Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam, as we're walking through the Gospel of Matthew, forty days, forty podcasts, verse by verse. And today we're coming into chapter ten. This will be a little longer one. ⁓ but we're getting into some another great section here. Yeah, like a monologue of instructions from Jesus. Yeah. So starting in verse one. Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out. And to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelfth apostles, first Simon Peter, or Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alpheus and Thaddeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Yeah, and something I should have mentioned earlier is that this is the same Matthew who was called by Jesus to be, you know, the tax collector is the same one who wrote this book. So he's inserted himself into the story without making the story about him. But there's some interesting things happening here because at first he calls them disciples, and then Matthew refers to them as apostles. So the difference between a disciple and apostle, ⁓ pretty important to understand. An apostle, anyone can be a disciple. If you follow Jesus, you can be a disciple. I'm a disciple of Jesus, you're a disciple of Jesus. If you're listening to this podcast, I hope you are a disciple of Jesus or will become a disciple of Jesus. That anytime, any age you're at, wherever you are, if you're like Jesus, my Lord and Savior, you can be his disciple. You can make him your rabbi and follow his teachings. An apostle was someone who was hand ticked by Jesus. Who met the risen Lord, spent time with him, and was chosen by him. So we have to be very careful because people like to pivot that word, especially in certain spheres of the church. Like, well, I'm an apostle. And you're like, well, hold on. The definition does not apply to you. Like you can't be an apostle today. So that that's just something to understand. The second thing is Y twelve, because you have the ⁓ original creation of Israel was through the twelve sons of Jacob. Yeah. All became the twelve tribes of Israel. So Jesus is like, I am like a new Jacob forming a new Israel. Twelve followers to re not replace, but to fulfill the twelve tribes, like the original purpose of Israel. So that's what he's doing. Picking up in verse five it says Jesus sent out these twelve after giving them instructions. So this is where the instructions begin. Mm-hmm. Don't take the road that leads to the Gentiles, and don't enter any Samaritan town. Instead, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as you go proclaim the kingdom of heaven has come near near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you receive, freely you give. Yep. So right here he's talking about raising dead, cleaning. And and he also says, don't go to the Gentiles yet. Yeah. So again, the purpose, one of the purposes of God's chosen people, the house of Israel, the nation of Israel, was they were to be a witness and example to the surrounding nations. Yes. So Jesus is like, okay, that did not work out. Now we're gonna do this again, but we have to start with Israel. We have to redeem Israel. I am Israel's redeemer. And then if I can redeem Israel, then we can get to what the original plan was to redeem the whole world. But we again have to start with the lost sheep that have been scattered. And so then he says, Now I'm going to give you the same authority that I've been given from the Father. That you've seen. Yes, you've seen it over and over. I give it to you. Again, the authority of Jesus and go and do as you've seen me do. Yeah. Picking up in verse nine, says Don't Jesus again talking. Don't acquire gold, silver, copper for your money belts. Don't basically don't get rich off of doing the work of Jesus. Just a pleasant reminder for some prosperity gospel. Yes. Yep. ⁓ don't take a traveling bag for the road or an extra shirt, sandals, or a staff, for the worker is worthy of his food. When when you enter any town or village Find out who is worthy and stay there until you leave. Mm-hmm. So what makes them worthy? Again, it goes back to what Jesus was talking about with saying ⁓ it was the ⁓ speck in your brother's eye, plank in your own eye, don't throw pearls before swine. Worthy isn't like, ⁓ you're a better person. It's like you're a receptive audience. Yeah. You you're eager, you're ready, you're like, yes, I'm ready to hear the message of the gospel. And he's like, give them everything they're looking for. But if someone's gonna be Fighting you in combative, perhaps it's not their time to hear the message from you. To hear it. Yep. Verse twelve, it says, Greet a household when you enter it. And if the household is worthy, let your peace be on it. But if it is unworthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone does not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you. It will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. So those who haven't maybe read, you know, this is for anyone. ⁓ or if you have read, then you kinda understand what Sodom and Gomorrah is. Everyone at least knows the phrase. Like you know the phrase. Yeah. So maybe you can speak on what he's Sodom and Gomorrah is a story in Genesis where it was just like the most b essentially the most depraved town up to that moment in ⁓ the history of the world of scripture, you know, up to those early chapters. And ⁓ God is like their sin has reached such a limit, they have to be destroyed, basically to like protect the rest of the people. And Abraham's having a conversation with God's like, well, what if there's fifty righteous people? Will you spare it? And then God's like, I'll spare it. Then he goes all the way down to like, well, what if there's forty? What if there's thirty? And he eventually gets down to five. And there's not even five righteous people in the ho in the whole town. And so it it's completely annihilated, completely destroyed. And what Jesus is saying is like that those people didn't even get the full gospel message of God here on earth. It was just like turn and repent. Yeah. The people now who Jesus is sending the twelve out to are getting the full gospel. God is here, He the work is being done, the world is being healed. And if you're not receptive and you continually turn your back on it, like how how should we judge this? Like and That's what God is or that's what Jesus is communicating is like the justice of God meets with the grace of God. And if you're choosing not the grace of God, you're choosing the justice of God and it's like, Okay, you had a choice, you had the opportunity. So again, Jesus is communicating the importance of this mission. Yeah. And then now we're getting into I'm before we read this, I always like to think like Jesus is already knowing what they're thinking. He's going into like their thoughts of ⁓ yeah, yeah. Like we just read that he was like he perceived their thoughts. Yeah. And so he's like, they're like listening. Like, you're telling us to go do all this? Like and then it gets into it. Verse 16. Look, I'm sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and as in innocent as doves. Be aware of them, because they will hand you over to local courts and flog you in their synagogues. Yeah. You will even be brought before governors and kings because of me to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. Yeah, so Jesus again, like you said, is perceiving their thoughts 'cause they're like, Whoa, like we have to go and do this. Like I thought we were going out into the harvest. You know, that was the previous instructions, but now he's like, No, it's gonna be it's gonna be rough, guys. Like it's gonna be rough going. No joke. Yeah. And so I it's interesting that he says, like, whip you in their synagogues. So when I hand you over to them, that's religious leaders. Yeah. Would whip in a synagogue. Like so he's like House of God. Yeah. Like they will whip you in the house of God for doing the work of God. Again, showing the hypocrisy of the religious leaders at the time. And then he's like, But you're also gonna have, if you will, like the secular ⁓ government, like the kings and the courts, like They're gonna come against you too. Like you're not gonna have a haven outside of really each other because you're in my name. And then the final point is like even to the Gentiles. I will send you to the Gentiles eventually. Yeah. But right now, this first mission starts with the house of Israel, who is willing to almost at low hanging fruit. So he's like, This is gonna be tough. Yep. But don't worry, I'm not leaving you alone. Yep, because in verse nineteen it says, But when they Hand you over. Don't worry about how or what you are to speak, for you will be given what to say at that hour at that hour, because it isn't you speaking, but the spirit of your father is speaking through you. Yep. So same thing that Jesus has been doing in many ways is like he is speaking what he's hearing from the Father, what he's being directed by the Spirit, and he's like, You're basically gonna be stepping into my shoes. Yeah. If you're gonna have my power and authority, you're also gonna have What to say. So again, Jesus is not ⁓ calling the qualified, he's qualifying the called, like that that famous expression. So that's what he's telling them. Yeah. And it says here Brothers, brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. Mm. And and w do you want to speak on that real quick? ⁓ Jesus is gonna keep qualifying this, but he's saying loyalty to me is going to bring division. I think we'll we'll we'll say that for now because he's gonna keep unpacking it, but like this again, wha there's no haven, truly, outside of even in this world in these in your fellow believers, like it's gonna create division wherever you go. Verse twenty three, Jesus again speaking, When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. For truly I tell you, you will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a slave like his master. Mm-hmm. So what is he saying? Well he's saying is Your goal is not to gosh. Our culture today is like so self-obsessed and individualistic, like become your best self, become you know your true self. And Jesus is like the highest honor is you can become like your rabbi, the highest call is you become like me. Again, Jesus is putting himself in a very high position, putting a lot on these people and saying. This is how worthy I am. And he's doing it like without blinking. There's no well, if you feel like it, or he's like, No, this is when everything calms down. Yeah, exactly. So geez, like the highest call that you can have as a as a student is to become like me. Like as this of later Paul describes as a slave to righteousness, is to become like your master, King Jesus. Yeah. If you want to go ahead and read that next verse. Sure. Go into that. Yeah. If they called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household? So again, like they're they're already accusing Jesus of being a demon or being the prince of demons, which is Beelzebub. So they're gonna they're gonna throw the same thing at you too. So again, like everything I've been getting, guys, that's good and everything I've been getting that's not so good, you're stepping into my shoes. Yep. And then in verse twenty six it says, Therefore, don't be afraid of them. Since there is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, and nothing hidden that won't be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper, proclaim at the house tops. Don't fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body and hell. Mm-hmm. Yeah, again, Jesus, I would think you're It's the same message in a different way, but going all the way back to the Sermon on the Mount, and you'll see why in a second. But he's saying like, Don't worry about your life. Yeah. Worry about the business of the king. Like you you're afraid of all these things, like your reputation or torture. And he's not saying they're not bad, but he's like, Again, if you worry about the king's business, the king will worry about your business. Yeah. And like it's it's going on the line of like I'm showing you you have to surrender completely to me and believe in me and have faith in me. Yes. Then there's nothing to be in this yeah. And then he says, ⁓ well, it in a way he's hinting at the idea from the a line in Proverbs where it says fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. ⁓ and he's like, If you want true wisdom, if you want to truly know a fearless life, fear only the Lord. Yeah. And then if you if you have a fear of the Lord, it's a healthy like reverence where you're like I I my only fear is like at least Lord let me be there. I'm afraid of doing anything against you. Yeah. If you're afraid of that, then w what can touch you? Nothing. Nothing. So that's that's yeah, where he's like, again, keep it in perspective. And then the next one really draws it back to the Sermon on the Mount. Yeah. Verse twenty nine. Aren't two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your father's consent. But even the hairs on your head have all been counted. So don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. Again, look at the birds of the air. And Jesus is like, Do you remember how you felt during that sermon? Mm-hmm. Now's the time to start living it out and yeah, bringing others into the kingdom. In verse thirty two it picks up therefore everyone who will acknowledge me before others, I will acknowledge him before my father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others, I will also deny him before my father in heaven. Don't assume that I came to bring peace to the on the on the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. Real quick. So now he's talking about a sword. Yep. Not a sword. I I don't think you'll see anywhere where Jesus is saying like a sword to create violence or a sword to like like die by the sword, which is more of like the ⁓ line from Muhammad where it's convert or face the sword. That's not what Jesus is saying at all. He's saying it's like a sword. The division that's gonna happen is gonna feel like it's severing ties, like which it is in many ways, but he's not like now go commit religious violence in my name. No. He's like, I came to divide it he talks about in many ways the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous. Like it's gonna be a dividing thing, but it's not like religious violence. No. And in verse thirty five it says for I came to turn, and this kind of explains that sword, right? Came a turn, a a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his Yes. Again, what Jesus is saying is incredibly radical, but incredibly consistent with what he's been saying is your ultimate loyalty is to me. Ultimately to me. And ⁓ there's a book called Whose Religion is Christianity by ⁓ Colombian Professor Laman Sanay, who talks about that if you let's say you're an American Christian, you have more in common. with an African Christian than you would with your own family members if they don't believe in Jesus. Yeah. You will have more in common with the family of God if you are both in Christ than with even your biological family if they're not in Christ. So again, that's the idea of a sword is saying like this is this is how the world's being divided. Now everyone's welcome. Yeah. Everyone's welcome. But like this is how the world is being divided. And he's like loyalty to me goes even before loyalty to family, friends, marriage and and your own children. And again, he's doing this without blinking. He's like, I must be Lord. I must be first. For everything to run smooth and better in your life, I must be first. In verse thirty-seven it picks up the one who loves a father or mother more than he than me is not worthy of me. The one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. So again, going back. You you think of even Abraham and Isaac, like when God calls him to sacrifice Isaac and then he stays his hand. But again, he was like, This was a test that you do truly love me, and then he blesses him because of it. And the amazing thing about that story is God calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac but stops him. But God the Father to save Abraham and his descendants does not stop the knife against his own son. And verse thirty eight says, And whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it. And anyone who who loses his life because of me will find it. Yeah. Yeah, trying to like save your own life and live for yourself. He's like, it's gonna end in many different ways. If you live for pleasure, you're gonna be a hedonist, you're gonna have like we see how that's gone for our world. If you live just for yourself, you know, you're ultimately gonna have a ⁓ a purposeless life. Yeah. Like you'll you'll be a hedonist, you'll be a cynic, you'll be you know, just it it'll lead to disaster. If you live only for yourself as a selfish person. But if you he says specifically, but if you live for me, you find your life. So give your life away first to Jesus, then to others. Like so he's like, that's when you'll recover your life. And that's the life that you were always meant to live. That's what you were designed for was to have your life. Yes, me first and pour out your life serving others. Because if you don't have Jesus first and you try and give your life away to others, it'll only lead to burnout, resentment. And like a self-righteousness, again, that's not healthy. So it's the same message he's been saying. Yeah. But over and over and over, but he's like, I have to be number one. I have to. Yeah. And then that last little bit here in vo verse forty, it says, The one who welcomes you welcomes me, and the one who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me. Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And anyone who welcomes a righteous person because he's righteous will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple, truly I tell you he will never lose his reward. Mm-hmm. In many ways, it's almost a precursor to that famous ⁓ Matthew ⁓ twenty five, where he's talking about like whatever you did for the least of these you've done unto me again. He's making that connection. Like ⁓ I'm sending you out. Mm-hmm. Like, and anyone who welcomes you and greets you is greeting me. Mm-hmm. And they're greeting the Father in. So like celebrate. This is an exciting thing. So yeah, Jesus is again tying himself to these twelve men and saying, like, you're gonna experience a lot, guys. Like it's a high cost, high reward, but this is what you're made for. This is what I'm sending you to do. Amen. And with that we're gonna close out today's episode and tomorrow we'll be starting in chapter eleven. Yeah. So thanks for tuning in, everyone.