PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
We come now to the final passage in the section of Matthew's Gospel which Robert Smith has called: "The New Community in Its Mission Encounters Hostility." (See Chapter 10.) The verses appointed for this Sunday also bring us to the end of a major teaching section in Matthew's structure. We note the familiar words just after the close of this week's text: "Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples..." (11:1). The four other instances of a formula closely resembling these verses are in 8:28; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1.