Go to the Lost Sheep
1 He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these. The first, Simon, who is called Peter; Andrew, his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John, his brother; 3 Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus; Lebbaeus, who was also called Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 5 Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. 6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. 9 Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. 10 Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor sandals, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. 11 Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you go on. 12 As you enter into the household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn’t worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 Whoever doesn’t receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. 15 Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
Twelve named men given the authority he has been using, sent to Israel only, and told to travel with nothing.
He called to himself his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every sickness.
The second discourse opens by handing over the two things chapters eight and nine demonstrated. The authority is not shared out in part; the list of what they may do repeats the summary of what he does Matthew 9:35 almost word for word.
The naming is worth reading slowly. Twelve is the number of the tribes, and the list is arranged in pairs. It contains a tax collector who worked for Rome and a Zealot whose party existed to drive Rome out — two men who in any other setting would have been on opposite ends of a knife. And it ends Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him Matthew 10:4, which is included in the same sentence that grants him authority over unclean spirits. Whatever the miracles in the previous chapter proved, they did not prove the man performing them.
5 Jesus sent these twelve out and commanded them, saying, “Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. 6 Rather, go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The restriction is startling in the Gospel that ends by sending them to all nations Matthew 28:19, and it is a matter of order rather than of principle. The same book has already seated Gentiles at the patriarchs' table Matthew 8:11 and brought magi to the cradle. The promise was made to Israel first and is offered to Israel first, and Paul states the same sequence as a rule Romans 1:16.
"Freely you received, so freely give" Matthew 10:8.
Four words that govern everything the church has ever done with what it was given. What they carry cost them nothing, so it is not theirs to price — the principle Elisha kept and Gehazi broke 2 Kings 5:16 2 Kings 5:20.
9 Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. 10 Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor sandals, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.
The instructions are for this mission and are deliberately extreme: no money, no luggage, no spare clothing, nothing to fall back on. The stated reason is not asceticism but dependence — the laborer is worthy of his food. They are to be supported by those they serve, which puts them at the mercy of their hearers and makes the reception a real transaction rather than a performance for an audience that owes nothing.
That the arrangement was for that mission and not for all time is something Jesus says himself later, reminding them of this occasion and then reversing the instruction Luke 22:35–36.
Whoever doesn’t receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
The gesture was what a Jew did on leaving Gentile territory, and using it toward an Israelite town is the point of it. The refusal is not argued with and not avenged; it is registered and left. And the warning attached is the sharpest available — more tolerable for Sodom Matthew 10:15 — because the measure is not the depth of the wickedness but the clarity of what was refused.
settled What this mark means