NOTES for Mat 9:35-10:15
“Jesus had compassion on them.” How precious these manifestations of His feelings are to us! But His compassion is active: He calls the disciples to pray that God send His laborers into the harvest, and He Himself sends them out to preach. This is not yet the preaching that He will command them after His Resurrection; but the training of those who will later become the first fruits of Christ’s Church and carry the Word of God throughout the world must include a practical part. The disciples’ task on this occasion is limited: only to prepare the way for Jesus’ subsequent arrival in the towns of Israel. Yet even for such a mission they need a special gift, a special power, and Christ endows them with that power. At the same time, He makes it clear that this ministry has nothing in common with our ordinary human prudence; the disciples will appreciate this experience later, when they begin to proclaim the Gospel among all kinds of people, including those who are hostile.