Matthew 10:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we are told who Christ appointed as his apostles, or ambassadors. They were his disciples, Matthew 10:1. He had called them earlier to follow him closely, and had promised that they would become fishers of men, a promise he now fulfilled. Christ usually gives honor and grace little by little. Like the morning light, both grow brighter as time goes on.

During this time, Christ kept these twelve in a season of testing. He knew what was in each person from the beginning, including Judas, John 6:70, yet he used this process to set an example for his church. The ministry is a great trust, so men should be tested before they are given that work. They should first be proved, 1 Timothy 3:10. For that reason, no one should be set apart too quickly. He should first be watched as a candidate and a probationer, someone being examined for the work, because some people’s sins are plain at once, and others show up later, 1 Timothy 5:22.

Christ was also preparing them for this great task. Those whom Christ calls to any work, he first equips in some measure for it. He prepared them, first, by keeping them with him. The best preparation for ministry is knowing Jesus Christ and living in close fellowship with him. Those who want to serve Christ must first be with him, John 12:26. Paul had Christ revealed not only to him, but in him, before he preached him among the Gentiles, Galatians 1:16. This fellowship with Christ must be kept alive by active faith, and by regular prayer and meditation, since that is a needed qualification for ministry.

Second, Christ prepared them by teaching them. They were with him as students, and he taught them in private as well as through his public preaching. He opened the Scriptures to them, and he also opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. To them, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven were made clear. Those who plan to teach must first learn. They must receive truth before they can give it. They must be able to teach others, 2 Timothy 2:2. Gospel truth must first be entrusted to them before they are commissioned as gospel ministers. To give teaching authority to people who have no real ability is only to mock God and the church. It is like sending a message by the hand of a fool, Proverbs 26:6. Christ taught his disciples before he sent them out, Matthew 5:2, and later, when he widened their commission, he gave them fuller instruction, Acts 1:3.

Next we are told what commission he gave them. He called them to him, Matthew 10:1. Before this, he had called them to follow him. Now he called them closer to himself and brought them into greater intimacy. He did not keep them at the same distance they had known before. Those who humble themselves will be raised up. Under the law, the priests were said to draw near to God more closely than the people, and gospel ministers have the same kind of calling. They are called to draw near to Christ. That is an honor, but it should also make them reverent, remembering that Christ will be honored in those who come near him.

It is worth noticing that when the disciples were being taught, they came to him on their own, Matthew 5:1. But now, when they were to be ordained, he called them. It is fitting for Christ’s disciples to be more eager to learn than to teach. When we know our own ignorance, we should look for chances to be taught. In the same spirit, we should wait for a clear call before we try to teach others, since no one should take that honor for himself.

He also gave them authority, exousia, meaning right and power in his name, to require obedience from people and, to prove that authority, to command demons as well. All true authority comes from Jesus Christ. All power has been given to him without limit, and all lesser rulers hold their power from him. He shared some of his honor with his ministers, as Moses shared some of his honor with Joshua. This shows clearly how full Christ’s power is as Mediator, that is, the one who stands between God and people. He could give his power to those he sent and enable them to do the same miracles he did in his name.

He gave them power over unclean spirits and over every kind of sickness. The gospel is meant to conquer the devil and heal the world. These preachers were sent out without outward advantages. They had no wealth, no learning, and no titles of honor, and they seemed very ordinary. So it was necessary that they receive unusual power, lifting them above the scribes.

He gave them power against unclean spirits, to drive them out. The power given to Christ’s ministers is aimed directly at the devil and his kingdom. As an unclean spirit, the devil works through false teaching, Revelation 16:13, and through corrupt living, 2 Peter 2:10. Ministers are set against him in both areas. Christ gave the apostles power to cast him out of people’s bodies, but this also pointed to the defeat of Satan’s spiritual kingdom and all the works of the devil, for this very reason the Son of God came into the world, to destroy the devil’s works.

He also gave them power to heal every kind of sickness. He authorized them to work miracles to confirm their message and show that it came from God. He also had them do helpful miracles that made the gospel’s purpose plain, showing that it is faithful and worthy of full acceptance. The gospel is meant to heal and save. Many of Moses’s miracles were acts of judgment, and the miracles Muhammad claimed to do were for show. But the miracles Christ did, and told his apostles to do, were all for help and building up. They show him to be not only the great Teacher and Ruler, but also the great Redeemer of the world.

Notice how strongly the text emphasizes that their power reached every kind of sickness and every kind of disease, with no exception, even those people think are beyond healing. In the grace of the gospel, there is a remedy for every wound and every disease. No spiritual sickness is so deep or stubborn that Christ does not have enough power to cure it. So no one should say there is no hope, or that the wound is too wide, like the sea, to be healed.

Finally, we are told the number and names of those who were commissioned. They are made apostles, that is, messengers. An angel and an apostle both mean the same basic thing, one sent on a task, an ambassador. All faithful ministers are sent by Christ, but those who were first sent directly by him are especially called apostles, the leading ministers in his kingdom. Yet this was only the beginning of their office. It was when Christ ascended on high that he gave some to be apostles, Ephesians 4:11.

Christ himself is called an apostle (Hebrews 3:1), because he was sent by the Father, and then he sent them as well (John 20:21). The prophets were also called God’s messengers. The number of the apostles was twelve, matching the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob, the patriarchs, or family founders, of those tribes.

The gospel church must be the true Israel of God. The Jews had to be invited first, and the apostles were to be spiritual fathers who would bring people to Christ. Israel according to the flesh was to be set aside because of unbelief. So these twelve were appointed as the fathers of another Israel. By their teaching, these twelve were to judge the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:30). They were the twelve stars that formed the church’s crown (Revelation 12:1), and the twelve foundations of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:12, Revelation 21:14). They were also pictured by the twelve precious stones in Aaron’s breastplate, the twelve loaves on the showbread table, and the twelve wells of water at Elim.

This was that famous jury, and to make it a grand jury, Paul was later added to it, appointed to examine the case between the King of kings and the whole human race. In this chapter, Christ himself, to whom all judgment was given, gives them their charge.

Their names are written here, and that is part of their honor. Yet they had even more reason to rejoice that their names were written in heaven (Luke 10:20), while the proud names of the great ones of this world sink into the dust. Some of these twelve apostles are known to us only by name in Scripture, such as Bartholomew and Simon the Canaanite, and yet they were faithful servants of Christ and his church. All faithful ministers are not equally well known, and their work is not equally celebrated.

Their names are listed in pairs, because at first they were sent out two by two. Two are better than one, since they could help each other and serve Christ and souls more effectively together. What one forgot, the other might remember, and every matter would be confirmed by two witnesses. Three pairs were brothers: Peter and Andrew, James and John, and the other James and Lebbeus. Friendship and fellowship should be maintained among relatives and used for religion. It is a good thing when brothers by birth are brothers by grace, and both bonds strengthen each other.

Peter is named first, because he was first called, or because he was the boldest among them and often spoke for the rest, and because he was the apostle to the Jews, the circumcised. But that gave him no authority over the other apostles. There is not the slightest sign of any supremacy given to him, or ever claimed by him, in this sacred company.

Matthew, the writer of this Gospel, is listed with Thomas (Matthew 10:3). In two details, this list differs from the accounts in Mark and Luke (Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15). There, Matthew is named first, which likely shows he was ordained before Thomas. Here, in his own list, Thomas is put first. It is good for Christ’s disciples to honor one another by giving preference to each other.

There, Matthew is simply called Matthew. Here he is called Matthew the publican, the tax collector or customs officer, who was called from that disgraceful work to be an apostle. It is good for those raised to honor with Christ to remember the rock they were cut from, and often think back to what they were before Christ called them. That keeps them humble and gives more glory to divine grace. Matthew the apostle was Matthew the publican.

Simon is called the Canaanite, or more likely the Canite, from Cana in Galilee, where he probably was born. Or he may be called Simon the Zealot, which some take to be the meaning of the word Canaanite.

Judas Iscariot is always named last, and always with that dark mark on his name, “who also betrayed him.” This shows that from the beginning Christ knew what a wicked man he was, that he had a devil and would become a traitor. Yet Christ still chose him among the apostles, so that the church would not be shocked or discouraged if the worst scandals should ever appear in the best communities. Such stains have often been found at our love feasts, weeds among the wheat, wolves among the sheep. But a day of exposure and separation is coming, when hypocrites will be uncovered and put away. The apostleship, and the rest of the apostles, were no worse because Judas was one of the twelve, so long as his evil stayed hidden and had not yet shown itself.