[Machine transcription]
In the name of Jesus, amen.
Dear Saints of God, we have this beautiful text today,
the gospel according to Saint Matthew chapter 9 and 10,
and especially the sending that Jesus does
of his disciples out into the cities before him
to preach the gospel, the coming of the kingdom of God,
to heal the sick, to raise the dead, to cast out demons.
We’re going to pull out three particular things from the text this morning.
The first is a bit of a riddle, because Jesus says, as he sends out the disciples, these
words, Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter the city of the Samaritans,
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now how is it that this mission is so limited in its scope or how are we
supposed to take it when we compare this sending in Matthew chapter 10 with the
sending that Jesus gives to his disciples in Matthew chapter 28 where he
says go unto all nations go he says and make disciples of all the nations and
And that word nations there is the same word that is used in this text for Gentiles, ethnos.
Jesus says here, don’t go into the way of the ethnos, but in Matthew 28, go and make
disciples of all the ethnos, all the nations.
Now what accounts for the difference here, the sending in Matthew 10 and the sending
in Matthew 28?
It could be merely practical.
I mean, if Jesus would have at this point, in Matthew 10, sent the disciples out unto
all the world, they might not have made it back in time for the Last Supper, in time
for his death and resurrection.
They were being prepared and so they were going before Jesus and Jesus was going to
gather them back up so he could continue to teach them.
So it could have just been practical considerations, but I think there’s something more going
on here.
I think there are theological considerations
for us to think about today.
Namely this, there is a completely different status
of the nations after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
We remember, the Bible tells us that Jesus in his death
destroyed the one who had the power of death,
that is the devil.
That’s Hebrews 2.14, that just as we partake
of flesh and blood. So Jesus partook of the same, so that through his death he
might overcome him who had the power of death, that is the devil. Jesus tells the
story in Matthew and Mark and Luke. He tells the parable of the strong man. He
says, when a strong man, fully armored, sits over his goods, all of his stuff is
at peace, but when a stronger than he comes, he binds the strong man and then
he loots his house. And that story, that parable, is Jesus explaining how he
interacts with the devil. The devil is the strong man. His goods that are in
peace, that’s you and I and all sinners. But when Jesus comes, the stronger man, he
binds the devil so that he can loot us, so that he can rescue us, so he can
redeem us, he can take us back, transfer us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom
of his glorious light. Revelation gives us the vision of this binding of the strong man
in a very profound way. John says in Revelation 20 that he saw an angel coming down from heaven
with a great chain and he bound the devil and he threw him into the bottomless pit so
that, and here’s the key for this text, Matthew 10, he threw the devil into the
bottomless pit so that he would deceive the nations no longer. In other words,
the picture is, before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the devil has the
nations of the world trapped, deceived, and in darkness. But as soon as Jesus
dies and is raised from the dead, that bondage, that demonic bondage on all the
nations has been broken. And now the gospel is going into all of the world, to
the ends of the world. I like to picture it like this, if you can see if this
works for your imagination like it does for mine. You know they have these
satellite pictures of the world from space at night.
And as you look at that, you can see where the oceans are
and where the land is,
because you can see the lights of the cities.
So you can see all along the East Coast,
all these bright lights, and all along the West Coast.
And you can see where the big cities are
and where no cities are.
It’s like a map of civilization.
That’s where things are lit up.
I saw a picture of it that contrasted North Korea and South Korea and South Korea is lit
up like a Christmas tree and North Korea is dark like this, so you can just, you can see
where electricity is and where light is and where people are.
Okay, so if you got the picture, if you’ve seen that before, now imagine a map or a globe
like that, but instead of the lights being where the cities are, the lights are where
people believe.
There’s a little light, a little pin of light wherever there’s Christians, wherever there’s
those who call on the name of the Lord.
Now imagine what the map looked like 20 years before Jesus was born.
I mean, there’s a little light in Jerusalem where Zechariah and Anna and where the faithful
are waiting.
there’s a little light up in Galilee
where the faithful few families are expecting the Messiah.
There’s little lights here and there, here and there,
but most of the world is darkness.
But then imagine that same map, that same globe,
20 years after Jesus ascends into heaven.
And now the church in Jerusalem,
Jerusalem is starting to glow,
and Galilee is starting to glow,
and Judea is starting to glow and Samaria even.
And the Ethiopian eunuch has taken the light down
to Ethiopia and to Egypt.
It’s spreading over there to North Africa
and up to Damascus and Syria and even Antioch.
And it’s starting to spread.
And then the missionary journeys of St. Paul,
it starts to spread out into the islands
and onto Asia and to Greece and even onto Rome.
And the light is starting to spread out
Because, and this is the key, Hebrews 2 and Revelation 20,
the devil is in bondage so that he would deceive the nations no more.
So that Jesus claims people from every tribe and every tongue and every nation under heaven.
Glorious.
That’s point one. Now, point two.
Jesus sees the world as a field of wheat ready for harvest
and not as a battlefield.
I want to lean into this a little bit
because we want to see with the eyes of Jesus.
Jesus says,
chapter 9, verse 37,
The harvest truly is plentiful,
but the laborers are few.”
Our Lord Jesus looks out at the world,
he looks out at all the people that are around him then,
and he looks out at all the world now,
and he sees the world as a field of wheat
ready to be harvested.
Now, what do we see?
I think, and maybe I’ll just speak for myself,
but I don’t think I’m far off on this.
I think that we Christians look out at the world
and we see a battlefield.
We see opposition.
We see enemies around every corner.
We look at history this way.
We remember when the churches were full.
We remember when people were,
seemed like everybody was
gathering around their radio
to listen to the Lutheran Hour.
We remember when the culture
seemed much more friendly
to the church,
and we see the change, the last 50 years, the last 80 years.
Perhaps we see this, or we have some sense of this,
that not long ago, in our own American context,
in our American culture, not long ago,
to be a good person and to be a Christian
were the same thing, or at least they were,
they were right next to each other.
But now, and this change has come quickly,
but it has come, to be a Christian
is not to be a good person,
but to be a bad person.
To be a Christian is considered at best neutral
and normally is considered immoral
to our secular culture.
Just consider for a moment the arguments
that are brought against Christians and Christianity.
I heard all of these in the last week.
The Bible supports slavery.
The Bible supports patriarchy and the oppression of women.
The Bible supports homophobia.
The Bible is against environmentalism
and doesn’t care for the world.
The Bible teaches people
to be intolerant of other people.
Those are the arguments
presented against Christianity,
and they are moral arguments.
They are making the claim that if you believe this stuff
that the Bible teaches, then you are a bad person,
an immoral person.
And as the church is hearing this argument,
or maybe even less, just sort of sensing this,
then you worry, then we worry,
and we look out through the stained-glass windows at the world around us
and we see the tips of the spears
and the barrels of the guns pointed in at us
and the result is what?
That we’re fearful, that we are defensive.
Now, Jesus knows about this.
Jesus knows that we are like sheep in the midst of wolves.
That’s what he says.
I’m sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves.
You say, well, thanks a lot, Jesus, for that.
But even though Jesus knows that the church, that the Christian is persecuted by the world
and by the devil and even by our own sinful flesh, even though Jesus knows that the church
which is set in the midst of so many troubles,
he still does not see the world as a battlefield,
but as a field ripe for the harvest.
Jesus looks, even in his own day,
at those who would be his enemies
and sees that they are ready
to become his followers and his friends.
Now consider, just as an example, consider St. Paul.
Remember St. Paul? He was there at the stoning of Stephen. He was watching the
jackets of all the guys who took their jackets off so they could have more arm
motion so they could stone Stephen better in Jerusalem. And he had papers
to persecute the church and he was locking everyone up. He was putting
people even to death. So he had papers from the Sanhedrin to go up to Damascus
to arrest the people, all those who claimed to be Christians, the husbands,
the wives, even the children, and throw them into jail. If there was anybody, if
you just kind of paused there, right before the Lord Jesus met Saul on the
road to Damascus, just pause and you ask, who is the enemy of the church? Who is
the farthest person from being a Christian? Who is the least likely person
to end up as a pastor? You know who’s on the top of that list is St. Paul. And yet
The Lord Jesus did not see him as an enemy.
He saw the field ripe for harvest.
So consider this, this is Acts 9 starting in verse 11.
This is when the Lord Jesus goes to Ananias in Damascus
and tells Ananias to go find Saul
to baptize him and preach to him.
I’ll start at verse 10.
there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias and to him the Lord said
in a vision Ananias and he said here I am Lord so the Lord said to him arise
and go to the street called straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus for behold he is praying and in a vision he has seen a
man named Ananias coming and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his
sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord I have heard from many about this man, how much
harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem and here he has authority
from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to
him, go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings,
and the children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer
for my namesake.’ And Ananias went his way and entered the house and laying his
hands on him he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the
road as you came sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with
the Holy Spirit. Ananias was looking at Saul as the enemy, as the one who was going to
come and arrest him and throw him in jail. But Jesus looks differently. Jesus has a different
set of eyes. And dear saints, I believe that this text is inviting us to see the world around
us as Jesus sees it. To understand the world around us as Jesus understands it. To look
out at the world, and all the people in it, those who we would normally see as enemies
of the confession of Christ, and enemies of the truth, those who are resistant to the
good news of the church, to see them as ready for the harvest. To understand that all the
people who are out there are in one stage of another, of being pre-Christian, or pre-Lutheran
And even better, to see all the people out there as Jesus sees them, as people who are
ready to believe, ready to be called by the gospel, ready to be baptized, so that we would
lift up our eyes and see what Jesus sees, fields ready to be harvested.
God be praised.
Now maybe one more last, shorter third point.
And it is to remember this, that whenever we’re talking about evangelism,
Christians confessing their faith before the world,
Christians going out into the world and bearing the name of Jesus before the world,
we are talking about the law. It is what we are supposed to do.
But I want you to remember this, that before Jesus sends you out into the world
to confess his name, he has had his name confessed to you.
Before he tells you to lift up your eyes to the harvest,
he reminds you that you are part of the harvested,
that he has already gathered you in his name and into his kingdom.
Before he tells you to look at the world
and see all those who are to be rescued
by the forgiveness of their sins. He wants you to know that you are the
rescued. You are the redeemed. You are the delivered. You are the ones who are
covered by his blood. You are the forgiven. You have been gathered in by
the gospel, and that is our joy. That is our peace. That is our comfort. That is
That is our wisdom, that is our life, and our hope, and our confidence.
We know that Jesus would have his name confessed to all the world, but we rejoice that Jesus
has had his name confessed to us.
That when Jesus lifted up his eyes and saw the field ready for harvest, he saw you and
And he called you by the gospel, and enlightened you with his gifts, and he sanctifies and
keeps you in the true faith.
God be praised.
So may this, the eyes of Jesus, and the coming of the kingdom, be our confidence, our joy
and peace.
In the name of Jesus, amen.
And now may the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your
hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
