Matthew 9:35-10:15
“Notice what you notice.” A number of observations… First, it’s not clear where today’s account takes place. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (presumably) have Him in Galilee, while The Chronological Study Bible most recently had Him in Jerusalem. However, going about in the “cities and villages” (v. 9:35) is more consistent with Jesus’ operations in Galilee than in Jerusalem (or even Judea).
Second, in Matthew’s list of apostles, if you check your footnote, Simon the Zealot is also translated as Simon the Cananite in some translations. Apparently the Greek is confusing. Still, the implication is that this Simon may be from Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle. And could it be that “zealotry” was found as far north as this city in Galilee? Intriguing!
Third, Matthew mentions healing three times in these 19 verses (Mt. 9:35, 10:1, 10:8), clearly an important item in Jesus’ early ministry. Matthew also mentions the crowds and Jesus’ compassion on the people, but this compassion was different than His feelings for their illnesses and death: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (v. 9:36) With Jesus commissioning the twelve immediately thereafter, it almost sounds like that commissioning is a direct response to the compassion He felt for the crowds.
Looking at our world today, I expect that Jesus has that same compassion – that people are lost, “harassed and helpless”. I’ve often heard Mark Bruner say that “Jesus is not up in Heaven wringing His hands” over this world. Mark knows that Jesus has it under control. Still, I believe Jesus’ response today would be the same as it was two thousand years ago: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (v. 9:37b-38) Do I hear Jesus calling?
Slava Bohu!