June 16, 2002 -- FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST -- Proper 6
Matthew 9:35--10:8
Color: Green
Title: “Becoming psychically conscious of our state of surrender is a life-long challenge, a life-long discipline.”
The Harvest Is Great, the Laborers Few
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
The Twelve Apostles10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. The Mission of the Twelve 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ’The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
In a major speech to his disciples Jesus prepares them to participate in his own mission, giving them his own power to preach, to heal and to exorcise.
In chapters five to seven, Matthew has mainly presented Jesus as a preacher and teacher of the kingdom, as a Messiah of the word. In chapter eight to nine, he primarily presents him as a healer and exorcist, a Messiah of the deed. After recognizing the great need people have for both message and miracle and the need for additional help to meet this need in chapter nine verses thirty-five to thirty-eight, Jesus delivers a discourse in chapter ten, on the proper missionary behavior and attitudes before sending out “the twelve apostles” to do in his name, that is, to preach and to heal and exorcise, he reserves “teaching” for after the resurrection, what he himself does in his Father’s name. Jesus shares the authority given him by his Father with his disciples.
Side bar, Most of the material found in chapter ten, except for vv. 5-8, 16b, and 40-41, is found also in Mark and or Luke but in different contexts.
Jesus emphasizes the sense of urgency missionaries are to have and the tolerance for suffering, deprivation and even persecution.
Verses thirty-five to thirty-eight provide both a summary of chapters five to nine and an introduction to chapter ten.
In verse thirty-six, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” In the Old Testament the only motivation for what God does what he does, did what he did, for his people and all people was his mercy. In other words, that is just the way God is. Here Matthew records the same motivation prompted Jesus’ behavior. The word used here, Greek esplagchniste, literally means “had a gut reaction.” It comes from the Greek word for “bowels, guts, entrails.” It was used metaphorically, if not graphically, to express the emotion of pity or sympathy. However, in the New Testament it is used either only of Jesus himself or by Jesus in three parables- Matthew 18: 27; Luke 10: 33; 15: 20- as a vivid synonym for “mercy.” As such, it is God’s kind of mercy, not just feeling but a preliminary motivation for action to soon follow. Thus, while it describes a human emotion, it refers to much more, namely, a divine trait. The word, then, for all its emotional freight, refers not to human pity so much as divine compassion for troubled people.
Because they were harassed and helpless: Coupled with “the crowds,” these descriptions capture the human condition as Jesus would see and summarize it. True, Jesus performed healings and exorcisms on individuals, but he also took a global view of the human condition. It moved him inwardly to act outwardly, to make a difference. The imagery here is that of shepherdless sheep wounded and torn either by hostile animals or by natural obstacles, like thornbushes.
Like sheep without a shepherd: This is an expression from the Old Testament to describe the people of God Number 27: 17; 1Kings 22: 17; 2Chron. 18: 16; Ezek. 34:5 Zech. 10: 2, especially when they lacked proper political or spiritual leadership. It is a particularly apt metaphor, for sheep are really defenseless animals. Without a shepherd they are vulnerable to attack. Even absent predators, who may be hirelings, bad shepherds, they are not good foragers. They need a shepherd to lead them to green pastures and beside still waters Psalm 23. Goats manage very well on their own, but not sheep. This shepherdless sheep or sheep with an unscrupulous shepherd are in great danger and lack any resources to escape from it. When applied to people the imagery says that they need a savior.
Verse thirty-seven, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The imagery shifts from animals to plants. The reference is not literal, that is, to a crop of grain, but metaphorical, that is, to people ripe and ready for repentance. Whereas the Pharisees saw the common folk as chaff to be thrown out and burned, Jesus saw them as wheat to be harvested. Harvest imagery is used in the Old Testament as a picture of coming judgment. Both the Baptist and Jesus use it this way. Here, however, the picture is of humans fleeing from the coming judgment by being ready to repent but lacking enough missionaries or representatives of the Lord to receive their repentance before they lose enthusiasm and “die on the vine.” The “laborers” here are not angels as in the Old Testament, sent to execute judgment on the nations, but human beings sent to rescue others from judgment.
Verse thirty-eight, “therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Clearly, this refers to God, and asking him for reinforcements involves prayer. The Greek verb, deomai, used only this once in Matthew, but twenty-two times in the New Testament, means prayer that springs from a sense of need, a need so felt or so urgent, that one is driven to prayer. The prayer is not a substitute for labor, but a preliminary to it.
In chapter ten verse one, “Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.” There were many disciples, but these are “his twelve disciples,” a term only Matthew uses. Matthew has told his readers how Jesus specifically called five disciples, Peter and Andrew in 4:18; James and John in 4: 21; and Matthew in 9: 9, but this is the first mention that he chose twelve in all to be especially close to him and have a unique place in his Church. Though Matthew does not say why “twelve,” it becomes clear that Jesus saw them as parallel representatives of the twelve tribes of Israel and as leaders of the new people of God. Clearly, they had already been formed as a distinct group. This is not an account of their selection, but of their commissioning.
And gave them authority: The authority Greek exousia means “power,” Jesus vests in these twelve is the authority he himself has. In 4: 23 and repeated in 9:35 just what Jesus did and how he exercised his authority is made clear. He preached, taught, healed and exorcised. That same authority is now shared with his chosen twelve. However, the authority to teach is not specifically given until after the resurrection in 28: 20, the very last verse of Matthew.
Over unclean spirits: “Unclean” translates a word used in the cult for something or someone out of contact with the divine. We would say “profane,” outside the realm of the sacred. It has the secondary sense of “immoral.” When used of spirits it means “evil,” that is, opposed to the purposes of God and the welfare of people. Such evil spirits do not cheerfully respond to suggestions to change their ways. They must be powerfully, even forcefully be expelled.
Every disease and every sickness: Disease and sickness, like unclean spirits, do not respond to coaxing. The disciples are given a share in the broad power of Jesus to bring about health and well-being, even dramatically, through cures. Jesus healed every illness that was brought to him, not every illness in general. We are also told that he could not work a miracle unless the person or persons involved either has an active , living faith or, at the very least, was not actively opposed to faith. Despite that even, Jesus could and did work miracles when the person was incapable of faith, like the dead Lazarus John 11: 44, or the dead daughter of Jairus, Mark 5: 42. The truth is in neither extreme. Jesus most often required faith. At times he would not, rather than strictly could not, work a miracle without faith. At times faith is presumed but not specifically mentioned. At times Jesus would work a miracle to prove a point, though mostly he shied away from showing off his power for its own sake. The disciples would have this power also, but exercise it much more restrictively than Jesus, who himself was guarded in its use.
Verses two to four, “the twelve apostles,” At root the word “apostle” means “one sent.” This is Matthew’s one and only use of the term and the only time he puts “twelve” and “apostles” together and the only evangelist to do so. The phrase appears only one other time in Revelation 21: 14. This is surprising, given how common it is in Christian parlance. Ordinarily, they are referred to as just “the Twelve.” Luke and Paul use the term “apostle” more broadly than just “the Twelve,” to describe all missionaries and also as a specific “office,” in the Church. We know that Peter was the leader of this group and that along with the sons of Zebedee formed an inner circle amidst the circle. Little else is know about the other members, except for Judas Iscariot “Iscariot” probably means “a man from Kerioth,” a city in southern Judea, who betrayed Jesus. There is some confusion about the names
Side bar, See other lists of the Twelve in Mark 3: 16-19; Luke 6: 14-16 and Acts 1: 13., but we can see from Peter, Simon and Matthew, Levi, it was not uncommon to be known by more than one name. Most of the Twelve have left little mark on the history of the Church, proving again that God does not need “great lights,” to do his work. It should be noted that the inclusion of both a government employee, Matthew, a tax collector, and a member of the Zealot party, called here Simon the Cananean, Aramaic for “Zealot,” is evidence of the breadth of Jesus’ appeal and of his own inclusive nature.
In verse five, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans.” Here begins the second of the five great speeches of Jesus in Matthew, ending with verse forty-two. During his own missionary jaunts Jesus himself went into Gentile territory and into Samaritan towns. The record shows these trips were exceptional, but they did occur. Furthermore, at the end of the gospel, Matthew tells us Jesus did order his disciples to make disciples of all nations. Thus, Jesus is not prohibiting a wider mission for all time here, but giving priority to his Jewish mission. Paul would do the same. Too much should not be made of this rule, just as too much should not be made of specifically what the missionaries can and cannot bring along with them on mission, since the specifics like “to sandal or nor to sandal,” vary in the various texts.
Verse six, “go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This means all Israelites, not just those who might happen to be lax Jews. “Lost sheep” means the same as “sheep without a shepherd,” all of them, a common metaphor in the Old Testament for Israel gone astray. Before expanding to the world at large the disciples are to do their best to see to it that all of Israel has been given the opportunity through their preaching to repent and accept Jesus.
In verse seven, “As you go, proclaim the good news, ’The kingdom of heaven has come near.” “Proclamation” translates a plural imperative, “preach.” The content of their preaching is the exact same one as that of Jesus in 4:17 and of the Baptist in 3: 2. Their mission is an extension over time and space of his very own. Given the many ripe for repentance Jesus needs helpers to accomplish his task, which turns out to be well beyond Israel, world-wide, and well beyond the present age, indeed eternal, the kingdom of heaven.
In verse eight, “Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.” Jesus could not be clearer regarding just what power he was giving them and just what he wanted them to do with it. These miracles are the very ones Jesus did and now they are to do the same. They are forms of his love, demonstrations of his love, examples of compassion-in-action, as well as confirmations of the validity of the content of the preaching, indeed, preaching-in-action. The charge here is not to become full-time faith-healers. Rather they were to preach, not topical sermons designed to address and solve the problems of the world, but, the kingdom’s coming and meaning. As a corollary to that, the word-in-action, and a confirmation of that, they were to heal and exorcise those present at their preaching whose faith enabled such. In the case of dead people like Tabitha in Acts 9: 41, it was the faith of the living, not the faith of the dead Tabitha, which was one of the necessary ingredients for the miracle. Not until after the resurrection and in Acts are there any recorded examples of apostolic healing miracles. Mark 6: 13 does record that the disciples cast out demons and Luke 10: 17 says that demons were subject to them. Matthew is silent on the matter.
You received without payment; give without payment. There was no charge for what Jesus did for and to them.
Give without payment. There is to be no charge for what Jesus does through them. Christians are to treat others the way God has treated them. Paul argues in 1Cor9: 14 for the right of an apostle to receive a living allowance but not profit from preaching. Such a position is not inconsistent with the principle laid down here by Jesus.
Sermon
There was really no other way to communicate philosophies or religious teachings in the ancient world than by traveling missionaries. Greek philosophers like the Stoics, the Cynics and the Sophists did it all the time. Jesus himself was this kind of teacher, traveling around the region of Galilee, using Capernaum as his base, delivering his message. For the common folk, listening to such preachers and teachers was half entertainment and half education. Because many frauds masqueraded as serious spiritual and moral guides, it was crucial that the lifestyle of the itinerant preacher bolster credibility. Otherwise, people would see right through them. So, Jesus needed to instruct his disciples not only on the content of the message, but on the context, that is, the character and lifestyle of its deliverer. Anyone who came into town and tried to sponge off the rich and comfortable would be seen for what they are. Thus there are to be no fees for services, no carts loaded with supplies of food and clothing, no fancy hotel rooms.
While technology with its more advanced means of communication and transportation has changed, human nature has not. Christians, be they missionaries or not, must still be conscious that their lifestyle not call into question their message. The generous sharing of our time, talents, and treasure should be seen as on the same level as the miracles the first apostles performed. Generosity is a miracle and it confirms the message of Christ. It demonstrates his love and its power to change lives. Simplicity of lifestyle is also on the level of miracle these days. It, too, expels the demons of confusion and unnecessary complexity. Jesus realized that he would soon cut back on the undeniable miracles of healing and dramatic exorcisms, but never on the substantial miracles that effect change in peoples’ lives and the lives of those they, in turn, affect. True, the dramatic miracles may be rare. Really, a miracle, by definition, has to be rare. Otherwise, it would be a law or a regular occurrence. But what should not be rare are the subtle miracles- generosity by a poor person, courage by a persecuted person, persistence by an exhausted person, etc. If these subtle miracles are as rare in our lives as the more obvious ones, then we are not authentic missionaries of Christ.
The miracles of Jesus and of his disciples were both physically real and also metaphorically true. Jesus physically cured the sick, but he also cured their spiritual and emotional sicknesses, too. Sometimes the metaphorical accompanied the physical miracle. At other times, it was just physical. At still other times, most times really, Jesus cured spiritual emotional illness without a physical miracle. We must recognize that we are more apt to perform “metaphorical,” miracles than physical ones. Yet, they are no less real and no less “miraculous,” since they change a situation or person without a rational explanation. The same is true of Jesus raising someone from physical death. He surely considers being raised from spiritual death to be much more important. And he surely aroused the spiritually dead and indifferent much more often than his few physical resuscitations. So, when we think of “miracle,” we should not exclude the physical ones, nor should we discount the metaphorical ones. The latter we can and should do all the time, only with the grace of Christ, of course.
Jesus made a distinction between teaching and preaching. Most of us would not do so. We are so used to these “topical sermons,” or “thematic” liturgies that we think teaching, is the same as preaching. But for Jesus and the early Church as we see in Acts, preaching was the simple, clear, concise expression of the Christ event. Teaching is really the explanation of that event. It is necessary, but it cannot substitute for preaching. Jesus wanted his disciples to wait until after the resurrection before they would even attempt to teach, to explain, to put the Christ event in the context of philosophy or science and in linguistic terms the world could understand. But, preaching, expressing one’s experience of the Lord, that could be done right away. All Christians really preach just by living. Christians are always expressing, putting into words and or deeds, the meaning of life with Christ. If both Jesus’ words and deeds showed his authority, that the source of his power was divine, so also is the same true for his followers. That added dimension brings others into the ambit and orbit of God.
Mercy motivated all Jesus’ actions and should motivate all who act in Jesus’ name.
Jesus became one of us to help us become what we could not become on our own, but he now expects us to help him by being his missionaries in the world.
Jesus shares his powers with us, provided we use them as he did and does.
Jesus wants us to love the ones around us, close by, before branching out to those further away.
What we have received without cost, we must give to others without price.
Mercy: Mercy is simply the character of God, his characteristic way of behaving, the motivation behind all his actions. Jesus tells us that this can be ours. Our lives can be motivated by the same driving force, the same Spirit, as God’s. But, this is not automatic. Surrendering to God and his will requires both a moment in time when we stand or sit or kneel, before God and specifically surrender our entire lives. It needs to be a moment in time, if for no other reason than we can return to that moment in memory and refresh or renew it. Like sheep we stray and we lose sight of, consciousness of, the Shepherd. Besides being a moment, surrender needs to be every moment in, our experience of, time. Of course, every moment is a tall order or, really a virtually impossible one. We are not even physically conscious every moment. Becoming psychically conscious of our state of surrender is a life-long challenge, a life-long discipline. It is a discipline hard to acquire, but well worth the effort. It is doomed to failure, however, if we think we make the effort on our own power. At the moment of surrender, the moment we, in effect, give God the go-ahead to enter into and rule over our lives, his mercy, his motivation, his Spirit, takes possession of the driver’s seat and steering wheel, and we now operate by his power. As we watch God rule our lives we gain even more confidence in him. As we watch him maneuver our lives around rocks, potholes, and dangers, as we watch him negotiate curves and sharp turns in the road, we gain confidence in his ability and power. We stop questioning and sit back and enjoy the ride. It is really impossible to spend so much time with God, aware of his presence and not be affected by his character and characteristic ways of behaving. We move from imitating him with difficulty to imitating him with ease. That’s how grace works. Like discipline, it takes something originally impossible to us, at least, and turns it into something merely difficult and then, over time, into something easy to do, so easy it is “graceful.” And “grace” is but another word for “mercy.” When we are aware of grace we respond with gratitude; from the Latin for gratia, “gratitude.” While the Spanish and Italians use gratia to say thanks (Sp gracias; It grazie), the French use merci.
Free: The mercy of God makes us free, free to be, to be our best and finest selves, and free to be free. “Free” can mean both “without constraints” and “without charge or cost.” Christians are both. To the outsider, being a Christ seems like being constrained, forbidden to do certain things and to hold certain beliefs and possess certain attitudes. Looked at from outside, that certainly seems to be the case. But experienced from the inside, nothing could be further from the truth. Christians avoid such behavior not so much because they are constrained, but because they see such behavior as constraints, placing limits, shackles even, on their ability to enjoy the quality of life God enjoys. “Free” also means “without charge or cost.” Christians show mercy, the very mercy or character of God. How could they put a price tag on giving away what they have received for free, without cost or charge? Christians are not constrained by money interests, by gaining interest, or by being interested only in what is for their personal benefit. Christians are other-centered people. The question of the self-centered, namely, “What’s in it for me?” has been answered when they surrendered to the rule of God. Indeed, the question itself changes to “Who’s in it for me?” and the answer is “Jesus Christ,” and a living relationship with him that sets us free to be all we can be, all God’s dreams for us to be. Amen.
