Proper 6
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
The appointed Gospel reading for this week begins with the words: "Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom..." (Matthew 9:35). An almost identical statement concerning Jesus' ministry is found in Matthew 4:23: "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom...." This passage introduces us to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 9:35-38 introduces us to Jesus' teaching on discipleship. The words (Matthew 5-7) and deeds (Matthew 8-9) of Jesus become now the description of the ministry of Jesus' disciples. They, too, will "proclaim" and "cure." They, too, will engage in a ministry of word and deed. See 10:7-8.
Note that Jesus went about teaching in their synagogues. (See also 4:23; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54.) "The effect of Matthew's expanded use of 'their synagogue' is to underline the distance of Jesus and his followers from the synagogue."1
Matthew 9:36 gives us the first look inside of Jesus' mind. He goes about his ministry of word and deed because he has compassion. This is a translation of a Greek work which literally means "bowels." Metaphorically the word refers to that which comes from the very depths of a person. This word for describing Jesus' attitude is used only of Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus calls the disciples for mission to Israel. That's the heart of this week's text. Let's remind ourselves of the structure of Matthew 8-9. As we pointed out in Chapter 9, the material in these chapters follows this progression: (1) three miracles of Jesus; (2) Jesus' call to follow (9:18-22); (3) three miracles of Jesus; (4) Jesus' call to Matthew to follow (9:9); (5) four miracles of Jesus; (6) this week's appointed text, which sets forth Jesus' call to the disciples to follow him in mission. The appointed text stops this call passage in 10:8. The optional use of 10:9-23 includes the whole of Jesus' call to the disciples at this juncture of his ministry.
In his commentary on Matthew, Robert Smith titles the whole of Matthew 10: "The New Community in Its Mission Encounters Hostility (10:1-42)." He outlines this material as follows:
(1) The Twelve (vv. 2-4), nucleus and mirror of the entire new community of all times and places, are (2) equipped with Jesus' own astonishing powers and commissioned (vv. 1, 7-8). (3) They are instructed to travel light, as befits those whose trust is in God (vv. 8-10). (4) Jesus offers no glib promise of easy harvest but instead announces that his agents and envoys may expect the same reception Jesus himself has received, namely, more abuse than welcome (vv. 11-25). (5) Nevertheless, they may live without fear, knowing that they enjoy the Father's watchful care, and with the invincible faith that they will find their own true lives (vv. 26-42).2
In terms of Matthew's structure we ought to note that 11:1 indicates the end of the second discourse in Matthew's shaping of the material: "Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples...." The end of the first discourse was in 7:28 at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount: "Now when Jesus had finished saying these things...." In this second discourse of Matthew, which includes chapters 8-10, Matthew combines material that impresses us with God's mighty deeds. The deeds of Jesus, however, stand in closest possible connection with his call to follow; his call for mission to Israel. Jesus' saving deeds lead us to thanks, praise, and mission discipleship! So it is with the good news of the kingdom in every generation.
The charge to the disciples is specifically a charge to mission to Israel. They are not to go among the Gentiles or to enter the towns of the Samaritans. Go only to the lost sheep of Israel. God has not given up on Israel! (Cf. 15:24.) We are reminded of Paul's words in Romans: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
One thing it means is that Israel, contrary to expectation, is a mission field. The tradition viewed Israel in the last times as destined to be a light for the Gentiles, but Jesus is saying that Israel needs enlightening, needs a shepherd (9:36). John preached to Israel (3:2-9). So did Jesus (4:12-16), and so will the disciples (v. 5). Israel will be offered the gospel of the kingdom not once but three times, fully and comprehensively.3
Jesus also gives the disciples instructions as to how they are to go about their mission to Israel. Their message is to be: "The kingdom of heaven has come near" (10:7). This is the same message as that of John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (3:2). It is also the same message that Jesus proclaimed: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (4:17).
The assigned text comes to a close at this point, but the optional reading includes a description of how the disciples are to go about mission to the Israelites. Take no gold or silver. Take no bag. Take one tunic. No sandals. Quite a list. What does it mean? Many commentators indicate that these instructions really say to the disciples that they are to go to Israel in the manner of the people of Israel. Carry out this mission as an Israelite would carry it out. To the Jews be as a Jew.
That's not bad missionary advice.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law...so that I might win those under the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some (1 Corinthians 9:20-22).
But it didn't work! The Israelites rejected the message.
They would not repent. We see immediately in the next verses of Matthew (10:16-23) that the ministry of the disciples to Israel is filled with conflict. This presages the rejection of Jesus by the Israelites that begins to fill Matthew's pages once we enter chapter 11. Rejection of Jesus will ultimately lead to his death and a new charge to the disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." (28:19).
Homiletical Directions
There is a marvelous possibility with this week's text to set the call of God to mission in the gracious context of the good news of the gospel of the kingdom. We have indicated above that chapters 8-10 of Matthew follow an outline of miracles, call, miracles, call, miracles, call. The call to disciples in every age is a call enmeshed with the incredible grace and enabling power of God.
We suggest that this week's narrative sermon follow this outline of miracles, call, etc. Start in 8:1-17 and tell the miracle stories briefly. Jesus' word has power! In 8:18-27 Jesus issues a call to follow him. The call to follow comes in the context of the powerful words-become-deeds (miracles) in which Jesus brings salvation to God's people (Matthew 1:21) in fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah 53:4.
Move next to the miracle stories told in 8:28--9:8. Obviously we can't tell all these stories in their fullness. Tell them briefly and in such a way that listeners get the point that the Savior is in action in his words-become-deeds. In 9:9 the flow of miracles is interrupted. Jesus calls Matthew: "Follow me." Matthew rises and follows. Jesus' word becomes deed in Matthew's life!
The third section of miracles is in 9:10-34. Again, touch upon the highlights. The point is not so much that people get the details of all these stories as that they follow the flow of Jesus' miraculous activity. The Savior is at work. God's grace is at work.
We come then to the text for this week, 9:35--10:8 (9-23). Once again, in the context of miracles of saving grace, Jesus calls disciples. He sends them to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in imitation of his ministry of preaching and healing.
The goal of this sermon is that our listeners hear the wonders of God's graciousness and in the context of such saving grace hear again, as for the first time perhaps, their call to mission. Stress the need of the world into which they are called. A closing proclamation can use the language of the text. Jesus' word to you today is: "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. I call you to be my laborers for the harvest. [At this point in the text Jesus named names. You can do that, too: 'I call you, Martha; I call you, Jose...']
Go to your own town. As you go, proclaim the good news: the kingdom of heaven has come near in Jesus Christ. Hear what he has done for you--it will change your life. Amen."
A closing prayer or hymn that asks for God's empowering words to become empowering deeds in our lives would be an appropriate way to bring this sermon to a close.
____________
1. Warren Carter, Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1996), p. 81.
2. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 146.
3. Ibid., p. 147.
Note that Jesus went about teaching in their synagogues. (See also 4:23; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54.) "The effect of Matthew's expanded use of 'their synagogue' is to underline the distance of Jesus and his followers from the synagogue."1
Matthew 9:36 gives us the first look inside of Jesus' mind. He goes about his ministry of word and deed because he has compassion. This is a translation of a Greek work which literally means "bowels." Metaphorically the word refers to that which comes from the very depths of a person. This word for describing Jesus' attitude is used only of Jesus in the New Testament.
Jesus calls the disciples for mission to Israel. That's the heart of this week's text. Let's remind ourselves of the structure of Matthew 8-9. As we pointed out in Chapter 9, the material in these chapters follows this progression: (1) three miracles of Jesus; (2) Jesus' call to follow (9:18-22); (3) three miracles of Jesus; (4) Jesus' call to Matthew to follow (9:9); (5) four miracles of Jesus; (6) this week's appointed text, which sets forth Jesus' call to the disciples to follow him in mission. The appointed text stops this call passage in 10:8. The optional use of 10:9-23 includes the whole of Jesus' call to the disciples at this juncture of his ministry.
In his commentary on Matthew, Robert Smith titles the whole of Matthew 10: "The New Community in Its Mission Encounters Hostility (10:1-42)." He outlines this material as follows:
(1) The Twelve (vv. 2-4), nucleus and mirror of the entire new community of all times and places, are (2) equipped with Jesus' own astonishing powers and commissioned (vv. 1, 7-8). (3) They are instructed to travel light, as befits those whose trust is in God (vv. 8-10). (4) Jesus offers no glib promise of easy harvest but instead announces that his agents and envoys may expect the same reception Jesus himself has received, namely, more abuse than welcome (vv. 11-25). (5) Nevertheless, they may live without fear, knowing that they enjoy the Father's watchful care, and with the invincible faith that they will find their own true lives (vv. 26-42).2
In terms of Matthew's structure we ought to note that 11:1 indicates the end of the second discourse in Matthew's shaping of the material: "Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples...." The end of the first discourse was in 7:28 at the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount: "Now when Jesus had finished saying these things...." In this second discourse of Matthew, which includes chapters 8-10, Matthew combines material that impresses us with God's mighty deeds. The deeds of Jesus, however, stand in closest possible connection with his call to follow; his call for mission to Israel. Jesus' saving deeds lead us to thanks, praise, and mission discipleship! So it is with the good news of the kingdom in every generation.
The charge to the disciples is specifically a charge to mission to Israel. They are not to go among the Gentiles or to enter the towns of the Samaritans. Go only to the lost sheep of Israel. God has not given up on Israel! (Cf. 15:24.) We are reminded of Paul's words in Romans: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).
One thing it means is that Israel, contrary to expectation, is a mission field. The tradition viewed Israel in the last times as destined to be a light for the Gentiles, but Jesus is saying that Israel needs enlightening, needs a shepherd (9:36). John preached to Israel (3:2-9). So did Jesus (4:12-16), and so will the disciples (v. 5). Israel will be offered the gospel of the kingdom not once but three times, fully and comprehensively.3
Jesus also gives the disciples instructions as to how they are to go about their mission to Israel. Their message is to be: "The kingdom of heaven has come near" (10:7). This is the same message as that of John the Baptist: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (3:2). It is also the same message that Jesus proclaimed: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (4:17).
The assigned text comes to a close at this point, but the optional reading includes a description of how the disciples are to go about mission to the Israelites. Take no gold or silver. Take no bag. Take one tunic. No sandals. Quite a list. What does it mean? Many commentators indicate that these instructions really say to the disciples that they are to go to Israel in the manner of the people of Israel. Carry out this mission as an Israelite would carry it out. To the Jews be as a Jew.
That's not bad missionary advice.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law...so that I might win those under the law. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some (1 Corinthians 9:20-22).
But it didn't work! The Israelites rejected the message.
They would not repent. We see immediately in the next verses of Matthew (10:16-23) that the ministry of the disciples to Israel is filled with conflict. This presages the rejection of Jesus by the Israelites that begins to fill Matthew's pages once we enter chapter 11. Rejection of Jesus will ultimately lead to his death and a new charge to the disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." (28:19).
Homiletical Directions
There is a marvelous possibility with this week's text to set the call of God to mission in the gracious context of the good news of the gospel of the kingdom. We have indicated above that chapters 8-10 of Matthew follow an outline of miracles, call, miracles, call, miracles, call. The call to disciples in every age is a call enmeshed with the incredible grace and enabling power of God.
We suggest that this week's narrative sermon follow this outline of miracles, call, etc. Start in 8:1-17 and tell the miracle stories briefly. Jesus' word has power! In 8:18-27 Jesus issues a call to follow him. The call to follow comes in the context of the powerful words-become-deeds (miracles) in which Jesus brings salvation to God's people (Matthew 1:21) in fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah 53:4.
Move next to the miracle stories told in 8:28--9:8. Obviously we can't tell all these stories in their fullness. Tell them briefly and in such a way that listeners get the point that the Savior is in action in his words-become-deeds. In 9:9 the flow of miracles is interrupted. Jesus calls Matthew: "Follow me." Matthew rises and follows. Jesus' word becomes deed in Matthew's life!
The third section of miracles is in 9:10-34. Again, touch upon the highlights. The point is not so much that people get the details of all these stories as that they follow the flow of Jesus' miraculous activity. The Savior is at work. God's grace is at work.
We come then to the text for this week, 9:35--10:8 (9-23). Once again, in the context of miracles of saving grace, Jesus calls disciples. He sends them to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in imitation of his ministry of preaching and healing.
The goal of this sermon is that our listeners hear the wonders of God's graciousness and in the context of such saving grace hear again, as for the first time perhaps, their call to mission. Stress the need of the world into which they are called. A closing proclamation can use the language of the text. Jesus' word to you today is: "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. I call you to be my laborers for the harvest. [At this point in the text Jesus named names. You can do that, too: 'I call you, Martha; I call you, Jose...']
Go to your own town. As you go, proclaim the good news: the kingdom of heaven has come near in Jesus Christ. Hear what he has done for you--it will change your life. Amen."
A closing prayer or hymn that asks for God's empowering words to become empowering deeds in our lives would be an appropriate way to bring this sermon to a close.
____________
1. Warren Carter, Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1996), p. 81.
2. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 146.
3. Ibid., p. 147.
