On Sunday June 18, we will return to Ordinary Time and our sequential Sunday Gospel readings from Matthew, the Gospel designated for the current Sunday cycle. We will resume reading Matthew’s Gospel at the prelude to and beginning of Jesus’ “Mission Discourse” (Matthew 10:5-42), which is one of five lengthy speeches Matthew’s Jesus delivers. The evangelist collects Jesus’ teaching into these discourses in order to present Jesus as the teacher of Israel. Whereas in Jesus’ first discourse (The Sermon on the Mount, 5:1-7:27) he teaches the crowd and disciples how to understand the spirit of the Jewish Law, the Mission Discourse consists of instructions for undertaking an evangelization mission.
Jesus begins his public ministry at Matthew 4:17, and almost immediately he attracts a large number of people as he preaches and performs mighty deeds of healing in Galilee (4:23). As the story unfolds the crowds continue to grow, and while Jesus desires to minister to their needs he recognizes that the demands of the people are greater than he alone can satisfy (9:36). Therefore, he instructs his disciples to ask God to send more laborers to address the peoples’ needs (9:37-38). In 10:1, he summons the Twelve, gives them authority to heal and to preach, that is, most of the same activities Jesus has undertaken. Whether they communicate by means of words or mighty deeds, the content of the message they are to proclaim is the imminence of the kingdom of heaven (10:7), which will be made present when Jesus arrives in the people’s vicinity. Jesus does not allow the disciples to “teach” here. On the one hand, there is much more they will have to learn as the Gospel story unfolds. On the other hand, they will only be ready to impart Jesus’ teaching after they have witnessed his death and resurrection and are commissioned by the risen Lord to disseminate it (28:16-20).
Curiously Jesus instructs the Twelve not to go into pagan territory but to proceed, rather, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (10:5-6). Ironically, however, at the end of the Gospel Jesus will send the Eleven (the Twelve minus Judas) to evangelize “the Gentiles or Nations” (28:19). These two conflicting perspectives of the audience of the mission may be explained by the identity of Jesus before and after his resurrection. During his earthly public ministry Jesus’ mission is to the people of Israel, and so he directs his disciples to that same audience. After his resurrection, the risen Lord declares, “all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (28:18). Wielding universal authority, the risen Jesus is in a position to extend the mission to “the nations” (non-Jewish people). Matthew’s community probably consists mostly of Jews, but with an influx of Gentiles.
Nothing of the Twelve’s mission is to be associated with money. They are not to receive payment (10:8, as itinerant philosophers in the ancient world might have), nor or they to have money in their possession (10:9). The Gospel is a free gift to them, and they are to pass it on freely. They are to carry no food sack, spare clothes, sandals or walking stick for defense (10:10). Leaving behind the food sack as well as the money harmonizes with Jesus’ command that the disciples are to accept hospitality shown them in the villages they enter (10:11). Hospitality shown the disciples on the mission reflects a receptivity on the part of those to whom the Gospel is offered.
However, Jesus warns them of another reaction, one he himself has already encountered, opposition! The disciples are to wish peace to those whose homes they enter, but they are to be warned that their greeting of peace may be rejected. They are not to retaliate against such people, but are to engage in a symbolic act (shaking the dust from their feet) of the fate they are sealing for themselves. To reject the disciples is to reject Jesus, the Son of Man, who at his second coming will assume the role of end-time judge (Matthew 25:31-46). Those who reject Jesus, even through his disciples, will be in a worse position on the day of judgment than the Old Testament cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:1-29), iconic images of people who experience divine judgment (Matthew 10:15).
In 10:16-33, Jesus’ speech dives deeper into the theme of the persecution his disciples would face. Even though the Twelve may have faced persecution in their mission, the intensity with which Jesus describes persecution here (being arrested and handed over to public officials for trial, 10:17-18) reflects more the situation of the community for whom Matthew is writing. The disciples’ response to persecution encountered during their mission is to trust that the Spirit will give them the words they need amid persecution, to avoid succumbing to fear (10:19-20), and to know of their great worth in God’s sight (10:29-31). Not only will disciples face turmoil from the public, but Jesus asserts there will be conflict even in families over him (10:34-36).
Jesus speaks of the dedication disciples who undertake a mission in his name must have (10:37-39). Even as he predicts conflict in families will ensue, true disciples must be willing to let go of family ties for the sake of their service of Jesus, should it come to that. Worthy followers of Jesus must be ready to face suffering for him. To do so is to find life in him.
If Jesus spoke earlier of divine judgment for those who reject either him or his representatives, in 10:40-42, he speaks of the benefits given to those who accept them. As J.P. Meier (Matthew, p. 115) says, “To offer hospitality and an obedient ear to the earthly envoys of Jesus is to receive the earthly envoy of the Father, and ultimately the Father himself.”
The admonitions Jesus gives his disciples in Matthew’s story reach beyond it to Matthew’s intended readers, and even further to any would-be disciple of Jesus or potential recipient of his message. As in the case of those first disciples, we are charged with continuing Jesus’ mission of preaching and healing in our day. Yet, for us as for our forebears, that mission will be fraught with challenges. We need steadfast faith in Jesus and a willingness to maintain faith in the midst of hardships to carry it out. Jesus assures us that if we acknowledge him before others he will acknowledge us before the heavenly Father (10:32).
Reflection Questions
● How do you share the message of Jesus with others?
● Have you experienced conflict in sharing Jesus’ message? How have you dealt with the conflict?
● How have you experienced receptivity to your sharing of Jesus’ message? In what ways might you have been surprised by receptivity on the part of others?