June 25, 2023 Matthew 10:16-39: Matthew’s “Missionary Discourse,” Part 2

This week we discuss the rest of Matthew’s “Missionary Discourse” in Matthew chapter 10. In comparison with Mark and Luke, Matthew has shaped the tradition about Jesus’ sending out the Twelve with a view toward instructing his own community in their own mission endeavor. In part, it serves as a challenge for them to extend the work of Jesus, and in part it serves as a warning that they will share his fate. We discuss Calvin’s treatment of one of the verses in terms of his view of humanity under God’s sovereignty. Then we discuss the question raised by Gene Boring in the New Interpreter’s Bible as to why this passage seems so foreign to contemporary Christians.