He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.
The Lord turns from His messengers to the people who open their doors to them. A welcome given to God's servant, He says, earns the same reward as the service itself.
The phrase points to the reason behind the welcome, not to any formula spoken over it. One writer tests it against a man who hosted Jesus without ever treating Him as a prophet:
Also, if one receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, that is, as a prophet, he will receive a prophet's reward. He takes to heart God's message sent by a prophet. So he will receive a reward like that of the prophet who speaks faithfully for God. If he receives a righteous man as a righteous man, that puts him in the class of righteous man, and so he will receive a reward. If he receives him with ulterior motives, that would be quite different, of course. Simon the Pharisee received the Lord into his house (Luke 7:36), but not as a prophet (vv. 3, 34), though he admitted He was a teacher (v. 40).
Another writer weighs the exact wording used here:
A remarkable use of this is in Matthew 10:41, "in the name of a prophet." Here the phrase is not the warrant for receiving him. It marks the place he is received into — the honour due to a prophet.
A prophet here is more than someone who announces the future. One writer traces the order of verses 40 to 42, starting with Christ Himself and working down:
There is a gradation in verses 40-42. First, Himself. Then a prophet — one who reaches the conscience. He is not merely someone who foretells future events, but one who brings the soul into the presence of God… Then one who is not a prophet: if he has a heart for a prophet, he will receive the reward as if he were a prophet. It shows that it is all of grace. Then again the righteous man, and he receives the seal of righteousness.
The verse extends a principle the Lord had just laid down about Himself and His messengers:
Then He identifies Himself in the fullest way with those He sent out: "he that receives you receives Me, and he that receives Me receives Him that sent Me." This principle He now extends beyond those He is addressing… That is, where mind and heart identify someone with the prophet or the righteous man, God will identify him too. The receiver of a prophet shall be blessed with the prophet.
If welcoming a servant counts as welcoming the Lord, then turning one away counts too. One writer draws that line, and adds a test that stops it from meaning we must trust anyone who claims to be sent:
When God sends a messenger He is pleased to identify Himself with His servant… This is a solemn thing for the people of God. The reverse is also true: if a man refuses one whom the Lord has truly sent, he refuses the Lord in the person of His servant. This does not mean we should receive everyone who claims to be sent by God. The test is, do such people speak the words of God? (John 3:34.)
One writer describes a woman in Israel who took a prophet in for the sake of the God who sent him:
She received a prophet because of Him who had sent him, because he was a holy man of God — and she did it with humility and complete self-forgetfulness. So she received a prophet's reward: the gift most precious to a Jewish mother, which she had not dared to hope for, even when she first heard the news.
- Receive as. The reward hangs on what you see the person to be: welcoming a prophet as a prophet, a righteous man as a righteous man. Motives change everything.
- Received into. The words describe the place you give him — the honour due to a prophet — not a formula you use to secure a blessing.
- Received by God. Where your heart goes out to the messenger, God links you with him. His blessing reaches you too.
- All of grace. The one who is no prophet, but has a heart for one, receives the reward as if he were one. Nobody earns this; God gives it.
- Refused, and refused. The principle cuts both ways: turning away a true messenger turns away the Lord. The test is whether he speaks the words of God.
And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
Matthew 10 closes a discourse full of hard things: messengers among wolves, families divided, a cross to carry. It ends on a cup of water, and the point is not how much a person gives but who the receiver belongs to.
The ESV reads "because he is a disciple." Older translations render the phrase "in the name of a disciple." The wording is unusual in Greek, and it does not mean acting by someone's authority. It means welcoming a person as what he is.
In Matthew 10:41-42 we have the unusual phrase of receiving a prophet, a righteous man, and a disciple, "unto" each one's respective name, or as such. In English it is perhaps hard to avoid saying "in the prophet's name"; but it means receiving each one as such, and not acting in the power or authority of each, as in Christ's name.
So the cup goes to him because he is a disciple.
Verses 40 to 42 move down a ladder — Christ Himself, then a prophet, then a righteous man, then a "little one" — and the reward keeps pace at every step.
It is very sweet that the disciples are called "little ones."… There is a gradation in verses 40-42. First, Himself. Then a prophet — one who reaches the conscience, not simply someone who foretells future events, but one who brings the soul into the presence of God. Then one who is not a prophet: if he has a heart for a prophet, he shall receive the reward as if he were a prophet. It shows that it is all of grace. Then again, the righteous man, and he receives the seal of righteousness. And lastly, whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water… We may gather from this 42nd verse that many things will be rewarded — things done unknowingly, or thought too small to be worth noticing.
A cup of water counts because the Lord never separates Himself from His people. His name rests on them.
Our blessed Lord fully identifies Himself with His people. His name is put upon them. It is also entrusted to them to carry, so that they maintain His honour before men. So to receive a Christian in the name of Christ is to receive Christ Himself. And to receive Christ is to receive Him who sent Him… Whatever is done for His own is kindness shown to His name.
The cup of water is not the point in itself. It is evidence of something already at work inside.
It would be the evidence that the Spirit was at work in his soul — his heart drawn out in mercy toward those who are of God in this world, and in sympathy with them. He should in no way lose his reward. It is the outward conduct springing from the inward principle.
Nothing here promises repayment now. The Lord settles the account later, at His judgment seat.
Reward is never an adequate motive for the saint. But it is set before faith as an encouragement to be true to the Lord. On the other hand, the unfaithful will lose it. The kingdom is the sphere where the Lord will take account of both, when everything is brought to light at His judgment seat… Even a cup of cold water given to one of the Lord's little ones in the name of a disciple will not be forgotten in that day. What a Lord we have to serve! Who but He would think of recognising anything of such little account?
Because the Lord promises a reward, it is easy to start calculating. But the two motives are not the same, and they do not end the same way.
Love rewards, but working for reward and working for love are entirely distinct. The labourer in the vineyard who worked for his penny gained his penny, but he did not obtain the smile of his master. It is the Christian's happy privilege to work for love. It will be the joy of the Master to remember every service.
- Name. The cup goes to the man as a disciple, because he belongs to Christ.
- Link. Christ has tied His own name to His people, so kindness shown to them is kindness shown to Him.
- Grace. The scale runs down from Christ to the smallest "little one," and the reward keeps pace. It rests on grace, not on the size of the service.
- Evidence. The outward cup of water shows an inward work; the Spirit moves the heart before the hand moves.
- Day. The reward waits for the judgment seat, where even forgotten acts come to light. Love, not the reward, makes service a joy now.