Matthew 10

Jesus ended Chapter 9 of Matthew asking the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.  The start of Chapter 10 Jesus summons his 12 disciples to give authority to do what Jesus has done.  This mini commission is to the sheep of Israel and not to those in Samaria or other Gentiles.  He sends them out without gold or silver but with just what they have.  He warns them that doing kingdom work is dangerous and that they will likely be persecuted for what they do.

One of the reflections that I have about this commission is that when we today choose to do the work of the kingdom, we too will likely encounter persecution and resistance.  As we will hear, doing this work is challenging to the status quo of not just the world but in some cases even to the church itself.  Jesus reminds us that we need to remember that we should not be afraid of what others can say or do to ourselves but to be concerned about what can damage our souls. 

In our bible study we discussed what Jesus says about not staying with those who do not welcome you or listen to you.  The discussion centered around are there times when it is better to let go of something rather than spend the resources to try to make something happen when there is no willingness to make changes.  This can also apply to the refusal to look at the present situations and only dwell in the past.  At what point do we let it go.  We discussed times when it seemed that there was no possibility of change and vitality and yet God was able to bring about a new thing.  Likewise there are times that whatever one tries to do the resistance is so great that nothing happens.

Jesus reminded the disciples that he was not hear to bring peace but a radical new way of living that is according to what God has willed since creation.  The way of discipleship is to be welcoming to those who come in Jesus' name or anyone who is righteous, "and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple--truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward (10:42)."