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Verse 1:"And He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority over unclean spirits, so that they would cast them out and heal every disease and every sickness." "Gave them authority." This refers to the powers of the age to come. The Lord wants the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens, so He does the things of the kingdom of the heavens.
Verses 2-4:There were twelve apostles divided into six pairs: Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James and Thaddaeus, and Simon and Judas. The arrangement in Luke 6 is a little different because the emphasis there is on the selecting; Luke 9 is on the sending.
Peter means "a rock." Most likely Bartholomew was Nathanael. "Matthew the tax collector." Only in this Gospel is Matthew specifically designated "the tax collector." Matthew recorded this in remembrance of his salvation. It seems that he was writing this with tears. "Betrayed Him" may be rendered "delivered Him up." Some say "Iscariot" is Issachar. Issachar means "one who is exchanged for a price" (Gen. 30:18). Therefore, Judas Iscariot can be rendered "Judas the trader." Judas was good at doing business; he treated his Teacher as goods. Iscariot means "a man of Kerioth." Kerioth was the name of a place in Judah. Among the twelve apostles, only Judas was from Judea; all the rest were Galileans.
Verses 5-6:Their going out this time was to work entirely among the children of Israel. Although the Israelites rejected the Lord, He still sent forth His disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom to them. Here "Israel" includes all the twelve tribes. Why does it say "the lost sheep of the house of Israel"? Because in God's eyes, in a sense, Israel is lost.
Verses 7-8:"Heal the sick...cast out demons." These are powers of the age to come. "Freely give." This means that the spiritual power of the gospel is not sold for money.
Verses 9-10:Here the word "sandals" is plural. The word for "worker" is the same as that in 9:37-38, but it is singular here.
Verse 11:"And into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy; and there remain until you depart." "Who in it is worthy" means "who in it is suitable."
Verse 14:"And whoever does not receive you nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet." To "shake off the dust from your feet" is to show that you have nothing to do with any place that rejects Christ.
Verse 15:"Truly I say to you, It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city." This shows us that God's punishment is in varying degrees. Rejecting Christ will result in a more severe punishment than committing many serious sins.
The Lord told the disciples to go out without money or bag or sandals or a staff. This principle applies to going to the house of Israel, not to the Gentiles. The principle of preaching to the Gentiles is "taking nothing from the Gentiles" (3 John 7). Either receive the provision from the believers, or provide for your own needs. This way of going out without money or staff to the house of Israel also has a time limit (Luke 22:35-38).
Here, according to the text, we also realize that this is not the principle in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles: (1) Verse 5 clearly says, "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles." (2) "Find out who in it is worthy" (v. 11). To preach the gospel to the Gentiles is to preach to those who are unworthy. (3) "If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it" (v. 13). Since the Gentiles were not yet reconciled to God, how could there be a house for which they could plead peace?
Here are several principles that can be applied today to the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles: (1) freely receiving and freely giving, (2) trusting in the Lord to supply our needs, and (3) taking nothing from those who do not receive salvation.
Verse 16:"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore prudent as serpents and guileless as doves." Here, the Lord mentioned not only the serpents but also the doves. The Lord did not say that we should be like serpents; rather, He said that we should be prudent as serpents. This means that we should not provoke others in a senseless way that causes us to suffer loss. To be guileless is to be harmless. The meaning here is that in the midst of the evil ones we need to be prudent, lest we be hurt senselessly; however, neither should we try to make gains for ourselves by hurting others.
Verses 17-20:The apostles would suffer persecution.
Verse 21: "And brother will deliver up brother to death, and father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and put them to death." For the sake of the gospel we must break the closest relationships we have on this earth. Because of the Lord's greatness men will rise up against us.
Verse 22:"And you will be hated by all because of My name. But he who has endured to the end, this one shall be saved." There are many people who are hated by others, but how many are hated because of the Lord's name? If there is no tribulation, there is no joy. There is nothing on earth that gives people joy more than tribulations (Rom. 5:3). If one does not have a heart to obey the Lord, he cannot suffer for the Lord. "He who has endured to the end, this one shall be saved." This is very different from Acts 16:31. The latter is spoken to sinners, the former, to workers. Here, to be saved may mean to be saved from the wicked ones, or it may mean to be saved in the kingdom age, that is, to receive a reward in the millennium. Here, most probably it refers to receiving the reward.
The three aspects of salvation are: (1) in the present age, (2) in the kingdom age, and (3) in the new heaven and new earth.
Verse 23:"And when they persecute you in this city, flee into another. For truly I say to you, You shall by no means finish the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes." "Flee." This is the principle for Christians in suffering persecution. It is to flee, not to resist. It is wrong to say that this verse means that the Son of Man would come back before the disciples had finished the cities of Israel. In fact, when the twelve disciples went forth to preach the gospel, they were not persecuted in such a way. Rather, many people followed them. Therefore, according to history, these things are not yet fulfilled. If we compare the situation here to that in Matthew 24, they are quite similar. Therefore, this word here refers to the great tribulation.
This was the first time the Lord sent the disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens to the Jews. After His resurrection He sent the disciples to preach the gospel of grace. During the great tribulation, the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens will again be preached, because after the fullness of the Gentiles comes, God will prepare the Jews for the kingdom. We may thus see that God's order is: from the Jews, to the Gentiles, and then back to the Jews.
Verse 24:"A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above his master." This refers specifically to sufferings.
Verse 25:"It is sufficient for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of His household!" The Lord was reproached to the uttermost. No matter how much a Christian suffers, he could not suffer more than the Lord. This gives us comfort, for the Lord knows all that we may encounter on the earth. He tells us that our sufferings are, at most, the same as His. In the name Beelzebul, Beel means either "fly" or "house," and zebul means "king" or "lord." In other words, Beelzebul means "the king of flies" or "the king of the house." Demons possess the human body, considering it as a house; they occupy the human body as the king of the house. People revile the Lord by calling Him the king of flies, and they call us lunatics.
In this portion of the Word the Lord shows us that we should not expect people to treat us well on this earth. Every time we are misunderstood, persecuted, or despised, we should remember how people treated our Lord. It is sufficient for us if we become like Him.
Verse 26:"Therefore do not fear them; for there is nothing covered which will not be revealed, and hidden which will not be made known." The word spoken here gives a principle, a formula, and does not refer to any specific situation. It is the same as Matthew 7:8.
Verse 27:"What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim on the housetops." The word spoken here is a detailed explanation and an application of verse 26. It is just like Matthew 7:7, which is a detailed explanation and an application of Matthew 7:8. Matthew 7:8 is a principle and for that reason it begins with the word "for." So it is in this section. Because of verse 26, we should practice the proclaiming mentioned in verse 27.
On the one hand, verse 26 explains the reason for not fearing. This word has two meanings: (1) What you secretly hold fast for the Lord, even if you are misunderstood to the extent that you are considered the king of demons, will be out in the open one day, for God will make it manifest. (2) The hidden hatred, jealousy, evil plots, and sins in man will also be revealed one day.
On the other hand, verse 26 states that there is such a principle. Therefore, the Lord speaks the word in verse 27. No one can be a Christian in secret. Because of such a principle given in verse 26, it is most foolish to be a Christian in secret. No Christian who denies the Lord can enter into the kingdom. We may thus see that verse 26 connects the section before with the section following.
Verse 28:"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." Those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul are people who are used by Satan. The greatest harm Satan can do is to kill man's body only. To "kill the soul" is to cause man to have no enjoyment. "Destroy," or "corrupt," refers to the suffering of punishment in the kingdom age. From verse 28 on, we know that if one commits sins after being saved, he will still receive punishment in the kingdom age, a punishment which is like that of Gehenna. "Do not fear those" here is the same as "do not fear them" in verse 26.
Verse 29:"Are not two sparrows sold for an assarion? And not one of them will fall to the earth apart from your Father." "An assarion" may be accurately rendered "a penny," meaning the least expensive. "Without your Father's permission" [this is the Chinese Mandarin Version's rendering for "apart from your Father" — Translator's note] is different from "unless your Father permits." "Without permission" implies the involvement of other parties — when men or demons try to harm us, God, who is beside us, will not give them permission. On the other hand, "your Father permits" may indicate that the Father voluntarily permits something to happen to us; it seems that God is the One who initiates it. Madam Guyon said that everything that happens to us in our environment is permitted by God. However, Jessie Penn-Lewis said that Madam Guyon was in danger of falling into passivity.
God remembers things that are so small because He cares about the smallest things, He is the greatest One. The most powerful person is also one who is most able to endure.
Verse 30:"But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." Concerning us, nothing is too small for Him to care for. The number of our hairs recorded in heaven is the same as the actual number of hairs we have. A widow once moved into a small upper room. She asked God for a carpet that was the size of her room. Eventually, someone gave her a carpet together with frying pans and skewers. She confessed that she had forgotten to pray for the last two things. Yet God had not forgotten them. This is the principle of God's counting our hairs.
Verse 31:"Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows." From this we see that even in the smallest things God is not vague about what He wants to do with His believers. Once a couple was crossing the sea together. The wife was frightened, but the husband watched the storm with calmness. His attitude so agitated her that she scolded him. The husband therefore took a knife and gestured to kill her, but the wife was not at all alarmed. The husband asked why she was not afraid. The wife answered that it was because the knife was in his hand. The husband then explained to the wife that he was not afraid of the storm because he knew that the storm was in the hand of God the Father.
Verses 32-33:"Every one therefore who will confess in Me before men, I also will confess in him before My Father who is in the heavens; but whoever will deny Me before men, I also will deny him before My Father who is in the heavens." This is a great principle. Therefore, we should witness and go forth to preach the gospel. The mistake of the believers today is that the more people oppose, the less they dare to witness. When should the lamp be lit? Does it not shine in the darkness? Should the lamp rest because the darkness is too great? What is the use of the lamp after the day breaks? God wants us to confess with our mouth. Surely our conduct also is important. But the attempt to substitute our conduct for witnessing with our mouth is not a doctrine from God. If a Christian is excluded from the kingdom, it is his own doing.
Verse 34:"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." The word for sword has the same meaning as that in Luke 2:35, which says, "a sword will pierce through your own soul," referring in particular to the emotions. "Peace" here means reconciliation, security, harmony. Since men are not reconciled to God, they are not reconciled to God's children. The Lord's coming causes every believer to suffer the pain of "a sword."
Verse 35:"For I have come to set men at variance: a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." Here is a requirement of love which is greater than loving our parents. This shows us that while we live on this earth we cannot keep peace with those who oppose Christ. If we can, it must be that we have some problem with the Lord.
Verse 36:"And a man's enemies will be those of his household." The reason here is that the Lord is their enemy. This is the issue of their jealousy. A man cannot love two persons at the same time. If he does, the loved ones will become jealous. Our loving the Lord makes others jealous.
Verse 37:"He who loves father or mother above Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter above Me is not worthy of Me." The Lord requires us to give Him all; if we give just a little less than all, it will not do. This is not a relative love but an absolute love. Our loving the Lord has to be to the extent that it causes us pain; only this kind of love will make us joyful. If we love the Lord yet do not have joy, we have not loved the Lord to the extent of giving us pain. When we are bearing the cross, that is exactly the time that we can sing. There is a line of a hymn that says, "I am captivated by the goal." If we are so satisfied with what we obtain from men, we cannot see the preciousness of what the Lord gives. If we are too close to men, we cannot sense the preciousness of the Lord's closeness.
The word "worthy" should first be applied to the Lord. Is the Lord worthy of our love? It is altogether a matter of whether or not the Lord is worthy. It is not how much we give up for the Lord, but whether or not He is worthy of our service. If we think it is a great thing for a prince to preach the gospel, we still do not know the Lord's honor and glory. Our Lord is worthy! He is worthy to receive service from all the outstanding men in this world. The Lord is qualified to receive men's absolute, complete, and unlimited love! If we do not love Him, He is colder than we are. Work always follows love. If we do not have an absolute love toward the Lord, the Lord will never commit the care of His sheep to us.
Verse 38:"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Loving the Lord is the Lord's unique requirement. To love the Lord, one must deny himself. The Lord did not mention His own cross. When He was baptized, the Lord already counted Himself to have been crucified. Therefore, here it speaks of taking the cross. To be crucified is a once-for-all matter — in His crucifixion the Lord carried us. Taking the cross is a daily matter — in our taking of the cross we carry Him. What does it mean to take the cross? It means that we submit to God from our heart. In the garden of Gethsemane the Lord determined to fulfill the Father's will; then He went forth to take the cross. Therefore, to take the cross is to determine that we want only to do God's will.
Verse 39:"He who finds his soul-life shall lose it, and he who loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it." In Greek lose is a kindred word of perish. "Finds his soul-life" is in the present age; "shall lose it" refers to the future. "Loses his soul-life for My sake" is in the present age; "shall find it" refers to the future. Thus, the condition is the same, and the only difference is in time.
In other Gospels, instead of the word find, the word save is used (Mark 8:35; Luke 9:24). The Greek word for soul-life means "soul." To find the soul-life is to allow the soul to have its enjoyment and pleasures today and not allow it to suffer. Since finding the soul-life is explained in this way, losing the soul-life must be explained in the opposite way. To lose the soul-life is to cause the soul to have no enjoyment or pleasure so that you feel that you suffer loss. This is the suffering of loss mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3. A believer once said that if one does not feel he is suffering loss, he is not really suffering loss. Therefore, to suffer loss here must be something that can be felt. Hence, to "lose" means to be dissatisfied, whereas to "find" means to be satisfied. The salvation of the soul is fundamentally different from the salvation of the spirit.
Verse 40:"He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who has sent Me." It is only when we take up the cross to follow the Lord that He would consider those who receive us as receiving Him and those who receive Him as receiving the Father. The Lord and the Father have such a union.
Verse 41:What is mentioned here is a most wonderful and glorious matter. Here, the Lord reveals the deepest intention within man. The decision one makes concerning a certain truth is an indication of his condition before God. When you receive a prophet or a righteous man, your spirit is the same as his. You are joined to the prophet's teaching, and you are also joined to the righteous one's righteousness. Thus, you will receive the reward that they will receive.
Verse 42:"And whoever gives to one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." Anything that is done for the sake of the Lord will be rewarded.
