Daily Bible Reading (Friday, January 12th)

20

Matthew 10 (ESV)

 

The Twelve Apostles

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. 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; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;a]">[a] Simon the Zealot,b]">[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’c]">[c] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,d]">[d] cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunicse]">[e] 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 servantf]">[f] 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 maligng]">[g] 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.h]">[h] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?i]">[i] 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.”

Footnotes:

  1. Matthew 10:3 Some manuscripts Lebbaeus, or Lebbaeus called Thaddaeus
  2. Matthew 10:4 Greek kananaios, meaning zealot
  3. Matthew 10:7 Or The kingdom of heaven has come near
  4. Matthew 10:8 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
  5. Matthew 10:10 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin
  6. Matthew 10:24 Or bondservant; also verse 25
  7. Matthew 10:25 Greek lacks will they malign
  8. Matthew 10:28 Greek Gehenna
  9. Matthew 10:29 Greek assarion, Roman copper coin (Latin quadrans) worth about 1/16 of a denarius(which was a day's wage for a laborer)

20 Comments

Psalm 34; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-28; Philippians 4:10-23...thanking God the Holy Spirit and The Christ whose name is Jesus, The Lord and Savior of His people Israel (Jacob). Blessed be the Lord!

Let me just point out that Christ is teaching us to trust him for everything when he sends us out. We are to rely solely on God! And with this reliance on the Lord, He instructs us to trust His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ for safety. After all is said and done, Yeshua is commanding us to go proclaim and witness the Holy Gospel (Good News) of Christ Jesus, no matter what. Fear God!

Amen Ben!

Lay down your life daily and pick up ur cross! Follow me! That is what I do daily it’s so wonderful To know I can follow him thank u Jesus! His way is so much better!

Very encouraging passage to boldly share the gospel with others with a complete dependence and trust on God. Praying that we would all not fear those who can only kill the body, but fear the Lord and courageously take His message to the lost who are headed to hell

Amen pastor! Thank you Lord God.

@Dennis L Troyer: Great points, I hadn't noticed that progression in instruction to the disciples.

Theme Summary: Jesus sends out laborers into the harvest of Israel to proclaim the kingdom of heaven at hand, with its blessings of peace for faithfulness and rapidly approaching curses for faithlessness, with the expectation that the laborers will face persecution, like his own, and not have time to go through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes in judgment.

--There is so much in this chapter, I found it difficult to condense. The themes of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven, Christ sending out laborers into the harvest of Israel, impending judgment on faithless Israel for rejecting or denying his name, blessings for receiving him or anyone in his name all stood out to me.

Jesus warns us that we live in a hostile world and we know that every time we are afraid to witness. The 2 most common reasons we give for our fear are - we don't know what to say and we anticipate a negative reaction from others. Jesus addresses both of these by telling us the Spirit will help us with what to say and that we can cure our fear of others by rightly fearing God. Also, I think witnessing to family members may be the hardest of all and Jesus addresses that fear as well. For me the take away from this is to trust the Lord and be faithful to Him no matter what.

To take up our cross... to be willing to endure a bloody gruesome life and death for the sake of Christ. I think in western culture fail to see the significance of what the cross brought to mind for these apostles. It was a horrifying thought. This brings to mind the endurance and perseverance Paul encourages us to pursue in this "cross" of a life for Christ. It makes me think how light my cross has been in life in comparison to some, and yet I still struggle with it. I am so thankful He gave us the Word, the Holy Spirit, and the instruction to be apart of the body, His church, to bear these crosses together. I am thankful for Believers Fellowship, and the ability to walk with you in become Christ-like together.

Thanks for sharing the FAT and passing the SALT.

I would like to point out how Christ was teaching his disciples to trust Him for provision when he sent them out. They were to go with nothing but their reliance on God for food or lodging. With this done he instructs them to learn to trust Him for their safety and welfare despite the dangers. By the time He finished Christ was instructing them how to trust Him in the face of death.

*words not world's

It amazes me that even Judas went out and healed, raised the dead and suffered yet still betrayed Jesus. Even in the end, when he came face to face with his sin, he turned away from Jesus to prefer death. If you are reading this please pray for a man named John who I am talking with in my time in Mexico, who is struggling with trusting God and has alienated himself from the few known believers in this small town. My fear is that his faith of the head and not the heart. Please pray that he be won over (or turn back) to trust in Christ.

Vs 22 "we will be hated by all for his name sake ,but the one who endures to the end will be saved". In our country there is the constant talk of acceptance,but the Bible clearly states that as Christian's we can't expect acceptance but hate. Am I prepared for that truth. Can I endure to the end. Where is my validation, my measure of worth, in Jesus or in the world. I ask the Lord for the strength and wisdom to truly live for him, not just with world's but with my actions and heart

Verses 34-39 are a great place to take our friends and family who think that Jesus will accept their sin filled lives because he loves them and wants them to be happy. This is the Jesus they want to pretend never existed.

When we evangelize we take that ministry by force. Contending for the faith. I’m in prayer and the Lord knows by His Spirit when to stop and when to continue.

I love the Lord! Because he’s always right. Thank you Father for the Truth! Your Truth.

Lord, I pray today that you give me the obedience like the Apostles. Allow me to seize the opportunity to spread your gospel even when I know it may not be received. I give my hesitancy and doubts over to you because you give me all I need. Thank you, Jesus, for your grace and mercy!

- As I run my race today I pray my actions would boldly proclaim the freedom of salvation. My hope as a disciple is that I would confidently acknowledge my Father (before my co-workers) so that by grace through the Holy Spirit they too can be saved for eternity.

In His human body, He was constrained by space and time, therefore He needed more workers. The apostles became His emissaries, not only in function, but also power and authority. This is the same power and authority we will fully realize in his kingdom when we reign and rule with him forever!
When we are evangelizing someone, at what point do we shake the dust off our feet? I only have so much time in the day to pray for and evangelize a person. If they outright refuse the gospel, how long do I continue?
I want to endure to the end and be saved; Father, please make it so!

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