Matthew 10, a visual study of the sending of the twelve apostles, including their calling, the mission instructions, the coming persecution, and the cost of discipleship, from The Lampstand Project.
Sent as sheep.
The harvest was plentiful and the laborers few, so Jesus prayed for laborers. Now he answers his own prayer. He calls twelve men by name, hands them his authority, and sends them out with almost nothing into a world that will not always welcome them.
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."Matthew 10:16 ESV
Chapter nine ended with a prayer: the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few, so pray for laborers. Chapter ten is the answer. This is the second of the five great discourses in Matthew, and its subject is the sending. What it costs to be sent, what to expect, and why, in the middle of all the danger, there is no reason to be afraid.
Out from the center.
The twelve are gathered in, given authority, and sent back out in every direction. Tap any numbered marker to read its movement below.
Tap any numbered marker to read its movement
The twelve.
Jesus calls twelve men to himself and gives them his own authority over unclean spirits and over every disease. The power that astonished the crowds in chapters eight and nine he now hands to ordinary men. They are not qualified. They are commissioned, which is a different thing entirely.
Matthew names all twelve, and he does not tidy the list. He records himself as "the tax collector," the trade everyone despised, and he records Judas with the words that hang over the whole gospel: the one who betrayed him. Grace and tragedy are both on the roster.
"And he set up twelve pillars... according to the twelve tribes of Israel."
The sending.
Go first to the lost sheep of Israel. Proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near. "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay." The gift was free to them, so it must stay free through them.
And travel light. No gold, no bag, no spare tunic, not even a staff, for the laborer deserves his food and God will provide it through those who receive them. Where they are welcomed, peace will rest on the house. Where they are refused, they are to shake the dust from their feet and move on. The message is urgent, and not everyone will want it.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news."
Sheep among wolves.
Jesus is honest about what waits for them. "I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves." They will be dragged before courts, flogged, handed over even by their own families. They will be hated for his name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved, and when they are put on trial, the Spirit will give them the words to say.
And then, three times, the same command: do not fear. Do not fear those who can only kill the body. The God who notices a single sparrow fall, who has numbered the very hairs of your head, is watching over them. Whoever acknowledges Jesus before others, he will acknowledge before the Father.
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God."
In the same breath as the floggings and the betrayals, Jesus reaches for the smallest, cheapest bird in the market. If the Father attends to its falling, he is not going to lose track of you. Courage here is not the absence of danger. It is the certainty of being held.
The sword and the cross.
Then the hardest words. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Following him will divide even households, setting a person against their own family. To love father or mother more than him is to be unworthy of him. The kingdom will cost some people everything.
And here is the paradox at the center of it all: "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." The chapter that began with a sending ends with a promise. Whoever receives one of these sent ones receives Jesus himself, and even a cup of cold water given to a little one will not lose its reward.
"For the son treats the father with contempt... a man's enemies are the men of his own house."
Looking outward.
The genealogy looked back. The geography looked out. The river looked up. The wilderness looked ahead. The mountain looked inward. Chapter six looked beyond. Chapter seven looked down. Chapter eight looked closer. Chapter nine looked around. Chapter ten looks outward, but now it is the disciples' own gaze, lifted off the safety of the teacher and onto the wide, unwelcoming world they are sent into.
They go out with no money and no spare clothes, as sheep walking knowingly toward wolves. It should be terrifying, and Jesus does not pretend otherwise. But he sends them under the eye of a Father who counts sparrows and numbers hairs. The road ahead is hard and divides even families, yet the smallest kindness done in his name is seen and kept. They are sent out, but they are never sent alone.
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."Matthew 10:39 ESV
All scripture quoted from the English Standard Version. A study from The Lampstand Project.