NOTES for Mat 10:1-23
Today’s reading tells how Jesus sends His disciples out to preach, instructing them to travel through Judea and Galilee, where most of the population was Jewish. Evidently, the time to preach among Samaritans and Gentiles had not yet come (vv. 5–6). This is not surprising: who, indeed, if not the people of God, should have responded to the proclamation of the Kingdom? In any event, it was the Jewish people who were to hear first about both the Kingdom and the Messiah. Of course, everyone was left free to accept or reject the testimony of those who were sent (vv. 14–15), but this testimony had to be given, and given in all the ‘cities of Israel’ (v. 23), so that every member of the people could hear it. Jesus, however, knows very well that not everyone will accept the testimony, and He warns the apostles about this (vv. 16–18). Yet such testimony is absolutely necessary: otherwise, on the day of Judgment, there might well be people who would say that they had heard nothing of Christ and knew nothing about the Kingdom. But to bear witness to the Kingdom and to the One who brought it (v. 7), it is important to let everyone see this Kingdom; that is why Jesus gives the disciples authority to do all that He Himself does in the world (v. 8). And, of course, the disciples’ own readiness to be witnesses matters. Jesus tells them to set out in the manner customary when entering the Temple (vv. 9–10): a person entering the Temple court was not to carry money (all necessary purchases were made in the outer court), had to remove their outer (‘second’) garment and footwear, and leave at the entrance the staff or stick they used on the journey. Evidently, the point is that one can bear witness to Christ and to the Kingdom of God only when one’s whole life becomes a continual standing before God. Only someone who is prepared to live in this way can be a faithful witness; then, even in a critical situation, in a time of persecution, they will not have to think about what to say in reply to their persecutors (vv. 19–20).