Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or brass, for your belts,
Jesus sends out His twelve closest disciples as the King's messengers. The first thing He does is empty their pockets. Why would Jesus forbid His own workers to carry the very money that would make the journey easier?
The "belts" of the verse were not decoration. They were where a traveller kept his cash.
A bag for money or weights. Proverbs 1:14; Isaiah 46:6; Luke 10:4; Luke 22:35-36; John 12:6. In Matthew 10:9 and Mark 6:8, it refers to the belt, part of which served as a purse.
This instruction belonged to one errand at one moment in time.
That is, they were to go just as they were, with the coat they had on, with the shoes they had then on their feet. They were not to provide anything, or to lay up any store as a means of support during their mission. This is not a universal rule for the servants of God at all times. It was a mission of its own kind, 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 they did not.
They were walking into towns that already claimed to belong to God — and those towns owed His messengers a living.
They were to take no supply, whether of money or clothing. They were not going out into a heathen world. They were going among people who claimed to acknowledge God, and they came with His message. They also travelled under the guardianship of the King their Master. So they had a right to expect the support owed to His workers.
Jesus Himself pointed back to this trip later on. The same pattern ran through His own life.
The Lord refers to this sending out of the twelve in Luke 22, when He says, "When I sent you out without moneybag or knapsack, did you lack anything?" In fact, for others, there was always plenty in the presence of the Lord. He provided them with everything needed. We never read of the Lord Jesus having any money. On one occasion, when He wanted a coin, He said, "Show me a denarius." When the temple tax collectors wanted the two-drachma tax, He told Peter to go to the sea and cast a hook. Peter was to take the first fish that came up and open its mouth. There he would find a shekel — "take that and give it to them for me and for yourself." His was a life of perfect dependence.
The order did not stand forever. Jesus Himself later withdrew it.
Then the Lord tells them to provide themselves now with purse, bag, and sword. The very things they were not to do before, they were to do from that time. The Lord cancels what He had earlier commanded, as far as the special circumstances were concerned. His goodness and love to them would remain, and so would their walk in wisdom and harmlessness. But the special character of this mission ended at the death of Christ.
One principle still carries over. What they received for nothing, they had to hand on for nothing.
Some well-meaning people have tried to follow these commands to the very letter. But the servants of Christ were never meant to follow them literally during this age. However, two principles in these words find their application in this age. They had received the message and the power for free, and so they were to give it. The gospel is to be free, without price and without money. This principle holds good at this time. What a great failure this is in Christendom! There we find a salaried ministry, pew rents, and fairs and entertainments to raise money for building churches and other things.
Travelling light kept them quick. It also kept their appearance from getting in the way of their message.
These instructions of the Lord all point to the simplicity He wanted to mark His servants. Having no luggage let them travel faster. Their work was among the simple country people of Galilee. There, signs of wealth would have made people less ready to receive their preaching. Besides, if they had two coats, would it not have been their duty to give one to the man who had none?
- Sent. The purse was the belt; the twelve left with the coat and shoes they had on, provided with nothing at all for the road.
- Stripped. The command belonged to one errand — the kingdom announced to Israel — not to every servant of God in every age.
- Supplied. They went among people who owed the King's messengers their keep. They also travelled under the guardianship of the King Himself, and they lacked nothing.
- Changed. Jesus Himself later reversed the order and told them to take purse and bag. The special mission ended with His death, but His care for them did not.
- Free. One principle outlives the empty belt. They received the message and the power for nothing, so the gospel must still go out without price.
nor scrip for the way, nor two body coats, nor sandals, nor a staff for the workman is worthy of his nourishment.
Jesus sends the twelve out with empty hands. No money, no spare clothing, no travel bag. His reason is one short line about a worker and his food. That raises two questions: why send them out with nothing, and what claim does a worker of God have?
Older English translations use "meat" for food here. They also put "staves" in the plural. That has puzzled readers, because Mark's account allows a staff. One writer takes both points together:
The word "meat" in verse 10 means food or nourishment. How simplicity is stamped on the instructions given here! They were to be free from all anxiety. Some have been puzzled by the words "nor yet staves" here, while another passage allows them to take a staff. We know there is nothing contradictory. In this case the Lord says, "Provide not" — that is, they were not to go and get one, but if they had one, they could take it (Mark 6:8).
The empty hands were not poverty for its own sake. The twelve went to people who already claimed the God whose message they carried. That gave them a right to expect support.
They were to take no supply, whether of money or clothing. They were not going out into a pagan world, but among people who claimed God as their own, and they carried His message. They were under the protection of the King, their Master. So they had a right to expect the support due to His labourers.
Another writer reads the order literally — and then marks its limits.
That is, they were to go just as they were, with the coat they had on, with the shoes they then had on their feet. They were not to provide anything, or to lay up any store as a means of support during their mission. This is not a universal rule for the servants of God at all times. It was a special mission, for a special time, and with reference to Israel only.
Matthew records "food"; Luke's parallel says "wages." The difference is not a slip but a fuller provision.
The labourer is indeed worthy of his food, and of his wages. There are other necessities beyond food, and the Lord forgot none. This twofold statement makes it plain (Matt. 10:10, Luke 10:7, as cited in 1 Tim. 5:18). So the apostle declares (1 Cor. 9:14) that the Lord ordained that those who preach the gospel should live by the gospel. The law had done the same before for those who served at the holy things.
Jesus Himself came back to this commission later and reversed its terms.
In Luke 22:35, referring to this very mission, the Lord asks, "When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." Then He tells them to provide themselves with a moneybag, a knapsack, and a sword. The very things they were not to do before, they were to do from that time. The Lord cancels what He had earlier commanded, as far as the special circumstances went. His goodness and love to them would remain, and so would their walking in wisdom and harmlessness. But the particular character of this mission ended at the death of Christ.
One principle from that mission still belongs to this age. It concerns where the servant looks:
Trust in the Lord, who sends out the labourer, is another principle which belongs to this age as well. All disappointment and discouragement for the servant of Christ comes in when he looks not to the Lord but to man. The Lord never disappoints. "And He said to them, When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything? They said, Nothing" (Luke 22:35). The Lord who calls His servants and sends them out always keeps them when they walk in simple dependence on Himself.
The other side is the duty of those who receive the message.
This was not merely a man's word: the law spoke in exactly the same way. Deuteronomy 25:4 established the principle with a humble working animal. The temple service and the Jewish altars put it into practice too. Finally, the Lord Himself ordained it for the present time, as Matthew 10:10 and other passages in the Gospels show. The principle is overwhelmingly established. Let all who love the Lord be very careful not to neglect any true servant called by Him to His service. If we do so we shall be flying in the face of His word, and we ourselves shall be the great losers.
- Sent — the twelve went exactly as they stood, with nothing stored up. The King who sent them was their protector.
- Supplied — "food" in Matthew and "wages" in Luke together cover the whole need; the Lord left nothing out.
- Special — the ban on money and spare clothing belonged to one mission to Israel, not to every servant in every age.
- Superseded — before the cross Jesus reversed the terms Himself. He told them to take the moneybag and knapsack He had once forbidden.
- Standing — the worker's claim to support outlived the mission. The servant looks to the Lord; those who love the Lord must not neglect the servant.