Seeing that the fields are ready for harvest, Christ calls to 12 of His disciples and gives them authority over demons and the power to heal. These 12 become known as the Apostles and represent Him from this point in time to after His return to heaven. 12 Apostles for 12 original tribes of Israel. He sends them out with the same authority He demonstrated: authority over illness and sin. Think of it as being deputized. “Apostle” means a delegate or messenger and this is an enormously elevated status, as the Catholic Church will go on to make clear.

Matthew lists the Apostles in groups of two, likely because that’s how Jesus sent them out. Peter and his brother Andrew: fishermen. James and John, sons of Zebedee: the fishermen from Matthew 4:21-22. Peter, James, and John were the most trusted by Jesus. Philip and Bartholomew (also possibly known as Nathaniel; many people used multiple names): from the town of Bethsaida. (Spoiler: Doubting) Thomas and Matthew the tax collector (something Mark and Luke don’t mention when they list people). James, son of Alphaeus, of which little is known. Thaddaeus, also known as Judas (no not that one). Simon the Zealot, a radical who wanted to overthrow Rome (basically a domestic terrorist) and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him (yes that one).

He sends His apostles out to JEWISH peoples first. The gospel would be shared with Gentiles after His death and resurrection. Samaritans were a mixed-race people where the Jews had blended with local pagans and, exactly as the law of Moses was meant to prevent, the Law got changed, so their understanding wasn’t great. The Jews were first with the goal of calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus. This makes sense because it’s easier to repair a damaged religious understanding than it is to convert a completely hostile person like a pagan. Scoop up the lost sheep of the house of Israel since He in the crowds of desperate people, He saw they were lost and in need of a shepherd.

He tells them to go give the message John the Baptist gave: The kingdom of Heaven is at hand. As proof, they were to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons. Raising the dead was not just done by Jesus personally, he empowered Apostles to do this using His name and authority. He makes it clear to not receive money for this and man….. that would be tempting right? “Resurrections for $50. Buy one get the next for discount.” But as we see today from Prosperity Gospel “preachers”, linking the grace of God with material wealth is spiritually repugnant. He goes further though, they’re not to acquire money or provisions by ANY means other than reliance on God and help from the people they serve. This isn’t a model for Christians though, this was a specific requirement for this specific mission trip. Seems like He was trying to forge their faith to be stronger. That said, it would do well for us to be a little less certain of our next meal or paycheck, yes? When did you last earnestly thank God for money to pay your bills and food to fill your stomach? Did it match the enthusiasm of the peasant or starving man provided relief? Something to think about. He tells them to stay in the house of a worthy person until time to leave. Worthy in this context meaning “ready to repent” not “without sin”. Besides which, people eagerly offering to welcome followers of Jesus into their home are probably operating on pretty good faith. As reward for their hospitality and faith, Apostles would place peace on their home, withdrawing it if something went sideways and they had to leave.

Dust shaking. So if the house or town is unworthy, they shake the dust off their feet and depart. If there’s just no one there willing to listen and everyone has a hardened heart, don’t waste any more time or resources on them. You’re not serving anyone by debating “Lilith Jesushater” on twitter for 8 hours a day when you could be doing something productive. You need to know when to fold ’em. The dust shaking was symbolic because Jews did it when leaving a Gentile town, symbolizing that they weren’t bringing anything of their culture with them, not even dust would cling to them. God’s command was to be separate. Jesus takes this and makes it about nonbelievers. Leave behind those that refuse salvation and they will receive their judgement. Today we refrain from carrying anything from people who reject Christ and know when to let go and move on when we’re refused.

The Apostles would be in danger, from Jew and Gentile alike. They need the cunning of snakes to avoid conflict and danger (read: being put to death) but not at the expense of their innocence. They still need to embody the love of Jesus. You don’t need to be a naive innocent Ned Flanders doormat for the fallen world to trample but you can’t swing the other direction either. This idea of “anything goes if they’re God’s enemies” is purely a heresy. You don’t have license to belittle, harass, degrade, and murder people because you deem them hostile to Jesus. You can be careful and smart while remaining gentle and peaceful. “But you’re brawling all the time” yes and everyone in this chat is welcome to correct me, lol.

He tells them to expect Jew and Gentile alike to drag them before their authorities but this is an opportunity to slip the gospel to people in seats of power. The Holy Spirit is foreshadowed here when He says not to panic and walk through a million practice conversations in their head, they will be given all the correct words. Kinda like the Holy Spirit taking command of their body for a second.

That’s the least of the troubles though, as Jesus describes that even families will turn against each other in resistance to His name and message. Brothers turning each other in to face the death penalty. Even to this day, when I told my mother I returned to the faith, there was no mistaking the disappointment in her voice. Later she would try to rope me into her stupid new age fuzzy wuzzy “ascended consciousness universe vibrational energy” nonsense despite my claim to Christianity and again, become combative when I rejected it. Obviously this isn’t nearly as bad as Jesus was describing, I merely intend to demonstrate the believability and the tendency within people who hate the message to become hostile to even loved ones who embrace it. You may have seen entities on twitter, possibly even the occasional Zoomer that is Redeemed, suggest that bailing on a liberal city is cowardice and you need to remain in a fallen church/town to try to push back. Jesus appears to think otherwise. I mean, you CAN if you can stomach it and you want to, but you can spread the word more effectively if you’re not dead and Jesus explicitly makes it clear it’s His expectation that you’ll flee if the situation is bad enough.

I have no clue what that “go through all the towns before the Son of Man comes” is definitively trying to say and scholars seem divided and no one is really committed to an answer but I think it might be pointing primarily to the Second Coming since that makes more sense literally. In either case, He’s saying that even being persecuted will serve a purpose by bouncing them between more towns.

He really continues to underline the “everyone will hate you” thing here. Students are not held in higher regard than teachers so if they hate your teacher (Jesus) they’re going to hate you for the same reasons except you don’t even have status to protect you. They are to fearlessly proclaim the gospel even at the expense of their lives (spoiler: only one of them dies of old age) because they will be not only proven right, but residents of God’s kingdom. This next part merits being posted in its entirety:

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Even your fear should properly belong to the Lord, not some little king. Not some cop. Not your HR department. If you are called to deny Christ to keep your job, you proclaim Jesus louder. The worst a human can do is kill you. If you reject God, being killed is the least of your concerns. Flee from persecution, don’t be a willing victim yes, but don’t preserve your life by spitting in God’s face. But it’s not just about “fear”, God loves you. Sparrows were economically worthless at the time but God takes notice when even one of them dies. If He cares that a sparrow dies, how much more one of His children? “Okay but what does this mean in a practical sense” It means He may not send an angel to come rescue you when you’re in danger, but if you love Him as He loves you, He’s got you on the back end. He cares about the tiniest insignificant details of your life, even the number of hairs on your head. If you acknowledge Jesus in life, He will acknowledge you before the Father in death and advocate for you on the throne of Judgement. He is a sword that will separate the believers and the unbelievers, including within one’s own family. This will necessarily result in strife but you need to prioritize Jesus first. you can’t love your own child more than Jesus.

You will pick up your cross and follow Jesus if you are to be worthy. In the Roman Empire, as maybe a humiliation ritual, condemned criminals would carry their cross (the means of their execution) to the site where they would be nailed to it. Living in the Roman empire, the Apostles would’ve seen this from time to time and it’s a deeply morbid picture that Jesus is asking of them. Note: He says this BEFORE His death on the cross. Imagine being an apostle and remembering this discussion after. So in this context, He’s saying they need to “die to themselves”. YOUR agenda and YOUR habits and YOUR ways will be crucified and you will be reborn in Jesus. You must CHOOSE to stop being YOU first and become a follower of Jesus first. Finding YOUR life will lead to ultimate death whereas losing your mortal sinful life will gain you True life.