penalties will be more or less severe according to the accused’s sinfulness. We see this in the Rabbi’s teaching about the punishment of Sodom.

The list of all the things that brought them judgment included their wickedness with their bodies – immorality; their money – uncharitable; blasphemy – willful sinning; and bloodshed – murder of innocent people. But also included was their lack of hospitality. They said, “Why should we suffer wayfarers, who come to us only to deplete our wealth?”¹⁴ This insight was shared by many Jewish thinkers. One of them commented: “Why did Lot have to repeat the invitation [to the angels] by saying: ‘please,’ twice? He told the men that the people of Sodom are wicked and that they had passed legislation designed to banish the poor from even entering the town.”¹⁵ So often people spend a lot of the time hassling over the greatness of our heavenly reward; the great honor that will be bestowed upon the faithful, while consigning all sinners to one common, unvarying sentence of eternal judgment.

We often hear the phrase: “Let the punishment fit the crime.” We find that promulgated in the laws of the O.T. Even Jesus practiced this with the woman caught in the act of adultery. Not that it will change the course of the River of Life, but still should be made note of. Had it not been even slightly important, Jesus would not have mentioned that Sodom and Gomorrah will be treated less harshly than cities that reject the Gospel. Some scholars think that Jesus was comparing the judgment cast upon Sodom and Gomorrah for ill treating the angels and Lot, to the judgment that would be carried out on the Jews who ill treated the Son of God and rejected His teachings. And we can add, if this was the plight of cities who rejected the Gospel, how about nations?

We know that forty years after Christ’s death and resurrection, Jerusalem received its judgment; and over the centuries Jews have had to endure some of life’s harshest torture and punishment. One such case was by the Spanish born priest Agobard, Archbishop of Lyons, France; born in 779 AD and died June 6, 840 AD; one of the principal opponents of Judaism in the ninth century. In his time the Jews of Lyons inhabited a special quarter, situated at the foot of the hill of Fourvière. Not all prelates of that time shared Agobard’s sentiments. Nibridius, bishop of Narbonne, did not hesitate to maintain cordial relations with the Jews, and even invited them to his table. Therefore Agobard considered it his duty to induce him to break off all communication with them. “It seems to me to be unworthy of our faith,” he writes to him, “that the sons of light should associate with the children of darkness, and that the Church of Christ, which ought to present herself for the kisses of her celestial spouse without blemish and without wrinkle, be disgraced by contact with the defiled and repudiated Synagogue.”

Then after being reminded of all his efforts to prevent all communication between Jews and Christians, notwithstanding the opposition of Eberard and the royal commissioners, he adds: “You know that one should not only not make use of those who do not want to accept the apostolic preaching, but should shake off the dust of their dwellings; in the Day of Judgment, Sodom and Gomorrah will be pardoned sooner than they.” And he concludes by requesting Nibridius not to allow any of the faithful to communicate with such accursed ones, and to exhort all the neighboring bishops to concur in that work.¹⁶

I don’t think our Lord intended for us to take such treatment of Jewish believers that far. It was only meant to show the seriousness of rejecting the Messiah, the One they believed would come. It was such antisemitism on the part of many in the Catholic church that sowed the seed for the hatred of the Jews in Europe up until WWII. What Jesus was really teaching His disciples here was not to force their faith on anyone. As we know, this is the total opposite of what Mohamed taught his followers.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TEN

Part I (Con’t)

Verse 5: Jesus sent His twelve disciples out with these instructions: “Don’t go to the non-Jewish people. And don’t go into any town where the Samaritans live.

Why did Jesus forbid them to evangelize the half-Jewish Samaritans and non-Jewish Gentiles? Simply put, it was not yet their time. His disciples had not been trained to go to people who knew little or nothing about the Jewish faith or how to practice it. Jesus came to fulfill the promise of God to Abraham’s descendants. To have sent His disciples to the Gentiles at this point in time would have been similar to Sarah’s attempt to bring about God’s promise of a son by having Abraham father a child with her maid Hagar.

Furthermore, it would be only after the majority of the Jewish leaders and the children of Israel rejected Him that the door would open to the half-Jews and non-Jews. That’s why Paul of Tarsus was chosen for that task. As Jesus said before, the Jewish people were seen as sheep without a shepherd. This was not a novel thought. The young writer of Psalm 119 even identified with this, “I have wandered away like a lost sheep. Come and find me. I am your servant, and I have not forgotten your commands.”¹ And Isaiah saw it in the mission of the Messiah, “We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way. And yet the Lord put all our guilt on Him.”² So the lost sheep of Israel were His first concern.

As to the half-Jews living in Samaria, they were partly as Gentiles: “Said Rabbi Eleazar, ‘The concluding passage of the Mishnah speaks only of Gentiles, but not of Samaritans one way or the other’.”³ How did they become that way, neither accepted by the Gentiles or the Jews?⁴

SAMARITANS: Upon the separation of Israel and Judah after the split in the kingdom of Solomon, the ancient city of Shechem, which had been from the first so intimately connected with the history of Israel, became naturally the religious center of the Northern Kingdom. The political capital, however, was transferred by Omri to his newly built city of Samaria about 883 B.C., and the Israelitish kingdom continued to exist there until it fell before Assyria. In the fourth year of Hezekiah “Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it” (II Kings xviii. 9). The inhabitants were deported to various parts of Assyria and to “the cities of the Medes”; and colonists were sent in to take their place. The colonists were soon after troubled by lions, which they regarded as a divine visitation due to their ignorance of the “manner of the god of the land.” At their request an Israelitish priest was sent to them, who settled at Beth-el (II Kings xvii. 28), with the result that a mixed form of religion was established, partly Israelitish and partly idolatrous”. They also intermarried and thus became a mixed form of Judaism. Thus, since there were not pure Jews, they were treated as second class citizens of Israel.⁵

But it does not appear that Jesus forbid their access to the Gospel because of racial bias, but to fulfill the promise to the descendants of Abraham that they would be given the second covenant first. As Jerome puts it: “This passage is not contrary to the command given later: ‘Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ The former command was given before the resurrection and the latter after the resurrection. It was necessary to announce Christ’s first coming to the Jews, lest they have a good excuse for saying that the Lord rejected them because He had sent the apostles to the Gentiles and the Samaritans.”⁶

The message our Lord gave His disciples would not have been understood by the half-Jews or non-Jews. The gospel that would eventually be preached to them was that the Son of God died on a cross for their souls so that they could have eternal life. But to the Jews Jesus wanted them to hear the message of the kingdom of heaven. Some may ask, what is the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. First of all, we find both in the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father, who is in heaven…Your kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.”

In Jewish literature we find the words “heaven” and “God” used interchangeably. So the point of the disciple’s mission was to announce that God’s kingdom in heaven was coming to earth. Israel no long had an earthly king such as David or Solomon, so now it was time for David’s promised Son to take charge and rule. So they were to obey Him and follow His teachings.⁷ But no matter how much He tried to explain it, they still did not understand that it was not of this earth.⁸

Some scholars believe that the reason He said this kingdom was near, was because it could not be initiated until the Son of Man the prophet, died as the Lamb of God, so that He could become the risen Savior in order to serve as the LORD of Lords and King of kings. Other scholars think this was a reference to our Lord’s actual return to rule and reign as king. But to say that such a future event was near would be false advertising, even in Jesus’ day. To make their announcement of the kingdom and its eminent appearance, Jesus authorized them to show the power of God on earth as being resident in His Son, because it was His Son who was sending them out. And this was to be done freely because the disciples had received His authority to do so freely.

This was important because in the Old Testament, Syrian General Naaman tried to pay for his healing.⁹ This was how wise men and magicians made their living in those days. And to prevent his disciples from bartering to pay for their food and accommodations, He sent them out without any money, change of clothes, extra shoes or their walking sticks. He wanted those who received them to be aware that these men will have nothing to subsist on unless they are willing to give. This certainly set the model for evangelism that even the apostles followed, especially Paul.

Verses 6-8: But go to the people of Israel. They are like sheep that are lost. As you go, tell them this: ‘God’s kingdom is now very near.’ Heal the sick. Bring the dead back to life. Heal the people who have leprosy. And force demons out of people. I give you these powers freely, so help others freely.”

The real key to this commission is the last part. Here Jesus draws the same distinction that the Jews did when sending out teachers who might require to be paid. They taught: “If it is local custom for a teacher of young children to take payment, he should be paid. The father is obligated to pay for his instruction until he can read the entire written Torah. In a place where it is customary to receive a wage for teaching the written Torah, one is permitted to do so. However, it is forbidden to take a wage for teaching the verbal traditions, as [implied by Deuteronomy 4:5]: ‘Behold, I have taught you laws and statutes, as God commanded me.’ Our Sages teach that Moses was implying: Just as I learned at no cost, so, too, have you been taught from me at no cost. Teach the coming generations in a like manner. Teach them at no cost as you have learned from me”.¹⁰

Pope Gregory the Great, considered by reformers such as John Calvin as the last of the true spiritual leaders of the Catholic church, made this comment on why the Jews were put first in receiving the gospel. He writes: “Isn’t it clear to all, dearly beloved, that our Redeemer came into the world for the salvation of the Gentiles? Yet when we behold Samaritans called daily to the faith, what did He mean when He sent his disciples to preach and said, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’? He wished that the proclamation be offered first to the Jews alone. Then it would be offered to the Gentiles. This conclusion we draw from the actual outcome of history. When the former were called but refused to be converted, the holy preachers would turn to the calling of the Gentiles as outsiders. So what happened to the Jews by way of example proved to be an increase of grace for the Gentiles. For there were at that time some from among the Jews who were to be called and some from among the Gentiles who were not to be called.”¹¹

Therefore we can say, as Gregory did, history teaches us why the Jews were first and the Gentiles last. But there are other factors to consider: First, there is no evidence that any of these whom our Lord sent out spoke the languages of the Gentiles, nor were they accustomed to their ways. Furthermore, they were still very much restricted by the law which forbid such contact. Also, God’s promise to Abraham was first to his physical offspring and then would be extended to his spiritual descendants. As any father here on earth knows, that before you go out to help feed the hungry in your town or city, you feed your own children at home first.

Furthermore, as Chrysostom points out, the message carried by the disciples of Jesus was based upon the coming kingdom of heaven, something the Gentiles knew nothing of.¹² And added to that was the fact that such miracles as they were commissioned to perform, would have easily been attributed by the Gentiles to their heathen gods, and that was something our heavenly Father did not want until these Gentiles first learned about His Son and the plan of salvation He came to institute for all mankind. At this time there was no written version of the Gospel, so all they had to share was the verbal message given to them by Jesus.

Early Church Bishop Hilary had this to add to the gift of power received by these disciples as they went out to represent the Messiah to the Jews who would believe. He says: “All the power possessed by the Lord is bestowed upon the apostles! Those who were prefigured in the image and likeness of God in Adam have now received the perfect image and likeness of Christ. They have been given powers in no way different from those of the Lord. Those once earthbound now become heaven-centered. They will proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that the image and likeness of God are now appropriated in the company of truth, so that all the holy ones who have been made heirs of heaven may reign with the Lord. Let them cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out devils. Whatever impairment Adam’s body had incurred from being goaded on by Satan, let the apostles wipe away through their sharing in the Lord’s power. And that they may fully obtain the likeness of God according to the prophecy in Genesis,¹³ they are ordered to give freely what they freely have received. Thus a gift freely bestowed should be freely dispensed.”¹⁴

Verse 9: Don’t carry any money with you—gold or silver or copper.

Such restrictions were not new to the Jews. They were already applied as a sign of reverence and respect: “A man should not enter the Temple Mount with his staff or while wearing his shoes or with his money belt or with dusty feet, nor should he make it a short cut, and spitting on it is forbidden and from wearing shoes, for even though he shows no disrespect by wearing shoes it is still prohibited; certainly spitting, which is disrespectful, is prohibited.”¹⁵ Since Jesus knew this custom, He did not want His disciples to be looked upon with disrespect because they came dressed in their finest with large purses full of gold and silver shekels.

Yet in addition to this, scholars believe that Jesus was also teaching His disciples two lessons here. First, not to become known as preachers of the gospel for money sake. This is what many of the Rabbis did, asking payment for any wisdom or teaching they dispensed. That way no one would be able to say they paid for their salvation. And second, to learn that God would bless their efforts with monetary support in His own way. After all, the Jews were taught to pay their tithes to support the Temple ministry, so this was to be passed on later as God’s way of supporting the Church as it spread throughout the world. We see how this dependency on God to supply their needs was carried over into other areas.

Verse 10: Don’t carry a bag. Take only the clothes and sandals you are wearing. And don’t take a walking stick. A worker should be given what he needs.

The Jews had exact descriptions of things that people wore and when there were or were not permissible. The word used here for “bag” was clearly described by Jewish sages: “Different rules apply when, by contrast, vessels that are made primarily to serve as a receptacle, e.g., a drinking pouch or a satchel”.¹⁶ It was often attached to a strap that also served as a belt for their garments. But I’m sure Jesus had reasons other than abiding by customs and manners when it came to these items. It was a test to see if they could survive on faith alone. It was also based upon another custom that was seen in every vineyard and on every farm: The owner did not send out the workers without giving them the tools they needed. Also, while working the vineyards and farmlands, workers were allowed to take from the crops they harvested sufficient sustenance to keep them going.

Chrysostom said it this way: “By saying ‘the laborer deserves his food,’ Jesus is not implying that every door will be opened to you. Rather, this saying requires great prudence. It will profit you both with respect to your reputation and for meeting your needs. His meaning is that you will be given food in due season insofar as you are worthy of it. And you will be worthy of it if you ask for nothing beyond mere necessities.”¹⁷

Even though this commission was to the disciples following Jesus at that time, it applies to His disciples today. To be preoccupied with subsistence is to lose sight of one’s subscription. How can we fulfill verses 7 & 8 if we place them out of sequence. Lord help those who prefer receiving earthly riches for their labors, instead of doing them for the Master’s sake, honor and glory, and letting Him meet their needs according the riches in Christ Jesus.¹⁸

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER TEN

Part I

Verse 1: Jesus called His twelve followers together. Then He gave them power over evil spirits and power to heal every kind of disease and sickness.

It’s at this point we find all twelve disciples are now part of Jesus’ entourage. It is also the first mention of their being anointed by Jesus to go do the same works and miracles that He has performed. It is also noteworthy that they were first given authority over evil spirits, which then gave them power to heal all diseases. It was already a major belief among many non-Jewish societies that all diseases were caused by evil spirits that were unleashed by angry gods. This is not too far out of line, since it was only after Adam and Eve sinned that the death sentence was announced and death was to be brought on by the body slowly decaying, whether by disease or old age. So sin was definitely at the root of all disease. This is why Jesus often combined the forgiveness of sin with healing.

While it does not say here that Jesus verbally made this point, it might be that Matthew was following the verbal tradition of his day by putting them in this order. The more these disciples walked, talked and listened to the Master, the clearer this would become to them. This method used by Jesus in authorizing His disciples was similar to the way the Jews trained and sent out their messengers. In Jewish verbal tradition we read about such a calling. Those who served the High Priest once said to him: “My master the High Priest we are messengers of the court and you are our messenger.”¹

We read where messengers were sent out by the court to inform distant communities on which day Rosh Chodesh (New Moon to begin the month) would fall, so they could calculate the date for Rosh HaShana (Jewish New Year).² In fact, it says that messengers were sent out six months ahead of the Passover Feast. Even though it is not mentioned here, our Lord knew that His time here on earth would end shortly after Passover. So He was sending out His messengers not only to share the good news of the Kingdom of God, but also to make them ready for what would happen once the Lamb of God was slain.

Jerome has some interesting things to say about our Lord’s empowerment of the apostles. He writes: “The kind and merciful Lord and Master does not begrudge His followers and disciples their powers. Even as He had healed every disease and every infirmity, He empowered His apostles to heal every disease and every infirmity. But there is a great gap between having and granting, between giving and receiving. Whatever He does, He does in the power of the Lord. Whatever they do, they display their own weakness and the power of the Lord, saying, ‘In the name of Jesus, arise and walk.’ It must be noted, further, that the power to work miracles is granted to the apostles even to the twelfth man.”³

We can clearly see that over time the church in general, and ministers in particular, have taken the commission to go and preach the Gospel and baptize believers, but seem to have forgotten the power to pray for the sick that they be healed, and power over demons that they will be exorcised. Did God sever this power cord? Did Jesus pull the plug on the church so they became unable to function in this area? Did the Holy Spirit short-circuit the power line so that divine force no longer flows through to those who do these things in His name? I doubt it. If so the apostle Paul would have never written on the gifts and fruit of the Spirit after many of the original apostles were gone. Any short-out has come because many ministers no longer plug in to this power given through the Holy Spirit.

Chrysostom notes that the disciples were given access to some of the power of Christ before they were given the Holy Spirit. This was possible because by Christ being physically present with them, all they had to do was say they came by His authority. But after He ascended, the Master wanted to keep His power available, so that’s why He asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit who would provide the same present source of power as He did while He was here.

Chrysostom says: “Note the careful timing of their mission. They were not sent out at the beginning of their walk with Him. They were not sent out until they had sufficiently benefited by following Him daily. It was only after they had seen the dead raised, the sea rebuked, devils expelled, the legs of a paralytic brought to life, sins remitted, lepers cleansed, and had received a sufficient proof of His power both by deeds and words—only then did He send them out. And He did not send them out unprepared to do dangerous deeds, for as yet there was no danger in Palestine. They had only to stand against verbal abuse. However, Jesus still warned them of larger perils to come, preparing them for what was future.”⁴

Verse 2: These are the names of the twelve apostles: Simon (who is called Peter) Andrew his brother, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.

In the oldest Hebrew version of Matthew it reads: “Simon, called Petros.”⁵ We will see later on that Jesus refers to Peter as Simon bar Jonah, or, son of Jonah, and then goes on to say, “you will be called Cephas.”⁶ So we have his first name Simon established, but his surname is more complicated. First let’s look at the Hebrew. He was known as Simon son of Jonah. But Jesus said he would be known as “Cephas,” which in Hebrew means “large stone.” In fact, his nephew, Mark, tells us that Jesus was the one who gave him this surname.⁷ So we could say, he became known as Simon the Stone.

He is called “Cephas” by the apostle Paul five times in the New Testament.⁸ Here in Matthew’s Gospel, it is stipulated that he was referred to as “Simon, who is called Cephas,” three times.⁹ It isn’t until the middle part of Matthew to the end that he is called “Cephas.” However, this is not seen in the English Bible, because the translators chose to use the Greek term for “large stone” which is “Petros”, which was anglicized into “Peter,” an English term Jesus never used. We know that Cephas was from the village of Bethsaida in Galilee,¹⁰ very near to the city of Capernaum.

Then comes Andrew, Simon’s brother, only mentioned once outside the Four Gospels.¹¹ Being Peter’s brother, it is obvious that Andrew was also from the village of Bethsaida on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. He was also bar Jonah, or son of Jonah. Some scholars that their mother’s name was Joanna. Also, that the father Jonah was of the tribe of Reuben. And when you look at a map of how the Israelites settled the Promised Land, Capernaum was definitely in the portion given to Reuben.

James the son of Zebedee is not mentioned in his brother John’s Gospel, but is included by Matthew, Mark and Luke, as well as by Paul in Galatians. Since he fished in the Sea of Galilee with his father and brother, he was either from Bethsaida or Capernaum.

John the son of Zebedee is also mentioned by the Synoptic Gospels, in Acts and by Paul in Galatians. Being the brother of James, he was most likely also from the same town.

In listing the disciples, Matthew seems to follow a verbal tradition where all those appointed to the holy sanctuary as officers were listed. In that case there were fifteen, and believe it or not, the third officer’s name was Matthew ben Samuel. But the one that struck me with the most awe was number four, a man named Mordecai. We are told he was able to take questions and expound on them because he was fluent in 70 languages.¹²

Verse 3: Philip: Philip is mentioned in the Four Gospels and quite extensively in the Acts of the Apostles, but nowhere else. We know that he was from the same village of Bethsaida in northern Galilee as Peter and Andrew.¹³

Bartholomew: Bartholomew, is not mentioned in John’s Gospel, but is included in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts. There is a Rabbi listed in Babylonian Talmud with a similar name to Bartholomew, which actually means “son of Tholomew.” This Rabbi’s name was Jonathan bar Abtolemos. As anyone knows who has dealt with languages, spellings can be numerous for the same name. But this one comes very close.¹⁴ Many scholars believe that this son of Tholomew was none other than Nathanael who is mentioned by John, the one that Philip went and got in order to introduce him to Jesus,¹⁵ and later John mentions Nathaniel being together with Peter, Thomas, James and John and two other disciples.¹⁶

Thomas who was also referred to in John as Didymus, which means “twin.”¹⁷ We know that after the resurrection of Jesus and some of the disciples went back to fishing in the Sea of Galilee, Thomas was with them.¹⁸ So it is obvious that Thomas was from this same area.

Matthew the tax collector. As far as Matthew is concerned, he is listed eighth both here and Acts 1:13, which suggests that Luke followed Matthew’s listing, because Mark lists him in seventh place. It appears that because of Matthew’s prior work as a tax collector, he was acquainted with the political side of life. He is one of the few mentioned in Jewish literature.¹⁹ Since Matthew worked as a tax collector in Capernaum and had a house there, it is most likely that this is where he was from. However, Mark also refers to a Levi the son of Alphaeus, a tax collector, as the one who Jesus called to be a disciple.²⁰ This leads many scholars to believe this was none other than Matthew. Most scholars believe this was a different Alphaeus than the one spoken of as the father of James the Less and Joses.²¹

James, the son of Alphaeus, is referred to as such in Matthew, Mark, Luke and Acts of the Apostles.²² He is also referred to as James “the Lesser” or “the younger.”²³ In the writings of Papias of Hierapolis who lived sometime between 70-163 AD, when John and some of the other apostles may still have been alive, in a surviving fragment it says: “Mary, mother of James the Less and Joseph, wife of Alphaeus was the sister of Mary the mother of the Lord, whom John names of Cleophas, either from her father or from the family of the clan, or for some other reason.”²⁴ As such it is highly probable that James the son of Alphaeus is the same as James the Younger to delineate him from James the brother of John who no doubt was older. And since he was the nephew of Mary the mother of Jesus, there is every likelihood that he was also from Nazareth or in that area.

Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus the son of James. He was a man of many names. Some say he was also called Jude the brother of James,²⁵ Jude Thaddaeus, Judas Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus.²⁶ There is no reason to believe that Thaddaeus was from anywhere else than the same area in northern Galilee as Peter, James, John, Andrew and the others.

There is an interesting story told by Eusebius in his History of the Church about Thaddeus and King Abgarus that is too long to repeat here, but it involves him being sent by Thomas to this king in order to pray for his healing in Jesus’ name.²⁷

Verse 4: Simon, the Zealot: In the KJV, he is called “a Canaanite.” Strong’s Concordance notes that this word means “Zealot,” but that is not made clear in the text.

NOTE: ZEALOTS: (Hebrew, Ḳanna’im): Zealous defenders of the Law and of the national life of the Jewish people; name of a party opposing with relentless rigor any attempt to bring Judea under the dominion of idolatrous Rome, and especially of the aggressive and fanatical war party from the time of Herod until the fall of Jerusalem and Masada. They were equivalent to a “Jewish Liberation Front.” Their provocations led to open rebellion in 66 AD, which was crushed by the Romans with enormous loss of life, and led to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The last holdouts fled to Matzada in 73 AD. The members of this party bore also the name Sicarii, from their custom of going about with daggers (“sicæ”) hidden beneath their cloaks, with which they would stab any one found committing a sacrilegious act or anything provoking anti-Jewish feeling. Among the disciples of Jesus there is mentioned of Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13); for the same person Matthew 10:4 and Mark 3:18 have “the Canaanite,” obviously a corruption of (ha-Ḳanna’i = “the Zealot”. However, the time frame for the Zealots would almost certainly mitigate against this Simon being one of their number.

Simon, the Zealot is not mentioned by Luke or John but is included in Acts.²⁸ The Aramaic Version calls him “Simon the Canaanite.” Scholars are divided on what difference this would make as to who Simon really was. Some say the appellation was given to distinguish him from Simon Peter. Others believe that the term “zealot” is correct because of extra biblical writings.²⁹ But others say: “It is thought by some that he was a member of that very fierce and fanatical political sect of the Jews, called the Zealots, by whose means the siege of Jerusalem was rendered so much more bloody than it would have been; but this does not seem very probable, for the sect of the Zealots had scarcely arisen in the time of the Savior, and therefore, we are inclined to think with Hackett³⁰ in his exposition of the Acts, that he was so called because of his zealous attachment to his religion as a Jew, for there were some in the different classes of Jewish society who were so excessively full of zeal as to gain the name of Zealot. ”.³¹ They are spoken of by different Jewish writers as being mostly against Roman rule.³²

Then finally, Judas Iscariot. Some think this is because he belonged to the tribe of Issachar.³³ Others believe he may have come from a village named “Caryot”, some eighteen miles from Jerusalem near Jericho, which abounded in palm trees from which a specific date called “karyotis” or “kuirate”, was harvested.³⁴ As a matter of fact, this fruit was considered a date-palm from a good palm, and was sold only to Jews,³⁵ which was the most sacred of all trees to the Semitic peoples. Furthermore, another theory is that “Iscariot” identifies Judas as a member of the sicarii. These were a core group of assassins among Jewish rebels intent on driving the Romans out of Judea. However, some historians maintain the sicarii arose in AD 40 or 50 of the 1st century, in which case Judas could not have been a member.

But we must also take into consideration that there were a number of followers of Jesus named Jude or Judas, so the term “Iscariot” was added to distinguish Judas from the others. But there is a curious play on words found in many Jewish writings, for example: “All of them died a cruel death. What was it? Rabbi Nahman replied: Croup”.³⁶ Croup is a synonym for “choking”, “strangling”, “stop breathing”. It was considered the worst type of death or punishment. Finally, such characterization could be associated with the manner of Judas’ death, i.e., hanging. This would mean Iscariot derives from a kind of Greek-Aramaic hybrid: Iskarioutha, “chokingess” or “constriction.” This might indicate that the depiction was applied posthumously by the remaining disciples, and thus found its way into the Gospels. As such, Judas Iscariot could actually be “Judas, the one who choked.”

Whatever the case, all of these names became very familiar around the world in their various spellings. After our Lord’s ascension, some of them grew into brighter lights while others faded from the scene. But when we look at how far Christianity has come, it sure does indicate the heavy burden that fell on their shoulders to be the ambassadors of the new Kingdom of God that Jesus came to establish. It also should remind us that we are Christ’s ambassadors as well, and the future of the Church lies squarely on our shoulders.

Just one month ago on this date many of you may have watched on TV as the ball dropped in Times Square in New York City, as tens of thousands in the streets wearing 2016 glasses and other paraphernalia celebrated the beginning of a new year. But I wonder how many of them actually knew what date they were really observing?

For sure, most of them knew that 2016 wasn’t the number of years since the creation of the earth, nor the beginning of civilization. So it must be tied to something else! Some may have even be able to tell you that it is 2016 AD, and there may be others who might not know what “AD” means. So how does that date compare with other cultures who may celebrate the beginning of a new year?

Do they know that the Jewish New Year of 5775 will begin on October 2 and end on October 4^th. Did they realize that the Chinese celebrate the new year of 4714 on February 8^th, and name each lunar year in a repeating 12 year span is named after a different animal? The Buddhists celebrate their New Year of 2559 for three days on April 13-15. And for Muslims in Saudi Arabia, they celebrate their New Year of 1394 in October, while in Iran it is observed in March.

So what period of time are they celebrating that began 2016 years ago. It is the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem of Judea. So if someone were to ask you what year it is, you can properly tell them: “It’s been 2016 years since my Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah was born.” That’s why it is called “Anno Domini,” which means, “The year of our Lord.”

What is so remarkable is that most every nation around the world now marks their calendars from that date, whether they are Christian or not. But there is other news, regardless of what the religious persuasion of any person or culture may be, they will all, without exception mark the same moment when our Lord returns to gather His followers so they can be with Him for eternity, but only the believers will celebrate that day!

I would not be surprised if you have heard some preacher or person say with full conviction: “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.” Yes, God does do things that often mystified His children, and He still does. You may think this quote comes from Psalms or Proverbs or even Ecclesiastes. But the person who coined this phrase was not David or Solomon. In fact, it is not even in the Bible.

It came from a British poet named William Cowper, who was the son of an English minister. Even though he was gifted from an early age, Cowper had serious mental problems brought on by depression. In fact, he was institutionalized two years for insanity from 1763-1765. Then he was led to Jesus Christ by his cousin Martin Madan who was an Evangelical preacher, and accepted Him as his Lord and Savior. That began his career as a hymn writer. One of his most well-known is the hymn “There is a fountain fill’d with blood.” He became acquainted with John Newton who wrote “Amazing Grace,” and that inspired him even more to write songs of praise to His Lord.

In one poem called “Light Shining out of the Darkness,” Cowper penned these words: “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” In that poem Cowper goes on to write: “

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread

Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;

Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding ev’ry hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, and scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.

William Cowper went through many ups and downs in his life, but it was his faith in God that kept his hopes alive. As such, he was able to be used of God to bless the church with songs of thanksgiving, honor and praise to his Savior.

We know that King David wrote some of his most touching Psalms when he was going through hard times. So don’t look at your troubles and trials as an omen of defeat, but let your heart and mind concentrate on the light although it may be momentarily hidden by the clouds, and express your faith and hope that soon those clouds will break and the light of God’s Son will shine through to warm your heart with love, joy and peace. Even if He does so in some mysterious way.

SPECIAL UPDATE FOR ALL MY READERS

Our next exciting study will be Chapter 10 of Matthew’s Gospel.  Up until now we have read about Jesus: His baptism, teaching and healing ministry, the calling of His disciples, and His dealing with those who opposed any suggestion that He may be the expected Messiah.  The Jewish leaders had experienced bad outcomes with other people claiming to be the Messiah who came before Him, and they were not ready to accept Him that easily.

But now the focus shifts from Jesus to His disciples.  What our Lord tells them about their pending ministry and evangelism efforts in spreading the Gospel would not qualify as an exciting motivational speech today.  It does not contain any sugar-coated words of how great life was going to be for them; no promises of victory after victory.

Instead, Jesus tells them exactly what to expect when they go out into the world to preach the Gospel, and it wasn’t pretty.  You may ask, why would He scare them like that before they’ve had any experience.  There are two things I see in why Jesus did this.  First, to let them know the truth so they would know what to expect.  And second, to see which of them did not have the courage to face such trials and tribulation so they could go back home and not waste their time.

In order to get His followers to understand His place in their lives, He begins by using the example of how a shepherd takes care of his sheep.  In those days shepherds were common place.  Yet we have much to learn from how they treated their flocks.  Today, that is why many refer to their pastors as “shepherds of the flock.”  But Jesus wanted them to know what a good shepherd really was, and why He would be their role model.

But the Jewish leaders and their followers were not impressed.  In fact, Jesus would suffer right in front of His disciples eyes the very things He told them to expect when they went out to share the good news about the Kingdom of God.  In so doing, they would learn how He handled skepticism and criticism.  In this chapter we will learn a lot about what it means to be a good shepherd of God’s people.  I hope you will travel with me through this marvelous portion of Holy Scripture.

God bless you for your love and dedication to God’s Word.  See you Monday!

ATTENTION TO ALL MY PRECIOUS READERS

We have just finished our study of the very interesting and informative Chapter 9 in the Gospel of Matthew.  There were eight marvelous incidences in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus that sparked great interest in the hearts and minds of His followers, while it upset those who were against Him because they didn’t think a human should have such power and authority over sickness and demons.

When they brought Him a paralyzed man on a stretcher, the first thing Jesus told him was that his sins were forgiven.  This made His opponents so mad they accused Him of blasphemy.  But instead of shouting back at them and calling them names, our Lord simply turned to the man, healed him and sent him on his way.

Then we are told how Matthew was called to be a disciple.  It is obvious that Matthew knew who Jesus was, because he followed Him right away.  But when Jesus went to Matthew’s house for a meal, and Matthew invited some of his fellow tax collector friends, these opponents of Jesus got upset again and accused Him of hanging around with sinners.  But Jesus told them that was like accusing a doctor of hanging around with sick people.

So these opponents got some of John the Baptizer’s disciples to confront Jesus about the fact that His disciples did not fast as the law required.  But Jesus told them that this was like telling a groom not to celebrate during a wedding with his groomsmen.  He also said it was like telling a wine maker to pour new wine into old wine skins.

Then the leader of the local synagogue came running to Jesus, asking Him to come quickly because his daughter had just died and he wanted our Lord to lay His hands on her so she would come back to life.  But before Jesus could get there, a woman waiting in the crowd alongside the road reached out and touched Him and was instantly healed.

Then when Jesus got to the synagogue leader’s house, the mourners and grievers were already there.  As Jesus was going into the house He told them to go away because the girl was only sleeping, they started laughing at Him.  But they weren’t laughing when Jesus came back out with the girl who was now alive and well.

As Jesus started back to His house, two blind men started following Him crying out for mercy.  When Jesus got to His house He took them inside, and after asking if they really believed He could heal them, as soon as they said “Yes,” Jesus opened their eyes so they could see.

As they were going out the door, people were bringing in a man who could not speak.  They told Jesus that the man had a demon that prevented him from talking. So Jesus quickly drove the demon out and the man left talking and rejoicing. While the crowd saw this and were amazed because they had never seen anything like that before in their lifetime, the opponents of Jesus said sarcastically that Jesus was able to do this by the power of Satan.  Seems they just wouldn’t believe no matter what Jesus did or said.

But this didn’t stop Jesus, He started going through all the towns and villages in northern Galilee preaching the good news, healing the sick, and taking authority of demons.  As He saw the crowds in such need for guidance, He told His disciples that the harvest of souls was just to big for them to handle, so He told them to plead with God for more workers.

As we look back now, let us be glad that they did pray because that’s why you and I were chosen and sent out into the harvest.  The question is: are we really doing our job?  Or have we stopped because people have spoken against us, laughed at us, or called us strange as though we were possessed by some sinister power?  If so, don’t argue back, just go ahead and keep speaking the truth, praying for the sick and those under the power of Satan, and keep asking God for more helpers to join the effort.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CHAPTER NINE

Part IV (Con’t) 01/27/16

Verse 36: Jesus saw the large crowds and felt sorry for them because they looked confused and helpless – like a flock of sheep without a shepherd to lead them.

As the word spread, Jesus’ travels extended out from Capernaum. He would stop in a House of Prayer in each town, teach them the Gospel of God’s Kingdom and then spend time healing their sick to demonstrate that He was in fact the Messiah. But the more He traveled and the more people who came to Him for healing, the more His heart began to ache for those who seemed lost in a world of spiritual fog and despair.

The Greek word used here for “helpless” has an interesting connotation. It can mean to sag like a loose rope or to collapse. It is also used as a metaphor for weakness and exhaustion. As such, a person becomes feeble and grows weary with their task. In other words, the people looked like they didn’t think life was worth living anymore. It’s no wonder then that whenever we see a picture of a lonely, distraught person overburdened with care, they always seem to be walking slowly and bent over with their eyes to the ground.

With Jesus being a descendant of a shepherd boy named David, His own shepherd heart hurt for them. These sheep needed to find green pastures to lay down in and quiet waters to drink from in order to give meaning and joy to their lives. This scene may have reminded our Lord of the time when Moses was just about to relinquish his staff to a new leader, he prayed to God, “Lord, You are the God who knows what people are thinking. I pray that You will choose a leader for these people. I pray that You will choose a leader who will lead them out of this land and bring them into the new land. Then Your people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”¹ God heard Moses’ prayer, and that’s why Jesus was sent from heaven to their Great Shepherd.²

This same vision was given to the prophet Micaiah when he went to advise King Ahab. He looked at the people and said: “I can see the army of Israel scattered all over the hills, like sheep with no one to lead them.”³ And the Lord complained to Jeremiah, “My people have been like lost sheep. Their shepherds led them the wrong way and caused them to wander away into the mountains and hills. They forgot where their resting place was.”⁴ And when the Lord spoke to Ezekiel, He was upset about those who were in charge of leading His people on the right path. The Lord said to those shepherds, “Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep.”⁵ Even the prophet Zechariah felt burdened, “The people are like sheep wandering here and there crying for help, but there is no shepherd to lead them.”⁶ Perhaps all of these Scriptures were on our Lord’s mind when He saw all these people looking for someone to lead them.

Verse 37: Jesus said to His followers, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them.”

Here is where Jesus uses the word “harvest” figuratively in the sense of gathering people, not to signify collecting grain but as a multitude of souls that needed to be brought into the kingdom of God. We must contextualize here and remember that He was talking about the Jewish people. He had not yet died on the cross, so His reference was for the Jews to have a better understanding about the kingdom of God. Our Lord had only a handful of disciples and He saw that it would take many more followers and time to reach all these people.

Verse 38: “God owns the harvest. Ask Him to send more workers to help gather His harvest.’”

That’s why He implored His disciples to bombard their heavenly Father with the request that He would send many more workers to help. We know that at first Jesus called 12, then His group grew to 72, and then on the Day of Pentecost it had risen to 120, but after Peter’s sermon it expanded to 3000. But He saw beyond that era and knew as the harvest grew, so did the need for workers. Too often when people are brought into the kingdom of God today we treat them like foster children and want to make them codependent on us. Instead, from the beginning we should look at each new convert as a potential worker for the harvest after they have grown up in the Word and been trained to be harvesters.

Although the harvest is still in progress today among the Gentiles, there is also one going on among the Jewish people. In fact, recent statistics say there are over 500 Messianic houses of worship in the USA, and over 100 in Israel. Current estimate of members worldwide is over 350,000. As things become harder and harder for Israelis in the world, who knows how many may finally turn and accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Shepherd and Messiah.

Early Church preacher Chrysostom sees this in the request we are to make to the Lord of the harvest. He writes: “Jesus shows how great the gift is when He says, ‘Ask from the Lord of the harvest.’ And in an inconspicuous manner Jesus indicates that He Himself is the One who holds this authority. Then to signify how promising is the harvest, Jesus calls them to ‘pray therefore the Lord of the harvest.’ In doing so he indirectly declares this lordship to be His own prerogative. For after having said, ‘pray therefore the Lord of the harvest’ when they had not made any request or prayer, He Himself at once appoints them, reminding them also of the sayings of John the Baptizer,⁷ about the threshing floor, the separation of the husks from the kernels of grain, the husks that are left over, and of the One who is winnowing. From this it is clear that He Himself is the farmer, He Himself is the Lord of the harvest, He Himself is the master of the prophets. For if He sent them to gather the harvest, it is clear that they do not harvest what belongs to someone else. Instead, they harvest the things that He sowed through the prophets. In calling their ministry a harvest, He was encouraging them but also empowering them to this ministry.”⁸

We know that Chrysostom tailored this sermon to the people of his day in the 4^th century. So when we look at it from our advantage point today, we see how other scholars see it. For instance, British theologian Charles John Ellicott (1819-1905) in his commentary on this text suggests that we look at God the Father as the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus the Son as the sower, and the followers of Jesus as the laborers being requested.⁹ Therefore it was not necessary for Jesus to suggest that they pray to Him, since He was right there. But He knew He would not always be around. So after He returned to the Father, they were encouraged to pray for more laborers to join them in the harvest of the fruit given life through the seed of the Word the Son had spread while He was here on earth.

And so the harvesting goes on up to this present time. And as the population of the world grows by approximately 230,000 babies per day, we must use every method possible to get the word out about the Kingdom of God and the soon appearance of the King after which the entry gate will be closed. But we cannot be effective unless we know what we are talking about and how to make the invitation. So let us give even more of our time studying what Jesus had to say, why He said it, what He meant when He said it, and what He told us to do and say in response.

It should bother all of us that in many churches today when people go to God in prayer, they spend most of their time praying for their own needs, for health, blessings, success, prosperity and victory, and very little time pleading with Him, as Jesus asked His followers to do, for more workers to help in the harvest of lost souls. Going out with the help of the Holy Spirit to bring souls to Jesus for salvation is what really brings believers spiritual health, blessings, success, prosperity and victory. O God, hear our prayer today! Give us the burden to find more workers for your kingdom to bring in the harvest before our Lord’s return. Amen.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CHAPTER NINE

Part IV (Con’t)

Verse 36: Jesus saw the large crowds and felt sorry for them because they looked confused and helpless – like a flock of sheep without a shepherd to lead them.

As the word spread, Jesus’ travels extended out from Capernaum. He would stop in a House of Prayer in each town, teach them the Gospel of God’s Kingdom and then spend time healing their sick to demonstrate that He was in fact the Messiah. But the more He traveled and the more people who came to Him for healing, the more His heart began to ache for those who seemed lost in a world of spiritual fog and despair.

The Greek word used here for “helpless” has an interesting connotation. It can mean to sag like a loose rope or to collapse. It is also used as a metaphor for weakness and exhaustion. As such, a person becomes feeble and grows weary with their task. In other words, the people looked like they didn’t think life was worth living anymore. It’s no wonder then that whenever we see a picture of a lonely, distraught person overburdened with care, they always seem to be walking slowly and bent over with their eyes to the ground.

With Jesus being a descendant of a shepherd boy named David, His own shepherd heart hurt for them. These sheep needed to find green pastures to lay down in and quiet waters to drink from in order to give meaning and joy to their lives. This scene may have reminded our Lord of the time when Moses was just about to relinquish his staff to a new leader, he prayed to God, “Lord, You are the God who knows what people are thinking. I pray that You will choose a leader for these people. I pray that You will choose a leader who will lead them out of this land and bring them into the new land. Then Your people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”¹ God heard Moses’ prayer, and that’s why Jesus was sent from heaven to their Great Shepherd.²

This same vision was given to the prophet Micaiah when he went to advise King Ahab. He looked at the people and said: “I can see the army of Israel scattered all over the hills, like sheep with no one to lead them.”³ And the Lord complained to Jeremiah, “My people have been like lost sheep. Their shepherds led them the wrong way and caused them to wander away into the mountains and hills. They forgot where their resting place was.”⁴ And when the Lord spoke to Ezekiel, He was upset about those who were in charge of leading His people on the right path. The Lord said to those shepherds, “Some of the sheep wandered away, and you did not go get them and bring them back. You did not go to look for the lost sheep.”⁵ Even the prophet Zechariah felt burdened, “The people are like sheep wandering here and there crying for help, but there is no shepherd to lead them.”⁶ Perhaps all of these Scriptures were on our Lord’s mind when He saw all these people looking for someone to lead them.

Verse 37: Jesus said to His followers, “There is such a big harvest of people to bring in. But there are only a few workers to help harvest them.”

Here is where Jesus uses the word “harvest” figuratively in the sense of gathering people, not to signify collecting grain but as a multitude of souls that needed to be brought into the kingdom of God. We must contextualize here and remember that He was talking about the Jewish people. He had not yet died on the cross, so His reference was for the Jews to have a better understanding about the kingdom of God. Our Lord had only a handful of disciples and He saw that it would take many more followers and time to reach all these people.

Verse 38: “God owns the harvest. Ask Him to send more workers to help gather His harvest.’”

That’s why He implored His disciples to bombard their heavenly Father with the request that He would send many more workers to help. We know that at first Jesus called 12, then His group grew to 72, and then on the Day of Pentecost it had risen to 120, but after Peter’s sermon it expanded to 3000. But He saw beyond that era and knew as the harvest grew, so did the need for workers. Too often when people are brought into the kingdom of God today we treat them like foster children and want to make them codependent on us. Instead, from the beginning we should look at each new convert as a potential worker for the harvest after they have grown up in the Word and been trained to be harvesters.

Although the harvest is still in progress today among the Gentiles, there is also one going on among the Jewish people. In fact, recent statistics say there are over 500 Messianic houses of worship in the USA, and over 100 in Israel. Current estimate of members worldwide is over 350,000. As things become harder and harder for Israelis in the world, who knows how many may finally turn and accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Shepherd and Messiah.

Early Church preacher Chrysostom sees this in the request we are to make to the Lord of the harvest. He writes: “Jesus shows how great the gift is when He says, ‘Ask from the Lord of the harvest.’ And in an inconspicuous manner Jesus indicates that He Himself is the One who holds this authority. Then to signify how promising is the harvest, Jesus calls them to ‘pray therefore the Lord of the harvest.’ In doing so he indirectly declares this lordship to be His own prerogative. For after having said, ‘pray therefore the Lord of the harvest’ when they had not made any request or prayer, He Himself at once appoints them, reminding them also of the sayings of John the Baptizer,⁷ about the threshing floor, the separation of the husks from the kernels of grain, the husks that are left over, and of the One who is winnowing. From this it is clear that He Himself is the farmer, He Himself is the Lord of the harvest, He Himself is the master of the prophets. For if He sent them to gather the harvest, it is clear that they do not harvest what belongs to someone else. Instead, they harvest the things that He sowed through the prophets. In calling their ministry a harvest, He was encouraging them but also empowering them to this ministry.”⁸

We know that Chrysostom tailored this sermon to the people of his day in the 4^th century. So when we look at it from our advantage point today, we see how other scholars see it. For instance, British theologian Charles John Ellicott (1819-1905) in his commentary on this text suggests that we look at God the Father as the Lord of the Harvest, Jesus the Son as the sower, and the followers of Jesus as the laborers being requested.⁹ Therefore it was not necessary for Jesus to suggest that they pray to Him, since He was right there. But He knew He would not always be around. So after He returned to the Father, they were encouraged to pray for more laborers to join them in the harvest of the fruit given life through the seed of the Word the Son had spread while He was here on earth.

And so the harvesting goes on up to this present time. And as the population of the world grows by approximately 230,000 babies per day, we must use every method possible to get the word out about the Kingdom of God and the soon appearance of the King after which the entry gate will be closed. But we cannot be effective unless we know what we are talking about and how to make the invitation. So let us give even more of our time studying what Jesus had to say, why He said it, what He meant when He said it, and what He told us to do and say in response.

It should bother all of us that in many churches today when people go to God in prayer, they spend most of their time praying for their own needs, for health, blessings, success, prosperity and victory, and very little time pleading with Him, as Jesus asked His followers to do, for more workers to help in the harvest of lost souls. Going out with the help of the Holy Spirit to bring souls to Jesus for salvation is what really brings believers spiritual health, blessings, success, prosperity and victory. O God, hear our prayer today! Give us the burden to find more workers for your kingdom to bring in the harvest before our Lord’s return. Amen.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

CHAPTER NINE

Part IV

Verse 27: As Jesus was going away from there, two blind men followed Him. They called out loudly, “Son of David, be kind to us!”

Perhaps the two blind men who started following Jesus after He left the synagogue leader’s house where this miracle just occurred, had also heard about the woman with the bleeding problem, or the Centurion’s servant, or they heard someone read Isaiah where it says what will happen when the Messiah comes: “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened so that they can see, and the ears of the deaf will be opened so that they can hear. Crippled people will dance like deer, and those who cannot speak now will use their voices to sing happy songs.”¹

Early Church Bishop Hilary believes that whatever these blind men had heard, it was enough for them to plead with Him for healing. He writes: “It indicated to them that their Savior in the flesh was of the line of David. It also introduced light to the minds of those who were blind by what many believed to be sins of the past. They could not see Christ but were told about Him. The Lord showed them that faith should not be expected as a result of health but health should be expected because of faith. The blind men saw because they believed; they did not believe because they saw. From this we understand that what is requested must be predicated on faith and that faith must not be exercised because of what has been obtained. If they could believe, He offers them sight.”²

Verse 28-29: Jesus went inside, and the blind men went with Him. He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to make you see again?” They answered, “Yes, Lord, we believe.” Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Because you believe that I can make you see again, it will happen.”

This narration is only recorded by Matthew, so we do not have any other independent resources to add more to the story. But it appears that these blind men followed Jesus until He came to a house. We are not told which house, but given the fact that our Lord was doing all of this in Capernaum after having dinner with Matthew, it is highly possible that it was the house where He was staying. The fact that Jesus went inside the house without being greeted or asking permission and the blind men followed Him, shows that He was familiar with the place.

Chrysostom asks this question, “For what purpose did it happen that, while they are crying out, Jesus delays and questions them further?” He explains: “Here again Jesus is teaching us utterly to resist the glory that comes from the crowd. There was a house nearby. He led them into the house to heal them there in private. Then He charged them to tell no one.”³ It sure makes us ask why then are today’s healing campaigns advertised and done in such a manner as to elevate the healer as a special servant of God? When someone is healed, why is it then spread across the globe in magazines and through media, in which the person healed and the one who prayed for their healing are spotlighted, but the One from whom the power came for such a miracle is seldom mentioned? I’m certain it is done to bring glory and honor to the power of God, but so often He is the last One to be mentioned.

Our Lord certainly performed miracles out in the open before crowds, and behind closed doors with only those He chose to be present. In some cases He told the recipient to tell no one, while on other occasions He told them to go show the priests or to go back home where they could tell all their family and friends. I’m certain, only the Master knows the real reasons why, but on the surface it appears that each healing served a purpose. On some occasions it was done to increase the faith of those who might not be sure of who He was or that God’s power was present in Him. And at other times it was done as a witness to His being the Messiah, sent by the Father. However, His being revealed as the One who came to die for our sins had not yet been made public. In fact, it appears that only His disciples knew until the whole world would know, He was the Lamb of God.

So for our sake, we should consider the occasion and circumstances when it comes to healing. If someone comes forward for healing in a worship service, don’t then take them into the back room and pray, do it in front of everyone so they can see the power of God at work. But if someone asks to receive prayer for healing before the service begins, don’t tell them to wait until they can join the healing line during the service just for show, do it then.

What Matthew says next gives us a hint as to why our Lord chose to repeat the method He used when healing the synagogue leader’s daughter in private rather than in public.

Verses 30-31: After the men received their sight, Jesus gave them a strong warning. He said, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” But they left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.

Yes, Jesus bade them not to spread it around, but they were so thrilled that they ran out of His house telling everyone what had just happened. It appears that the news of His raising the young girl from her death bed resulted in people bringing another man to Him for healing. This man was a mute, and the rumor was that it was caused by a demon. But our Lord wasted no time in removing the power that kept the man silent.

We may never learn down here how many others came for healing while Jesus was making His way along the highways and byways of Galilee. But for some reason when it came to His encounter with demonic powers, that’s when the opposition could not remain quiet. This man who was brought to him was considered to be an imbecile. In Hebrew they were called “Heresh”.⁴ So Jesus not only faced a man with physical disabilities, but was also thought to be mentally challenged. Yet this was no greater obstacle to His ability to heal than any other disease He encountered.

While many Bible scholars and theologians have struggled over why our Lord would not want these men to become walking, talking witnesses to His being the Messiah, the man sent from God, I have read none that supply the definitive answer. Therefore we must look at the context of what was happening at this point in our Lord’s ministry. His ultimate goal was to come and die as the Lamb of God so that all men’s sins could be forgiven when they came to God in repentance. And after He paid the price for man’s redemption, God would raise Him from death so that He could serve as witness and example of the eternal life that was promised through the new covenant of salvation which He came to preach and establish. Therefore, anything that might keep Him from reaching those goals should be considered an impediment and overcome. So we can clearly understand that Jesus knew He still had years to go before He went to the cross, so He did not want His fame as a healer to become so great that He would be inhibited from becoming the Savior He was meant to be.

Verses 32-34: As these two men were leaving the house, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon inside him. Jesus forced the demon out, and the man was able to talk. The people were amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “The ruler of demons is the one that gives Him power to force demons out.”

While the people were amazed at Jesus’ power, the Pharisees came up with an impromptu explanation that the devil had given Jesus permission to cast out evil demons. I don’t think that even the most under-informed citizen of Capernaum would buy that explanation. Had these pious men of the cloth forgotten what God asked Moses, “Who made a person’s mouth? And who can make someone deaf or not able to speak? Who can make a person blind? Who can make a person able to see? I am the One. I am the Lord.”⁵

So in spite of the Master’s efforts to keep the word of His miracles from spreading, they went like wild fire. After all, once they took Him down from the cross and put Him in the tomb, what else would persuade His disciples to still believe in Him as the Messiah if it wasn’t for the wonders He performed by the power of His Father in heaven. It is no wonder that after our Lord ascended back into heaven, that His disciples went out preaching the gospel and doing many of the same miracles they had seen Him do.

Chrysostom responds to what he feels was the reason for the Pharisee’s complaint about what Jesus had just done. He writes: “Now this healing especially vexed the Pharisees. They were disturbed that Jesus was being exalted above all others, not only those who are but all who had ever been. For He did what He did so easily and quickly. He cured diseases innumerable and otherwise incurable. The crowd exalted Him. But the Pharisees continued to disparage His works, contradicting themselves unashamedly. Such a thing is wickedness—which finds itself desperately saying, ‘He casts out demons by the prince of demons.’ What could be more absurd than this! For in the first place, as He also says later on, it is impossible for demons to cast out demons.⁶ For it is a demon’s custom to clap in applause at the activities of his own kind, not oppose them. Second, not only did He Himself cast out demons, but He also purified lepers, raised dead people, reined in the sea, canceled sins, proclaimed the kingdom and approached the Father. Demons would never choose to do these things and would not ever be able to accomplish them.”⁷

Verse 35: Jesus then began to travel through all the towns and villages of Galilee. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about God’s kingdom. He healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.

Our Lord did not sit in Capernaum and create a ministry center at His residence, He took His healing ability on the road. I dare say, that some of the villages He went through had never seen a prophet, let alone One with such miracle powers. It is remarkable how Jesus went into the synagogues and openly taught about God’s plan of salvation through grace and faith. He did not consider them to be off limits or part of the opposition’s territory. Synagogues were considered very important to the Jews in every city where they lived. As a matter of fact, verbal tradition states that wherever ten Jews live it is necessary to establish a place for them to congregate for prayer at the time of each prayer service.

Such places were called Beit K’nesset (“House of Assembly”). Even today in Israel, the place where the Jewish legislators meet to do their work is called the Knesset. The word “synagogue” comes to us in English from the Greek word synagoge which actually means “bring together.” It was also the word used by the translators of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, and that’s how it made its way into our Bibles. Even though this is not initially a Jewish word, it began to be used by Jews who lived among non-Jewish people as their way of referring to what they called among themselves in Greek: “oikos proseukhē,” meaning: “house of prayer.”⁸ This is the term Jesus would use later when referring to the Temple.⁹

But in Jesus’ day, they were more likely to use the Hebrew term: “bayith tĕphillah” which is “house of prayer.” The Jewish inhabitants of any city could compel each other to construct a bayith tĕphillah and to purchase scrolls containing the Torah, the Prophets, and the Sacred Writings”.¹⁰ They were also told to build it at the highest point of the city; that the entrance should open only to the east; that a platform be placed in the center of the hall; that the elders sit facing the people who sit facing the platform; and that the synagogue was to be treated with respect.

We also learn that the bayith tĕphillah in villages were treated different than those in cities because the people in the small villages are more closely knit.¹¹ It was in these small houses of prayer that Jesus entered and taught. And if Jesus came to a village that had not been able to erect a house of prayer, scholars say that He taught openly in the city square.¹² So Jesus was not trying to hide, but wanted to let the people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob know that the long-awaited Messiah had come.