Daily Bible Reading (Friday, Jan. 13th)

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Matthew 10 (ESV)

The Twelve Apostles

10 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Have No Fear

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

12 Comments

Verses 34 - 39 are verses which I have thought a lot about concerning my students. I have had numerous Muslim students from the Middle East. In Middle Eastern countries, family is the center of one's social life. Marriage within the extended family, third/fourth cousins, is a common thing. I've seen my students suffer deep loneliness because of being disconnected from their immediate family and cousins. It's not uncommon for one's closest friends to be cousins.

When I think about what would happen if one of my students converted, I think of these verses. The convert would have peace with God, but they would suffer pain, loss, suffering, persecution, and possibly death at the hands of their own family members. Their family would turn on them in a heart beat. Well, basically almost this whole chapter would happen to them.

We must be ready for persecution. When we face persecution, we should be thankful because it lets us know we are His.

Not Peace, but a Sword
The verse in Matt.10:34-39 speaks so great to me. These verses show that the truth of Jesus Christ, His gospel can bring peace or a sword. Sharing the gospel sometimes doesn't bring peace, but division in a person's own household. I find this true in my life where sharing the gospel has brought tears to my eyes because someone I love very much has rejected this grace of the gospel. Being a Christian is not always peaceful or easy. But, through God's strength and His peace that He gives, there is nothing more I want in this live than to be His.To do His will and bring glory to His son Jesus Christ. If that is sharing the gospel, so people will get saved then I pray to do just that.

The thing I like about this chapter is that Jesus answers the most common objections we Christians give for not witnessing. #1 - I haven't been trained enough. How much had these disciples been trained? Matthew just got saved in Chapter 9. If you know the gospel well enough to have been saved, then you know if well enough to witness to someone else. #2 - I am not sure what to say. See #1 but also we can trust the Spirit to help us (v.19&20). This does not mean don't study or prepare, but don't underestimate the help that the Spirit can provide as you trust and obey Him. #3 - I am afraid of what might happen if I witness. This is perfectly understandable especially in light of the fact that Jesus says He sends us out as sheep among wolves. However Jesus tell us not to fear men but fear God and He can take care of us (v.26-31). So, having shot down all our excuses let's strengthen our resolve to obey the Lord and get the gospel out to those who need it. #210needstoknow

Chris/Jack/Dennis - the simple explanation of v.40-42 is that whoever receives the message of Christ's messengers receives Christ and whoever receives Christ receives God and those who receive will be rewarded. The context of the chapter is Christ sending out His disciples and while there will be opposition there will be those who will receive them.

Thankful for the reminder that we are to love the Lord above all others and above all the comforts of this world.

The tone of this whole passage is so contradictory to the message so commonly heard today suggesting that following Christ is easy, that it will bring prosperity in this life. What an encouraging reminder not to be surprised when we are challenged or disliked on account of the gospel.

Most translations render it "In the name of a prophet" as opposed to "Because he is a prophet" The ESV is a little unusual in the translation. The one who receives a prophet because of who the prophet is, receives the prophet's reward. Seems a reasonable way to paraphrase this. This would work itself out in hospitality and support for those who work for the Kingdom and brothers and sisters in Christ.

Wow! What power, what authority and instruction. I'm caught by the transition from chapter 9 verse 38 to 10:1, in that Christ has said to pray for laborers in order to proclaim the gospel in order for the lost to be saved, and then the scripture says, "And He called to Him His twelve disciples". And then He sends them out. I believe their is significance to that. 'Here I am Lord, send me' should be the response in retrospect I presume...

Verses 40-42 present a certain level of difficulty. It may be due to the translation from the Biblical Greek to English. Consider "...receives a prophet because he is a prophet...". Does this mean that the one who receives is a prophet or that the one who receives does so because the one who is received is a prophet? Additionally, what is a "prophet's reward"? Applying the rules of literary parallelism, how does the above affect the interpretation of the "...receives a righteous person..." verse? Additionally, at a superficial level, verse 42 appears to be referencing charitable kindness; that is until one reads "...because he is a disciple...". To whom does this refer: the giver of the water or the recipient and why?

This is one important reason to come to a Bible believing church so as to receive Biblically-based instruction.

Jesus tells His disciples plainly that if they are faithfully obeying Him people will be offended and will even seek to harm them. We shouldn't be surprised when people don't like us or are offended because of HIS name's sake. How gracious God was to give us this "heads-up" and provide encouragement through the remainder of the chapter to be faithful and follow His example.

Verses 40-42: How do these verses apply to us living here in America?

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