Matthew 9:36–10:8
And when Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’. He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge’.
Commentary
In this Gospel we are told how Jesus, on seeing the crowds had compassion on them. These crowds were the ordinary, simple fold, who were not only neglected by the priests and Pharisees, but were despised and shunned by them.
These ordinary folk, the vast majority of the Jews of the time, were ignorant of the law, and, in many cases, of the God who gave them the law. Following the example of their leaders, who should have known better, their thoughts were worldly and political. The Messiah they wanted was not one who would earn heaven for them, but one who would set them free from the pagan Roman rule and make them a powerful political nation.
Christ saw that these earthly ambitions of the simple folk were only skin deep. They were ripe for conversion to spiritual ideals. As yet there were not enough workers to reap this rich harvest, so he tells his disciples to ask God to increase the number of the reapers.
The twelve apostles had already been chosen. He now gave them the powers of healing and of exorcism. He sent them out to tell these poor people that salvation was at hand. Their power of working miracles would confirm the truth of their preaching.
It may sound odd to our ears today as the apostles’ mission was confined “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. They were God’s chosen, if unworthy, people, and the messianic message was first to be given to them. However, we should be reminded that today, like Christ in today’s Gospel, we are concerned with lapsed Christians in our society. If all the lose sheep were brought back to the fold, the conversion of the still-pagan nations would follow quickly. The bad example given by the once-Christian nations and countries has done more to impede the spread of the gospel in pagan lands, than could ever be done by all their own false idols such as money and military might.
The harvest is plentiful, indeed it is huge. But let not its huge size frighten us. If everyone reaps his own corner, we shall all meet in the centre of the harvest field some day. Amen.
The messianic kingdom is called the kingdom of heaven, because its purpose is not to establish any new Jewish kingdom on earth, as the priests and Pharisees expected, but an eternal kingdom in the next world. This is what the apostles must preach to the people. They are to make use of the powers Jesus had just given them to show the mercy and compassion of God and also to confirm their teaching.
The apostles must not demand payment for their preaching, or their miracles. They must live on the generosity of their hearers. The gift of miracles was a free gift from God, and the doctrine they were to preach was freely given them by Christ.