Let the kingdom of heaven be proclaimed! Jesus has chosen the Twelve, and their instructions are clear: Preach and heal so that the world knows the Kingdom has come. The proclamation of the Kingdom continues today, and so God continues to send and protect His disciples.
This blog post is adapted from Matthew 1:1—11:11 in the Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series.
The miracles of Jesus seen in [Matthew 8 and 9] demonstrated the authoritative power of Jesus. Every enemy and obstacle from illness, demons, and storms to even death was overcome. Now, in chapter 10, it is time for Jesus to choose His inner circle of the twelve disciples and send them out to announce that the kingdom of heaven has come in Jesus. However, despite His authority and miraculous power, Jesus’ enemies will rise up again to challenge His identity. In the end, the ministry of Jesus grows, reflecting His identity as the Son of God and Savior.
Gibbs notes that there are five major discourses by Jesus in Matthew (see Gibbs, pp. 38–47). The first discourse is the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5–7, and the second is the Missionary Discourse, 10:5–42. A two-part introduction precedes the discourse. The first, 9:36–38, describes the plentiful field for the sending of the disciples. The people were like sheep without a shepherd, and the harvest was large and waiting. The next introduction is 10:1–4, the calling of the twelve disciples. Gibbs describes the value of these introductions as the disciples are called and sent:
Matthew leads the way into Jesus’ second major discourse, His Missionary Discourse (10:5–42), with a two-part introduction: 9:36–38 and 10:1–4. Each part in its own way emphasizes that, although Jesus will be sending the Twelve to begin their ministry of preaching, healing, and casting out demons in Israel, their ministry is in reality an extension of Jesus Himself and His own work in bringing the gracious, saving reign of God into history. . . . One overarching truth, however, remains, and it brackets the entire discourse: whenever missionaries sent by Jesus conduct their ministry, that ministry is empowered by Jesus, shaped like Jesus’ own ministry, and centered in the message about the reign of heaven—in Jesus Himself. (Gibbs, 498–99)
The twelve disciples are chosen and prepared to be sent out. The disciples are an echo of the twelve tribes of Israel, while they are also the heralds of God’s new work in the Kingdom announced by Jesus. The disciples are also the beginning of the thousands of years of Christians announcing that the kingdom of heaven has come in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The disciples are sent first to the people of Israel, but that message will eventually spread to the Gentiles as well. Gibbs notes this initial focus on Israel is an answer to the needs of the lost sheep of Israel:
The salvation that Jesus accomplishes will surely suffice for all people everywhere. However, in the first place (cf. Romans 1:16), He has come as God’s true Son for God’s “son,” the lost sheep of Israel.
It follows, then, that when Jesus sends out the Twelve as the new “patriarchs” of Israel to extend His own work of preaching and driving back the power and effects of Satan, He sends them not to Samaritans or Gentiles, but to Israel’s lost sheep. Yet the Lord in His own ministry in Israel encountered and saved some Gentiles. So too there surely would have been individual Gentiles in need whom the apostles encountered and to whom they would have afforded the saving word of the Gospel and power for healing or restoration. (Gibbs, 507–8)
The calling of the twelve disciples and their being sent to proclaim the kingdom of heaven marks an important step in the ministry of Jesus. The prior chapters have focused on His extended teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and the ten miracles He performed in chapters 8 and 9. But with the rich harvest waiting for workers in [Matthew] 9:35–38, the sending of the disciples is an initial answer to the need for workers. Gibbs notes how the call to pray for workers in the harvest (9:38) is now answered by Jesus’ sending of the Twelve:
All of Jesus’ disciples, then and now, are to beseech the harvest’s Lord to send forth faithful laborers. The compassion of Jesus for lost sheep produces this command to pray; the compassion of Jesus, placed into the hearts of all His disciples, will produce this trusting prayer. . . .
Immediately in the second part (10:1–4) of this narrative introduction to the Missionary Discourse (10:5–42), the prayer that the disciples are to offer to the Father is answered by Jesus Himself. From among the unnamed larger circle of His “disciples” (9:37), Jesus now chooses a smaller number of “apostles”—“twelve” (10:2)—in order to send them out for a ministry with divine authority manifest in word and deed. (Gibbs, 499–500)
The disciples will step into dangerous work, and they might not be welcomed or believed. In that way, they will mirror the overall ministry of Jesus, as He is both welcomed and rejected, loved and hated. So the disciples will heal, cast out demons, and even raise the dead. But for all those gifts, they will also find their offer of peace thrown back at them. They are not merely gathering disciples in that single, small acreage of the harvest field but are forecasting the larger harvest to come. Gibbs describes the larger purpose of the disciples’ mission:
However, Matthew makes it crystal clear that in the most fundamental sense, the mission work of the Twelve will only be an extension of Jesus’ own ministry. They will minister in Israel with authority, but it will be the authority that Jesus has given them (10:1). Their authority will extend over unclean spirits that plague the people and over sickness and every manner of disease; Jesus has demonstrated His own authority over those very foes in chapters 8 and 9, and the apostles’ works will be manifestations of His own work. When the Twelve preach, their message will be the same one they heard from Jesus, who taught with unparalleled, divine authority (7:29). . . . At the end of this Gospel, Jesus will ground the church’s mission on the bedrock of His own authority: “All authority in heaven and earth was given to Me; therefore, go and make disciples. . . ” (28:18–19). (Gibbs, 500)
The ministry of Jesus has begun dramatically, stretching from the ancient genealogy of chapter 1 through Jesus’ birth. We’ve moved forward through the ministry of John the Baptist to Jesus’ teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. The miracles in chapters 8 and 9 restated Jesus’ authority in mighty deeds. Now, the ministry expands with the Twelve going forward to preach and teach, despite the dangers they will face. The kingdom of heaven has arrived and will not be denied.
Gibbs sums up the ministry of the disciples:
Such disciples of Jesus believe that their lives possess eternal significance. They go out with the prayer that others will receive them for what they truly are: ordained men, or laymen and women, who bear the prophetic Word now fulfilled in Jesus the Christ; righteous ones who freely give of the righteousness they have received in Jesus. Those who welcome them because they believe their words ([Matthew] 10:13–14) will not lose their reward on the great Day. . . .
No calling is more blessed than to be a herald of the Good News. Let all who are called to this work be encouraged by the words of their Master. And may those same words encourage all believers to support their pastor-heralds in ways great and small. (Gibbs, 545)
Blog post adapted from pages 83, 84–85, 86–87, 95 of Matthew 1:1–11:1, Concordia Commentary Bible Study Series © 2025 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Continue studying the Gospel of Matthew with the Matthew 1:1–11:1 Concordia Commentary Bible Study.