And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.
The Lord sends the twelve out with a message of only a few words, to announce as they travel. Their route, their hearers and their supplies are all fixed for them — so what did those few words claim, and why do we not preach them today?
The twelve carried nothing new. John had said it, the Lord Himself had said it, and one word is missing here.
In verse 7 their message is summed up in seven words. It matches what John the Baptist preached (Matthew 3:2), and what the Lord Himself preached (Matthew 4:17), except that here the word "Repent" is left out. It was a very simple message, hardly allowing much expansion or variety. They could not preach things that had not yet happened. But the promised King was present in His own land, so the kingdom was near them.
The phrase would not have puzzled the people who heard it. It came out of the prophets, and it did not describe a place above the clouds.
Old Testament prophecy, especially Daniel, made it clear that the God of heaven would set up a kingdom. More than this, the Son of Man was the person who would administer that kingdom... Such was the kingdom of heaven. It was not a mere kingdom of the earth, nor was it in heaven, but it was heaven governing the earth for ever.
The wording announces nearness, not arrival. Everything hung on Israel's answer.
Or, as it may be rendered, "has drawn near." We need to keep this in mind, as it is a key phrase in these opening chapters. Neither John nor our Lord said, The kingdom is going to be set up. In the ways of God the moment had drawn near to fulfil the promises about our Lord. He is the Son of David, Israel's long promised Messiah. It was all presented to them, but it depended on Israel whether they would accept Him or not.
This errand was narrower than we might expect, and it carried its own proof.
Not a word is said about preaching what we call the gospel, or teaching the whole counsel of God. They were to go with the power of the Messiah against Satan and bodily diseases, as a testimony to Israel. They were to declare the kingdom of heaven... But the main mark of the mission was the power He gave them over demons and diseases. How fitting this was, in connection with Israel, is obvious. It was a bright proof that the true King, Jehovah, was there. He could cast out demons Himself, and He could give that power to His servants too. Who but the King, the Lord of hosts, could do this? It was a far greater testimony than if He had kept the power to Himself alone.
Commentators are firm that this errand is not the pattern for Christian work today.
This is not a universal rule for the servants of God at all times. It was a particular mission, for a special time, and with reference to Israel only. It was not the gospel of God's grace, but of the kingdom. The two go together now; but then it was not so. Israel did not receive the testimony of the kingdom. An entire change comes in, and the outward setting up of the kingdom of heaven stays suspended. God's call now goes out to the Gentiles. That call comes in as a vast parenthesis between this message to the lost sheep in Israel and its full completion in the last days.
The same distinction is drawn simply:
We do not preach "the Gospel of the Kingdom" (Matthew 4:23). Christ and the Apostles preached that Kingdom Gospel before the day of Pentecost, and it will be preached again after the rapture. We preach "the Gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). It takes people morally out of the world and gives them heavenly hopes and destiny.
This announcement is not heard today. But the silence is a pause, not an ending.
This testimony to the nearness of the kingdom has been suspended and will be resumed at the time of the end. The disciples stand here as representative men. What is said applied to them at that moment, and it will apply to others in a similar position at the end of the age. The kingdom, as presented at that moment in Christ in person, was rejected, and so the testimony was withdrawn, as we see in Matthew 16:20.
- Near, not arrived. "At hand" means "has drawn near." Nothing was set up yet. Everything waited on Israel's answer to the King standing among them.
- Near because He was near. The kingdom was near because the promised King was present in His own land.
- Near and proved. The message was short, so power carried it. Healing and deliverance showed the true King was there, able to give His authority to servants.
- Near, then withdrawn. Israel rejected the King, the outward kingdom went on hold, and God's call of grace to the nations came in as a vast parenthesis.
- Near again one day. The mission was interrupted, not cancelled; it will be taken up once more at the end of the age.
Heal [the] infirm, [raise the dead], cleanse lepers, cast out demons ye have received gratuitously, give gratuitously.
Jesus has just called twelve men and hands them an impossible list — sickness, leprosy, death, demons — plus a rule about money. Why does the King lend His own power to messengers, and what condition comes with it?
(A note on wording: older translations read "Freely you have received, freely give." The writers quoted below use that older wording.)
The four works were more than kindness. They showed who had sent the messengers. The striking part is that He could hand His power to others.
It was bright evidence that the true King, Jehovah, was there. He could cast out devils Himself, and He could also give that power to His servants. Who but the King, the Lord of hosts, could do this? This was a far greater testimony than if He had kept the power to Himself.
These signs also show what kind of kingdom is coming — a world with the damage undone.
This is what marks the kingdom — man healed of all sickness and the devil cast out. So Hebrews 6 calls miracles "the powers of the world to come."
The commission joins two things people often separate: God's claims and human misery. Jesus did both Himself, and He sends the twelve to do both.
When the Lord went forth Himself, as in Matthew 4, He healed everyone who had diseases and torments, He cast out devils, and cleansed the lepers. But with all that He preached, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He published God's claims while He met man's need. And so now, in Matthew 10... Again I say, they were to announce God's rights and relieve man's sorrow.
Commentators add a caution here. These instructions were not a standing rule for every servant of God in every age.
This is not a universal rule for the servants of God at all times. It was a special mission, for a particular time, and it concerned Israel only. It was not the gospel of God's grace, but of the kingdom.
That boundary shows up inside Scripture itself. The seventy whom Jesus later sent out received less than the twelve received here.
The Apostles received delegated power to raise the dead (Matthew 10:8). The seventy received power to heal the sick, which included casting out devils (Luke 10:9, 17). But we read not a word of the seventy raising the dead. We find no instance of it except by the Lord and by the Apostles.
One writer tests anyone who claims this verse as his own commission today. The list is one list; you cannot pick from it.
Anyone who builds so-called faith healing on this verse is just as bound to raise the dead. His failure should convince him of his folly.
The last clause sets the character of everything the twelve do. It matches the way their Master worked.
As far as I can see, He never once claimed the person or the service of those He restored and delivered. He never treated the rescue He worked as a claim on their service... The nature of grace is to impart to others, not to enrich itself.
Because the power was a gift, no one could charge for it.
This power came from the King Himself. They had received it freely, and they were to give freely. They were not to use it for their own gain, as present-day self-styled healers do.
Does "give without pay" rule out supporting those who preach? Grant puts the duty on the hearers, not on the preacher:
This does not mean that the preacher himself is at liberty to take collections or to make any charge for his preaching. These words are for the assembly, not for the servant. They stress the assembly's responsibility to provide such support willingly — not as a salary, but as a free choice.
The principle behind the clause outlives the mission. It applies to anyone who has received anything from God — which is everyone.
To get and not to give makes a miser, whether in the natural world or the spiritual. To give and not to get makes the prodigal and the bankrupt.
But giving has a prerequisite, and it is not technique.
I must be satisfied myself, yes, more than satisfied, before I can impart to others. I cannot give away if I have not enough myself. What a test for all our hearts!... What comes from the head may please the ear and charm the mind. But it leaves the starving soul where it was before — unsatisfied, unfed.
- Received — The twelve carried nothing of their own. The power was the King's, lent to them for a testimony.
- Proof — He could pass His power to others. That said more about who He was than keeping it to Himself.
- Bounded — The commission went to Israel, for that moment. Even the seventy who followed did not get the whole list.
- Free — Grace never charges. Christ healed and claimed nothing back, and His messengers were to imitate that, not trade on it.
- Overflow — What comes free must move on free. Only a soul already satisfied in Christ has anything real to pass along.