Mt 9:35—10:1, 5a, 6-8
35Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. 36At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; 38so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.”
1Then he summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
5Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, 6“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”
Reflection
The lost sheep: In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus begins his instruction to the twelve disciples thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town” (10:5b). The evangelist writes this after seeing the missionary efforts of the early Church turn from the Jews to the Gentiles. It is easy for his pagan readers to take offense at the words, but Matthew has preserved them to show that the first Christians are aware of their origins. Moreover, the evangelist does not consider Jesus’ instruction as a permanent disposition. In fact, Jesus allows for exceptions. He ministers to the centurion’s servant (8:5-11) and the Canaanite woman’s daughter (15:22-28) and praises the great faith of these pagans. And in the end, Jesus’ final command is, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...” (28:19).
Jesus limits his mission first to the Jews because he sees it as the plan of the Father who wills the progressive unfolding of salvation, from the Jews to the pagans. At times he finds this restriction frustrating and he voices out his complaint against the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum who witness his mighty deeds but remain unrepentant (11:21-23). But Jesus conforms to the Father’s designs. It is in total obedience that Jesus brings salvation. As the apostle Paul says, “Just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).