And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: 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 tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite[1], and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food. Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:1-16).
Jesus, going through the cities and towns, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, sees the multitudes. He is moved because He sees that they are weary and scattered, like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus commands His disciples to pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest. He then grants their prayer by sending. The disciples, now called Apostles, or sent ones, are given power to cast out demons, and to heal sickness and disease, and sent out as laborers into the harvest. He gives them specific instructions as to how they should conduct themselves. They are to go among the lost sheep of Israel. They will preach the same message that Christ preached. The kingdom of God which will rescue man from sin and death, and crush the devil’s head, is coming. In Christ, it has arrived. Jubilee! It is the year of the Lord’s favor.[2] Since they are going out with Christ’s authority, preaching His message, they will also be treated as He is treated. He tells them to be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. This is dangerous work. They are sheep among wolves.
Jesus sends his Apostles to Israel first. They are, after all, the ones who should recognize the message and accept it. They should be the ones who recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of Scripture. Of course, we know that the Christ is also a light to lighten the Gentiles.[3] That will come later. For now, the gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed to Israel alone. And just as Jesus demonstrated the authority of His preaching through the miracles He performed, His Apostles will do likewise. Since the closing of the Apostolic age, however, there is no need for such authentication by miracle. We have the external, written Word.[4] Holy Scripture is the rule by which all messages are to be judged, even if a messenger comes performing miracles. In fact, Christ teaches us that false christs and false prophets will rise up and do great signs and wonders.[5] We learn from Paul that the devil masquerades as an angel of light. He has his own false ministers and false apostles.[6] On the contrary, it is the doctrine, or teaching, that matters. Jesus wants us to judge preachers based on their message, and he wants teachers to teach all that he has commanded. If they teach what Jesus and His Apostles taught, the miracles of Christ and the Apostles continue to authenticate the message.
We learn here that we should continue to pray that the Lord would send workers into the harvest. We should not be surprised to find that He is constantly answering this prayer using we, His people, through the vocations in which He has placed us. We must proclaim the same message as Christ and His Apostles: That the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Scriptures are fulfilled. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; that He was buried and rose again the third day.[7]
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