<< Matthew X, XI: Sending out the Twelve >>

 ON the mountain of the Blessings, the Lord had chosen twelve of His followers, and called them apostles, which means "sent out." How many of the  twelve  do we  know? There were Peter and Andrew, who saw the Lord at the Jordan, and whom He called from their nets at the Sea of Galilee; James and John, who left the ship and their father Zebedee; Philip, who was found as the Lord went from the Jordan into Galilee; Nathanael, or Bartholomew, whom Philip found under the fig tree, and Matthew, or Levi, who was called from the receipt of taxes. Here are seven of the twelve. Thomas was one; there were James the son of Alphaeus, and Judas (not Iscariot), called also Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, or the Zealot, one of the parly who were ready to rebel against the Romans, and Judas Iscariot. These were the twelve apostles, simple, ignorant men to whom the Lord gave power and wisdom to help Him in His teaching and loving works, he called them to Him in Capernaum or nea rby, and sent them, two and two, through the towns of Galilee, with power to cast out devils and to heal diseases.

They were to carry little for their journey, for this would help them to remember that they had no power of their own, but must always depend upon the Lord. They were to take no money in their girdles, for in that country they often used a fold of the girdle as a purse.     They were to take no scrip,—a bag, such as David had, into which he put the five stones when he went against Goliath. They must learn to depend upon the Lord every day. It is for the same reason that the Lord teaches us to pray for our daily bread. They were not to go from house to house to find comfort for themselves. They were to have only one thought—to carry the Lord's message and His healing power to those who needed it. But if they were not received, they were to shake off the dust from their feet. This meant, that where people were not good, and would not listen to the Lord, the apostles should let nothing of those people's evil ways cling to them. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities which once stood in the plain of Jordan, probably near the northern end of the Dead Sea, and how they were destroyed because the people were so wicked. The people who now remained in their evil ways would be even more to blame, because they had a chance to know better and to repent, and would not.

See the Lord sending out the twelve, two and two. They turned from the shore of Gennesaret to go through the towns of Galilee. The Lord tenderly watched them as they started on their way. They were His little children whom He had taught a little about the heavenly life, and to whom He had given a little strength, he knew the dangers they would meet. His love and care went with them.

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon,who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying,

Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.

The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?  Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.---Matthew X.; XI. 1.

Author: William L. Worcester 1904

Spiritual Correspondences

Four >> Development in both directions, truth and goodness

Three >>  Development in all degrees from highest to lowest

Twelve (4x3) apostles >> All forms of reception and of service in the Christian Church

"Freely ye have received, freely give." >> No good thing is given to be selfishly enjoyed; it is blessed only as it is used for others

"Give to him that asketh thee." >> Freedom must be preserved, give only wherever there is willingness to receive

"Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses" >> Inmost love of the Lord, for spiritual intelligence, and for natural goodness is provided by Heaven

"Sheep in the midst of wolves." >> Innocence in the midst of selfishness and evil

"Wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." >> Tactfulness, discretion, and peacefulness

"Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you." >> The struggle that Christian principles must inevitably have against natural thoughts and feelings

"I came not to send peace, but a sword."  >> The Lord does give peace such as the world cannot give, but this peace is gained through conflict, and it is not found until selfish thoughts and feelings are cast out of the mind

Shake off the dust of your feet >> Do not let base feelings and thoughts cling to you

Receiving a prophet >> Receiving the Lord's truth

Receiving a righteous man >> Receiving goodness from the Lord

Giving a cup of cold water >> The spiritual service of teaching the Lord's truth in simple obedience without as yet much love for it, but the love and the blessing follow

Spiritual Meaning

THE INSTRUCTION AND GATHERING TOGETHER OF THOSE WHO WILL RECEIVE THE LORD.

THE apostles now first are sent forth, the whole nature of their message having been made plain. They are twelve, representing as many forms of reception of the Lord's message. Arranged in three groups of four each, they may be regarded as, first, a celestial series, from hearing to love Simon and Andrew, James and John ; second, a spiritual series, from understanding to the blessedness of the life of truth Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew ; and, lastly, a natural series, from enjoyment in doing good, to, in its redeemed, regenerate form, a despairing confession of the failure of the self, and full ascription of all to the Lord James, the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus, Simon the zealot and Judas Iscariot.

These were to bear the message of the Lord, and, from the Spirit of the Lord, do for others what He had done for them. They were not to turn aside to those confirmed in evil and falsity, but go to those who desired to be good. They were to preach of the Divine goodness and truth of the Lord, and teach the way of life from Him. They were to overcome evils and discouragements, and teach freely the new joy in life which the Lord was giving them. They were not to claim any truth of life as their own, nor to seek any satisfaction to self-love. They were not to be both their own and the Lord's, but the Lord's alone. They were to go in the love of saving, and abide in the love of saving, and bring the peace of the Lord and heaven to all who would receive it. They were to be innocent and prudent, speaking not from themselves, but as the Lord should give them to speak. Evil would fight against them and falsity, but the Lord would protect His own ; no real harm could come to them. Suffering would only make them more fully the Lord's. Conflict there would necessarily be between the self-life and the new life from the Lord. If one adhered to the self he would lose the Lord ; crucifying it for the Lord's sake, he would find the Lord. To love the truth for the sake of truth, and good for the sake of good, would make them forms of truth and good, with the joy of them. Every least exercise of charity from obedience to the Lord would bring something of heaven into the life.

THE RELATION TO JOHN'S TEACHING.

THERE were those who loved evil and falsity, who would hate and resist the Lord. But there were also those in more literal states of understanding and life, who would doubt, and for a time not be able to receive. John in the prison represents such literal truth, denied by the world as Divine law, but held as a useful servant of the civil law. They who are in such truth look for a more manifest kingdom to justify their faith. A spiritual kingdom hardly seems to them real. Hence John's question " Art thou He that should come, or look we for another ?"

The answer was in the good that the presence of the Lord was doing to the souls and lives of men ; and that they who loved the literal truth for the good that it would do, should find no stum bling block in the truth of the Lord's Spirit, which was doing much greater good.

Then follows a comparison between the literal truth and the spiritual; both justified as the children of wisdom ; one the necessary preparation for the other. The letter of the Word, as men interpreted it, was turned to justify everything ; it was a reed shaken by every wind.(AC 9372) It was a rude outer garment for the soft and shining truth of the inner life. It was the truth from God, sent before His face to prepare the way for Himself, Among the teachers of such truth, the outer form The church of that generation rejected them both. As children in their plays imitate the processions of the funerals and the weddings wailing to their fellows, or piping ; and they will respond to neither so John had taught the sad duty of repentance, and the laying down of natural evil pleasure ; and the Lord had brought the glad tidings of a new life of joy from a marriage with His Spirit ; and they rejected both. The men of the old time, of Tyre and Sidon and Sodom, had sinned against the literal truth ; but the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where the works of His love and truth had been most abounding, were sinning against a far greater light than they. This part of the story closes with the thanksgiving of the Lord that they who were full of the wisdom and intelligence of evil, did not receive Him ; but only those who were innocent, attributing little to self, willing to be led ; and with His merciful invitation to all who were laboring with the burdens of the insatiable demands of self, to take His yoke, which was the yoke of love, and learn from Him to do good, in meekness and lowliness of heart. So should their labor of love be easy, and their burden light. of which was born of men, the greatest was John, who gathered its essential lessons into one, and applied them to prepare men for the Lord. And yet the least understanding of the spirit of the Law as the Lord revealed it, was greater than he. The representatives of the Lord and His kingdom had lasted until John ; but now the Lord had opened the kingdom itself, and men were forcibly and eagerly taking possession of it.

The church of that generation rejected them both. As children in their plays imitate the processions of the funerals and the weddings wailing to their fellows, or piping ; and they will respond to neither so John had taught the sad duty of repentance, and the laying down of natural evil pleasure ; and the Lord had brought the glad tidings of a new life of joy from a marriage with His Spirit ; and they rejected both. The men of the old time, of Tyre and Sidon and Sodom, had sinned against the literal truth ; but the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, where the works of His love and truth had been most abounding, were sinning against a far greater light than they.

This part of the story closes with the thanksgiving of the Lord that they who were full of the wisdom and intelligence of evil, did not receive Him ; but only those who were innocent, attributing little to self, willing to be led ; and with His merciful invitation to all who were laboring with the burdens of the insatiable demands of self, to take His yoke, which was the yoke of love, and learn from Him to do good, in meekness and lowliness of heart. So should their labor of love be easy, and their burden light. (Author: John Worchester, 1898. Matthew's Gospel.)

Pictures: James Tissot ----Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum