Matthew 10:1

(cf. Tertull. cont. Marc. iv. 13.) This number is typified by many things in the Old Testament; by the twelve sons of Jacob, by the twelve princes of the children of Israel, by the twelve running springs in Helim, by the twelve stones in Aaron's breastplate, by the twelve loaves of the show-bread, by the twelve spies sent by Moses, by the twelve stones of which the altar was made, by the twelve stones taken out of Jordan, by the twelve oxen which bare the brazen sea. Also in the New Testament, by the twelve stars in the bride's crown, by the twelve foundations of Jerusalem which John saw, and her twelve gates.

(ord.) From the healing of Peter's wife's mother to this place there has been a continued succession of miracles; and they were done before the Sermon upon the Mount, as we know for certain from Matthew's call, which is placed among them; for he was one of the twelve chosen to the Apostleship upon the mount. He here returns to the order of events, taking it up again at the healing of the centurion's servant; saying, And calling to him his twelve disciples.

Having presented his doctrine, he now appoints ministers, who are described by number, power and listing of their names. By number: hence he says, he called to him his twelve disciples. Why twelve? In order to show the conformity between the New and the Old …

"And when He had called unto Him His twelve disciples, He gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity." He chose twelve disciples according to the number of the twelve tribes. He gave them power, …

All faithful ministers are sent of Christ, but they that were first, and immediately, sent by him, are eminently called apostles, the prime ministers of state in his kingdom. Yet this was but the infancy of their office; it was when Christ ascended on high that he gave some apostles, Eph. iv.

And when he had called to him his twelve disciples,.... These persons had been for some time called by the grace of God, and were already the disciples of Christ, and such as were more familiar and intimate with him, than others, that went by that name.

They that humble themselves shall thus be exalted. The priests under the law were said to draw near and approach unto God, nearer than the people; the same may be said of gospel ministers; they are called to draw near to Christ, which, as it is an honour, so should strike an awe upon them, remembering that Christ will be sanctified in those that come nigh unto him.

Paul had Christ revealed, not only to him, but in him, before he went to preach him among the Gentiles, Gal. i. By the lively acts of faith, and the frequent exercise of prayer and meditation, that fellowship with Christ must be maintained and kept up, which is a requisite qualification for the work of the ministry.

And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples ... - This account of sending the apostles forth is recorded also in Mar 6:7-11, and Luk 9:1-6. Mark says that he sent them out two and two. This was a kind arrangement, that each one might have a companion, and that thus they might visit more places and accomplish more labor than if they were all together. These twelve were the original number of apostles. The word “apostle” means one that is “sent,” and was given to them because they were “sent forth” to preach the gospel.

This chapter is one of peculiar solemnity. Here is the record of the first ordination which ever took place in the Church of Christ. The Lord Jesus chooses and sends forth the twelve apostles. Here is an account of the first charge ever delivered to newly ordained Christian ministers. The Lord Jesus himself delivers it. Never was there so important an ordination! Never was there so solemn a charge! There are three lessons which stand out prominently on the face of the first fifteen verses of this chapter. Let us take them in order.

THE circumstances under which our Lord uttered these words are instructive. He saw the people thronging Him whenever He stood up to preach and He perceived that the regular instructors of the people, those who thought that they were commissioned to teach the nation, were, many of them, leading them into error. And the rest were either shamefully neglecting their duty, or were performing it without heart, zeal, or even sincerity. The poor people fainted and were scattered abroad like sheep without a shepherd, harassed by different fears and cast down by many anxieties.

THE circumstances under which our Lord uttered these words are instructive. He saw the people thronging Him whenever He stood up to preach and He perceived that the regular instructors of the people, those who thought that they were commissioned to teach the nation, were, many of them, leading them into error. And the rest were either shamefully neglecting their duty, or were performing it without heart, zeal, or even sincerity. The poor people fainted and were scattered abroad like sheep without a shepherd, harassed by different fears and cast down by many anxieties. I do not think that the circumstances under which our Lord spoke these words have passed away, but rather that we are living under precisely the same conditions. I would not willingly be guilty of uncharitableness and I bless God that there are many left in our land who are preaching the Gospel in all its purity, and with great earnestness. But still, it is lamentably true that those who profess to be the only authorized teachers are, a very great number of them, leading the people into spiritual bondage by reviving the old popish and pagan rites. And those who do preach a measure of the Truth of God too often do not preach it boldly nor simply as they should. Neither is there enough of life and earnest concern for the souls of men among them. How many, even, of our own Churches, where we think the Truth is held, have their pulpits so ill-occupied that they might almost as well be empty as filled as they are, for there is a manifest need of zeal, love and spiritual power, while the clear testimony concerning Jesus is sadly lacking. At this time the people of many towns and villages are shepherdless sheep, for whose souls no man cares. They are fainting and ready to die and no man lays it to heart.

PERHAPS YOU are aware that there has always been a certain set of persons who have tried to disprove the Gospel narrative by picking out what they suppose to be discrepancies, especially in the statements of Matthew and Luke. Four independent persons have each given us a separate story of the Life of Christ, each story being written with a distinct object. Of course, from the fact that each one was written with a distinct object, it was natural that one Evangelist should give more attention to certain points in the history of Christ than the others.

PERHAPS YOU are aware that there has always been a certain set of persons who have tried to disprove the Gospel narrative by picking out what they suppose to be discrepancies, especially in the statements of Matthew and Luke. Four independent persons have each given us a separate story of the Life of Christ, each story being written with a distinct object. Of course, from the fact that each one was written with a distinct object, it was natural that one Evangelist should give more attention to certain points in the history of Christ than the others. And it was natural for his eye to be fixed upon those things which most concerned the point which he had in hand, and for his ears to be most quick to catch those words which had a relation to the object he was driving at throughout the whole of his Gospel. Now these divergences and differences have been so many pegs upon which quibblers have hung their quibbles and these men have constantly been saying, "How do you reconcile Matthew with John in a certain place." Or, "how do you reconcile Mark, in such another place, with Luke?" It is not always easy to harmonize the testimony of four perfectly honest witnesses upon the same subject! I will venture to say that if there should be a simple accident upon the railway, and four persons present were to give their accounts of it with rigid exactness, yet they would each one be likely to mention some point not mentioned by the other, and, moreover, differ upon the points which they notice in common! Although we might be morally convinced that they all spoke the truth, yet it would be difficult to put the story together so as to make a harmonious whole of it.

This chapter is one of peculiar solemnity. Here is the record of the first ordination which ever took place in the Church of Christ. The Lord Jesus chooses and sends forth the twelve apostles. Here is an account of the first charge ever delivered to newly ordained Christian ministers. The Lord Jesus himself delivers it. Never was there so important an ordination! Never was there so solemn a charge! There are three lessons which stand out prominently on the face of the first fifteen verses of this chapter. Let us take them in order. We are taught in the first place, that all ministers are not necessarily good men. We see our Lord choosing a Judas Iscariot to be one of his apostles. We cannot doubt that he who knew all hearts knew well the characters of the men whom he chose; and he includes in the list of his apostles one who was a traitor! We shall do well to bear in mind this fact. Orders do not confer the saving grace of the Holy Ghost: ordained men are not necessarily converted. We are not to regard them as infallible, either in doctrine or in practice; we are not to make popes or idols of them, and insensibly to put them in Christ’s place. We are to regard them as men of like passions with ourselves, to the same infirmities, and daily requiring the same grace. We are not to think it impossible for them to do very bad things; or to expect them to be above the reach of harm from flattery, covetousness, and the world. We are to prove their teaching by the Word of God, and to follow them so far as they follow Christ, but no further. Above all, we ought to pray for them that they may be successors, not of Judas Iscariot, but of James and John. It is a serious responsibility to be a minister of the Gospel! Ministers need many prayers. We are taught in the next place, that the great work of a minister of Christ is to do good.

Twelve disciples - Our Lord seems to have had the twelve patriarchs, heads of the congregation of Israel, in view, in his choosing twelve disciples. That he had the plan of the ancient Jewish Church in his eye is sufficiently evident from Mat 19:28; and from Luk 10:1; Luk 22:30; Joh 17:1, etc., and Rev 21:12-14. He gave them power against unclean spirits - The word κατα, against, which our translators have supplied in Italic, is found in many MSS. of good note, and in the principal versions. Here we find the first call to the Christian ministry, and the end proposed by the commission given. To call persons to the ministry belongs only to Him who can give them power to cast out unclean spirits. He whose ministry is not accompanied with healing to diseased souls, was never called of God. But let it be observed, that, though the spiritual gifts requisite for the ministry must be supplied by God himself, yet this does not preclude the importance of human learning. No man can have his mind too well cultivated, to whom a dispensation of the Gospel is committed. The influence of the Spirit of God was no more designed to render human learning useless, than that learning should be considered as superseding the necessity of Divine inspiration.