_THE KING'S AMBASSADORS_.
MATT. ix. 36-x. 42.
I.--THE MISSION (ix. 36-x. 5).
So far the King Himself has done all the work of the kingdom. But it
has grown upon Him, so that He can no longer do it without assistance;
He must therefore provide Himself with deputies. His doing so will be
the first step in the organisation of His world-wide kingdom. He
reveals, however, no plan laid down to meet all possible emergencies.
It is enough to provide for necessities as they develop themselves. He
constructs no mechanism beforehand into the different parts of which
life may be afterwards guided or forced; His only care is about the
life, knowing well that if only this be full and strong, the
appropriate organisation will be ready when it is needed.
In conformity with this principle He does not make His arrangements,
necessary as they manifestly are, without first providing that they
shall not be mechanical but vital, that they shall originate, not as a
contrivance of mind but as an outflow of soul. First, we are informed
by the Evangelist that the soul of the Master Himself was stirred with
compassion as He looked upon the multitude, and thought how much they
needed in the way of shepherding, and how little it was possible for
them to have. It was no matter of planning for the extension of His
kingdom; it was a great yearning over the sheep that were scattered,
and torn (ver. 36, Gk. of oldest MSS.), and lost (x. 6). But it is not
enough that the Master's heart should be touched: the disciples also
must be moved. So He turns their thoughts in the same direction,
urging them to observe how plenteous the harvest, how few the
labourers; and therefore to pray that the lack may be speedily
supplied. He sets them thinking and praying about it--the only way to
lay foundations for that which shall be true and lasting. Let it be
observed further, that the two emblems He uses present most strikingly
the great motives to missionary work: compassion for the lost, and
zeal for the Divine glory. "Sheep having no shepherd,"--this appeals
to our human sympathies; the Lord of the harvest deprived of His
harvest for want of labourers to gather it in,--this appeals to our
love and loyalty to God.
The result of their thought and prayer presently appears; for we read
in the next sentence of the setting apart of the twelve disciples to
the work. It does not follow, because the narrative is continuous,
that the events recorded were; it is probable that an interval elapsed
which would be largely spent in prayer according to the word of the
Master.
This is the first mention of the Twelve in this Gospel; but it is
evident that the number had been already made up, for they are spoken
of as "His twelve disciples." It would appear from the second and
third Gospels that, immediately before the delivery of the Sermon on
the Mount, the Twelve were chosen from the whole number of disciples
to be constantly with Him, as witnesses of His works and learners of
His doctrine. By this time they had been so far instructed and trained
by their companionship with Christ, that they could be safely
entrusted with a mission by themselves; accordingly He for the first
time gives them power to do deeds of mercy of the same sort as those
which He Himself had been doing, as signs of the kingdom of heaven.
As the apostles have not been mentioned before, their names are
appropriately given here. The number "twelve" was no doubt
significant, as suggestive of the twelve tribes of Israel; but there
was plainly no attempt to have the tribes represented separately. It
would seem as if all were Galileans, except one, and that one was
Judas Iscariot (_i.e._, the man of Kerioth, supposed to be a town in
Judæa). The reason of this almost exclusive choice of Galileans is in
all probability to be found in the simple fact that there were none
other available. There had been those, in the course of His Judæan
ministry, who had after a certain fashion believed on Him; but there
was not one of them whom He could trust with such work as this (John
ii. 23-5). It may be thought, indeed, that surely there might have
been some better representative--at least, than Judas proved himself
to be--of the southern tribes; but why should we think so? We have no
reason to suppose that Judas was a traitor at heart when he was
chosen. Perhaps there was in him at that time the making of as grand
an apostle as the best of them. It was not long, indeed, before the
demon in him began to betray itself to the searching glance of the
Master (John vi. 70); but had he only, in the power of the Master he
followed, cast that demon out of his own heart, as possibly enough he
may have helped in this very mission to cast demons out of others,
all would have been well. The subsequent fall of the traitor does not
by any means show that Christ now made a mistaken choice; it only
shows that the highest privileges and opportunities may, by the
tolerance of sin in the heart, be not only all in vain, but may lead
to a condemnation and ruin more terrible by far than would have been
possible without them.
Not only was the apostolate Galilean,--it was plebeian, and that
without a solitary exception. It seems to include not a single person
of recognised rank or position. Again, we believe that this is to be
accounted for by the simple fact that there were none of these
available. We cannot suppose that if there had been a disciple like
Paul in the ranks, the Master would have hesitated to give him a place
in the sacred college; but, seeing there was none, He would not go out
of His way to secure a representative of the learned or the great. Had
Nicodemus been bold enough to come out decidedly on the Lord's side,
or had Joseph of Arimathæa developed earlier that splendid courage
which he showed when the Master's work on earth was done, we can
scarcely doubt that their names might have been included in the roll.
But there is no such name; and now, as we look back, was it not better
so? Otherwise there could not have been such a wonderful illustration
of the great fact that "God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty"; there could not otherwise
have been the same invincible evidence that the work these men did was
not the work of men, but was indeed and in truth the doing of God.
Though they were all from the lower ranks of life, they were
characterised by great varieties of gifts and dispositions. Some of
them, indeed, are scarcely known to us at all. It may be that they
were more or less ordinary men who made no special mark; but it would
be rash to set this down as certain, or even as probable, seeing that
our records of the time are so scanty, and are manifestly constructed
with the idea, not of giving to every man his due--as would be the
poor ideal of a mere writer of history--but of making nothing of the
men, and everything of the cause and of the Master in Whose great
Personality theirs was merged. But those of them who do appear in the
records are men of such varied dispositions and powers that the Twelve
might after all have been a fair miniature of the Church at large.
Some of the selections seem very strange. We have already referred to
Judas the traitor. But there were those among them who must have been
far less likely men than he. There were two in particular, the choice
of whom seemed to violate all dictates of wisdom and prudence. These
were Matthew the publican and Simon the Cananæan or Zealot. To have a
publican, hated as the whole class was, among the apostles, was
apparently to invite the hostility and contempt of the great majority
of the nation, and especially of those who were strongly national in
feeling. On the other hand, to invite one who was known as a Zealot, a
radical and revolutionist in politics, a man who had identified
himself with the wildest schemes for the overthrow of the Government,
was to provoke the opposition of all the law-abiding and peace-loving
people of the time. Yet how could the heavenly King have more
effectually shown that His kingdom was not of this world, that the
petty party spirit of the day had no place in it whatever, that it
mattered not what a man had been, if now he was renewed in the spirit
of his mind, and consecrated in heart and soul and life to do the will
of God and serve his Master Christ?[9]
So it has come to pass that, though these twelve men had nothing at
all to recommend them to the favour of the world, and though there was
very much from every worldly point of view to create the strongest
prejudices against them and to militate against their influence, yet
they have, by the grace of their Divine Master, so triumphed over all,
that when we think of them now, it is not as fishermen, nor as
publican or Zealot--even the traitor has simply dropped out of
sight--we see before us only "the glorious company of the apostles"!
II.--THE COMMISSION (x. 5-42).
"These twelve Jesus sent forth" (in pairs, as we learn elsewhere, and
as is indicated here, perhaps, by the grouping in the list), "and
charged them." This leads us to look at their commission. It begins
with a limitation, which, however, was only to be temporary. The time
had not yet come for the opening of the door to the Gentiles. Besides
this, we must remember that the Saviour's heart was yearning over His
own people. This appears in the tender way He speaks of them as "the
lost sheep of the house of Israel." Moreover, the apostles were by no
means ready, with all their national prejudices still rank in them, to
be entrusted with so delicate and difficult a duty as getting into
communication with an alien race. Accordingly their field is strictly
limited to their own countrymen.
There seems to have been a limitation also in their message. They had
themselves been to some extent instructed in regard to the nature of
the kingdom, its blessedness, its righteousness, its leading
principles and features; but, though they may have begun to get some
glimpse of the truth in regard to these great matters, they certainly
had not yet made it their own; accordingly they are given, as the
substance of their preaching, only the simple announcement, with which
the Baptist had begun his ministry, and with which Christ also
commenced His: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Though there seems
to have been a limitation on the teaching side, there was none on the
side of healing, for their Lord empowers them to do the very same
things for the relief of their suffering fellow-countrymen as they had
seen Himself doing. We have already seen how much teaching there was
in these signs of the kingdom; and we can well believe that it was far
better, considering the stage of advancement the apostles had reached,
that reliance should be placed on the light such deeds of mercy would
necessarily throw on the nature of the kingdom, than on any exposition
which, apart from their Master, they could at that time have been able
to give. Above all it is to be clear that the privileges of the
kingdom are free to all; its blessings are to be dispensed without
money and without price: "Freely ye have received, freely give."
How, then, were they to be supported? About this they were to give
themselves no concern. They were now to put in practice the great
command, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,"
relying on the promise, "all these things shall be added unto you."
But in no miraculous way are they to look for the provision of their
wants. They are to be maintained by those among whom and for whom they
labour. This was to be no burden, but a privilege, reserved for those
who were found "worthy" (ver. 11). Nor was it to be divided among as
many as possible. They were to stay on with the same person who first
received them, as the one whom the Master had chosen for the honour;
while, if any refused to recognise it as a privilege, there was to be
no weak solicitation, but a dignified withdrawal. The regulations
throughout are manifestly intended to keep most vividly before their
minds that they went not in their own names, nor on their own
strength, nor at their own charges,--that they were ambassadors of a
King, clothed with His authority, armed with His power, vested with
His rights; so that there is a manifest appropriateness in the solemn
words with which this part of the commission closes: "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" which rejects you
(ver. 15).
The part of the charge which follows, and which the limitation of our
plan will not allow us to illustrate point by point, bears not so much
on the work more immediately before them as on the whole work of their
apostolate. It may have been spoken, as some suppose, later on, and
only put here as germane to the occasion; for, as we have seen, the
arrangement of this gospel is not chronological, but is largely
topical. Still there seems no very strong reason for supposing that
the entire discourse was not spoken at this very time; for why should
not the apostles in the very beginning of their way have some idea of
what it would cost them to accept the work to which they were now
called?
The leading thoughts are these: They must expect to be exposed to
trial and suffering in the prosecution of their mission. The Master
Himself was sorely tried, and the servant must not expect exemption.
He is not indeed to court trials, or to submit to persecutions which
are not inevitable: "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye
into another." On the other hand, when the path of duty lies evidently
through trial or danger, he must not shirk it, but face it boldly; and
in all emergencies he is to place implicit confidence in Him Whose
servant he is: "When they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what
ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall
speak" (R.V.). "The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye
not, therefore." There is no way of avoiding the cross; and they would
be quite unworthy of their Master should they seek to avoid it. Yet
there is a great reward for those who bravely take it up and patiently
bear it to the end. It is the way to higher honour (ver. 32), and to
the only life that is worthy of the name (ver. 39); while to turn away
from it is to choose a path which leads to shame (ver. 33) and death
(ver. 39).
The passage, taken up, as so much of it has been, with the
anticipations of ill-treatment which the apostles will receive in
setting out as sheep in the midst of wolves, closes most appropriately
and beautifully with a series of blessings on those who will treat
them well, ending with the encouraging assurance that even a cup of
cold water given to a thirsty disciple will not be forgotten of God.
* * * * *
The lessons on Christian work with which this passage abounds are so
numerous that it would be vain to attempt to unfold them. It is not
merely a record of facts; it is an embodiment of great principles
which are to govern the disciples of Christ in their service to the
end of the world. If only the Church as a whole were to think and pray
as Christ taught His disciples to think and pray before this great
event; and then if the labourers whom God has sent, or would, in
answer to the prayers of the Church, immediately send, into His
harvest were to act--not necessarily according to the letter, but in
every part according to the spirit of these instructions,--using their
own faculties with all the wisdom of the serpent, and trusting to
Divine grace and power with all the simplicity of the dove--it would
not be long before all the scattered sheep were gathered into the
fold, all the ripe sheaves garnered for the Lord of the harvest!
[9] It is interesting to notice that, though Matthew here calls himself
Matthew the publican, no one else does. To others the publican
is lost in the apostle--it is only himself who will not forget the hole
of the pit whence he was digged.