B. Declarations of the King's presence 9:35-11:1

The heart of this section contains Jesus' charge to His disciples to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom (ch. 10). Matthew prefaced this charge with a demonstration of the King's power, as he prefaced the Sermon on the Mount by authenticating the King's qualifications (cf. 4:23; 9:35). However there are also some significant dissimilarities between these sections of the Gospel. Before the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus separated from the multitudes (5:1), but here He has compassion on them (9:36). Then He ministered to His disciples, but now He sends His disciples to minister to the multitudes in Israel. The Sermon on the Mount is basic to the disciples' understanding of the kingdom. This discourse is foundational to their proclaiming the kingdom. Jesus had already begun to deal with discipleship issues (8:18-22; 9:9-17). Now He gave these more attention.

 1. Jesus' compassion 9:35-38 (cf. Mark 6:6)

This section summarizes the previous incidents that deal primarily with healing and prepares for Jesus' charge to His disciples. It is transitional providing a bridge from the condition of the people that chapter 9 revealed to what the King determined to do about that condition (cf. 4:23-25). Jesus' work was so extensive that He needed many more workers to assist Him.

9:35 This verse summarizes the heart of Jesus' ministry in Galilee. It also provides the rationale for the new phase of His ministry through the Twelve.

9:36 Jesus' compassion for the multitudes recalls Ezekiel's description of God's compassion for Israel (Ezek. 34). "Distressed"(NASB) really means "harassed"(NIV). It pictures the Jews bullied and oppressed by their religious leaders. They were "downcast"NASB) because they were "helpless"(NIV). No one was able to deliver them. They lacked effective leadership, as sheep without a shepherd (cf. Num. 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; 2 Chron. 18:16; Isa. 53:6; Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24). The Old Testament describes both God and Messiah as shepherds of their people (cf. 2:6; 10:6, 16; 15:24; 25:31-46; 26:31).

9:37-38 Jesus' figure of speech in addressing His disciples, however, was an agricultural one. He wanted to infuse His compassion for the multitudes into them. Jesus viewed Israel as a field composed of many individuals. They needed gathering for placement in the barns of the kingdom. They would die where they were and the nation would suffer ruin if workers did not bring them in soon. Unfortunately there were not enough workers to do this massive task. Consequently Jesus commanded His disciples to beseech God, the lord of the harvest, to provide additional laborers for His harvest.

The picture is of imminent change. A change was coming whether or not the Israelites accepted their Messiah. It would either be beneficial or detrimental to the nation. An adequate number of workers was one factor that would determine the way the change would go. Evidently Matthew expected his readers to understand "disciples"as all who were in a learning relationship to Jesus then rather than just the Twelve. That is the way he used the term so far in this Gospel (cf. 10:1).

 2. Jesus' commissioning of 12 disciples 10:1-4 (cf. Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1-2)

10:1 This is Matthew's first reference to Jesus' 12 disciples, though here He implied their previous identity as a group. He "summoned"(Gr. proskaleo) these men as a king commands His subjects. He who had all authority now delegated some of it to this select group of disciples. Perhaps Jesus chose 12 close disciples because Israel consisted of 12 tribes.

"As soon as he [Jesus] remarked that number, every Jew of any spiritual penetration must have scented a Messianic programme.'"⁴²⁵

If Israel had accepted Jesus, these 12 disciples probably would have become Israel's leaders in the messianic kingdom. As it turned out, they became leaders of the church.

Until now, there is no evidence that Jesus' disciples could cast out demons and heal the sick. This was new power He delegated to them for the mission on which He would shortly send them. This ability is a clear demonstration of Jesus' unique greatness.

"This was without a precedent in Jewish history. Not even Moses or Elijah had given miraculous powers to their disciples. Elijah had been allowed to transmit his powers to Elisha, but only when he himself was removed from the earth."⁴²⁶

10:2-4 The 12 special disciples now received the title "apostles."This word, apostolosin Greek, comes from the verb apostellomeaning "to send."This was not a technical term until Jesus made it such. It continued to refer generally to people sent out with the Christian message such as Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14; Rom. 16:7; 2 Cor. 2:18; 8:23; Phil. 2:25). It referred to any messenger (John 13:16) and even to Jesus (Heb. 3:1). Paul became an apostle who received his commission directly from the Lord as the 12 special disciples had. This is the only place Matthew used the word "apostle."He probably used it here because Jesus proceeded to prepare to send these 12 men on a special mission to the Israelites (vv. 5-42).

Lists of the 12 Apostles occur in Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; and Acts 1:13 as well as here. Comparing the four lists we note that there appear to have been three groups of four disciples each. Peter, Philip, and James the son of Alphaeus seem to have been the leaders of the groups.

Matt. 10:2-4

Mark 3:16-19

Luke 6:14-16

Acts 1:13

1.

Simon Peter

Simon Peter

Simon Peter

Peter

2.

Andrew

James

Andrew

John

3.

James

John

James

James

4.

John

Andrew

John

Andrew

5.

Philip

Philip

Philip

Philip

6.

Bartholomew

Bartholomew

Bartholomew

Thomas

7.

Thomas

Matthew

Matthew

Bartholomew

8.

Matthew

Thomas

Thomas

Matthew

9.

James, son of

Alphaeus

James, son of

Alphaeus

James, son of

Alphaeus

James, son of

Alphaeus

10.

Thaddaeus

Thaddaeus

Judas, son or

brother of

James

Judas, son or

brother of

James

11.

Simon the

Cananaean

Simon the

Cananaean

Simon the

Zealot

Simon the

Zealot

12.

Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot

Judas Iscariot

Peter's name occurs first here as in all the other lists probably because he was the "first among equals."Matthew may also have listed him first because he became the apostle to the Jews.⁴²⁷James' name occurs before his brother John's probably because James was older. Matthew described himself humbly as "the tax-gatherer."Thaddaeus and Judas the son or brother of James seem to be two names for the same man, and Simon the Cananaean seems to have been the same person as Simon the Zealot. The Zealots constituted a political party in Israel that sought to throw off the Roman yoke. "Cananaean"is the Aramaic form of "Zealot"and does not refer to the land of Canaan. "Iscariot"may mean "of Kerioth,"the name of two Palestinian villages, or "the dyer,"his possible occupation. It may be a transliteration of the Latin sicarius, a Zealot-like movement.⁴²⁸Some scholars believe it means "false one"and comes from the Aramaic seqarmeaning "falsehood."⁴²⁹These men became Jesus' main agents in carrying out His mission, though Judas, of course, proved to be a hypocritical disciple.

Probably Matthew described the Twelve in pairs because they went out in pairs (Mark 6:7).⁴³⁰

 3. Jesus' charge concerning His apostles' mission 10:5-42

Matthew proceeded to record Jesus' second major discourse in his Gospel: the Mission Discourse. It contains the instructions Jesus gave the 12 Apostles before He sent them out to proclaim the nearness of the messianic kingdom.⁴³¹

 4. Jesus' continuation of His work 11:1 (cf. Mark 6:12-13; Luke 9:6)

Here is another of Matthew's formulas that ended a discourse (cf. 7:28-29; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1). Matthew had no concern for recording what happened when the Twelve went out having received Jesus' instructions. He passed over their ministry in silence and resumed narration of Jesus' ministry.

"The motif that dominates Matthew's story throughout 4:17-11:1 is Jesus' ministry to Israel of teaching, preaching, and healing (4:23; 9:35; 11:1)."⁴⁵¹