Chapter 10

In verses 1-13 of this chapter we have the apostles to Israel [not the Church].

“And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples.” This is the first time we actually have the twelve disciples separated from the other disciples. We do not know how many hundreds of disciples Jesus actually had but there are twelve of them who now become apostles, not apostles to the Church but apostles to Israel; “he gave them authority [not “power"] over unclean spirits,” i.e. authority to handle demons; “to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Remember that all of the healing and the casting out of demons is the credit card indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ is there, and these are His representatives.

The doctrine of healing as it occurred during our Lord’s ministry

1. The ability to heal and to perform miracles was given to these disciples or apostles to Israel to indicate that they represented Messiah.

2. Healing was never used just to alleviate suffering. Never in the Bible is healing used simply to alleviate suffering. It was always designed to focus attention upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Jesus would have healed everyone in the world if the purpose of healing was simply to alleviate suffering.

4. But healing and miracles was a credit card to give the message of the apostles the stamp of divine authority and to focus attention on the gospel.

5. Salvation is more important than the alleviation of human suffering in time.

Verses 2-4, we have the roster of the apostles. The disciples of Jesus were appointed to the nation of Israel only. It just so happens that eleven of them made it into the Church. There were no apostles to the Church at this time because there was no Church at this time. The Church did not begin until the day of Pentecost ten days after Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Father — Ephesians 4:8,11. So we have to distinguish between the apostles to Israel and the apostles to the Church. There is one great distinction: in the apostles to the Church we have the same eleven brought over plus Paul who replaced Judas.

In this particular list we have them listed by pairs, the point being they went out this way, six teams going throughout Israel.

Verses 5-13, last minute instructions — briefings. When did they get their full treatment of instruction? In the sermon on the mount. Now they are getting the briefing.

To whom do you go? In verses 5,6 we have the target. Verse 5 — “Go not by way of the Gentiles.” They are to stay away from the Gentiles; “and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not.” The Samaritans are half Gentile and half Jew. Why? The gospel must go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Verse 6 — the target is identified. “But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This is an evangelistic push, they are to go to unbelievers described here as lost sheep; house of Israel indicates their race. They are to go to the Jews to announce Messiahship. Later on there will be a big push to the Gentiles but at this particular point they are to go to the Jews. Later Jesus will send the eleven disciples to the Gentiles after the Jews have been thoroughly saturated with the gospel — Matthew 28:19.

Verse 7 — a briefing on the message. “And as ye go, preach.” The word “preach” is a present active imperative and it means keep preaching; “saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven is simply the kingdom which is promised by the four unconditional covenants to the Jews. It is a kingdom which means eternal life kingdom. The kingdom of heaven means those who are going to live forever with God, sometimes called in Matthew the kingdom of God, sometimes called the kingdom of heaven, and sometimes simply called the kingdom. “Of heaven.” “Of God", simply gives a different emphasis: Kingdom of heaven emphasises being on the earth; kingdom of God emphasises heaven.

“is at hand” — perfect tense, which means it is here and it will be here. It is here in the person of Jesus Christ. In other words their message is to emphasise a person, Jesus Christ.

Verse 8 — How are they going to get a hearing for this message? The fourfold credentials: “Heal the sick.” This is to focus attention on the message. The alleviation of suffering is a by-product of healing, the purpose is to focus attention on the message of eternal life through faith in Christ; “cleanse the lepers” — present active imperative. This always raises a storm and presents credentials and is different from healing the sick in that the cleansing of lepers, as we have previously seen, involves the leper who is cleansed reporting into the temple and going through the purification ceremony which alerts the priesthood that Messiah is there; “cast out demons” means there is going to be great demon opposition and the apostles are going to eliminate the opposition by having the authority to cast out demons; “raise the dead” — this is not raise the dead, it means resuscitate those who have just died, and this will cause some people to listen. Then behind the message is the principle of grace. They are not to do this to satisfy their ego lust, they are not to perform these miracles and do these unusual things in order to receive approbation lust, the principle here is grace all the way — “freely ye have received, freely give.” You have received the power free, you give the message freely even as you have received the power to do so.

Verses 9,10 — the expense account. How will you be sustained.

Verse 9 — “Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses.” The “provide not” means do not take money along with you. The principle is: do not burden yourself with materialistic things in this particular operation. In other words, they are not going to have time to be in bondage to things so don’t be slowed down by these things.

Verse 10 — “Nor scrip.” Scrip is simply an old English word for a wallet or a bread container; “neither two coats, neither shoes” means not two pairs of shoes, one will do; “nor yet staves” — sticks used for protection from robbers and wild dogs; “for the workman is worthy of his meat [food, living, provision].” In other words, you are representing the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore you are worthy of being sustained by the people to whom you go.

Verses 11-13 — should the unsaved to whom we go support us. No. You are to go to the house of Israel with the message but you are to be sustained in these places by the believers. In other words, all of these cities have believers in them.

Verse 11 — “And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire in it who is worthy.” These disciples are to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel with the message of the gospel but when they are evangelising in a city they do not go to these people and tap them for money. They were to find out who as a believer was worthy. The word “worthy” means a believer with whom you can associate, not any believer. They are going to have to be choosy about believers with whom they stay. Those who represent the Lord should be particular. When you are doing a job for the Lord you don’t stay with any cluck believer that you have to be on your toes with and can’t relax. In other words, after they get through with all this healing and giving the message they are worn out and they have to be around someone with whom they can relax. This is a last minute briefing and Jesus is saying this: “and there abide until ye go thence [get out of town].” Stay with certain people, they will sustain you, but stay with people with whom you as a believer are personally compatible.

Verse 12 — “And when ye come into an house, salute it.” The word “salute” doesn’t really mean salute, it means to greet. This is an idiom which means you talk to the people in the houses, you have fellowship with them, you relax and have nice conversation with them, you enjoy them.

Verse 13 — “And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it.” In other words, the Lord is going to bless that home where they stay. Let your peace come upon it simply means everyone will have a good time; “but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.” “Let your peace return to you” is an idiom for get out! Move on. God will discipline that particular household where there are a bunch of self-righteous lemons.

Verses 14-28, what kind of opposition can they expect? First of all they are going to be rejected by some, verses 14,15.

Verse 14 — “And whosoever shall not receive, nor hear your words.” This goes back to their message; “when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.” What does it mean to shake off the dust? To Israel the dust of a heathen country was unclean and caused defilement. This is covered in the Mosaic law. So it was regarded like a grave, it carried the concept of death. So to shake off the dust was to pronounce a curse upon that city or that home. So they were actually told to pronounce a curse and the Lord would honour their pronouncement, which means that some of those homes and some of those cities had a rough time.

Verse 15 — “Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgement, than for that city.” “More tolerable” is a very interesting word and it suggests something to us. It means more bearable, actually, and it suggests the possibility of degrees of punishment.

The problem of degrees of punishment

Are there degrees of punishment? The answer is no, based on four principles.

1. Degrees of punishment tend to deny the literal lake of fire. There is nothing in the scripture to indicate that one part of the lake of fire is hotter than another.

2. Degrees of punishment are contrary to the doctrine of unlimited atonement: Christ died for every sin that was ever committed. Hence man is not judged on the basis of his personal sins. The basis of condemnation at the last judgement is human good, not sins.

3. Degrees of punishment destroys the issue of salvation. The true issue in salvation is faith in Christ and degrees of punishment would imply that one rejecter of grace gets less fire than another rejecter of grace. The unsaved are unsaved because they reject Christ as saviour but there are no degrees of rejection.

4. The theory of degrees of punishment is actually based on the Hegelian fallacy which says that for every thesis there must be an antithesis, and when you put the two together you get synthesis. In this case we have one of those problems where the false concept would be based upon the idea that if one person commits a terrible sin and one person performs a marvellous good they must be in different categories in eternity. They put this together and say therefore there must be degrees of punishment. But this system cannot be superimposed on the scripture.

“for that city” or “that house” means just as Sodom and Gomorrah received their judgement in time (there is no judgement for Sodom and Gomorrah in eternity. The “day of judgement” simply means the day when the land will be judged) Israel is going to be judged — 5th cycle of discipline, and it was more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than it will be for Israel in 70 AD.

Verse 16 — some practical advice. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.” How are sheep ever going to make it in the midst of wolves? No shepherd would send his sheep into the midst of wolves unless he is going to protect them among the wolves, and what Jesus is saying here is: “I will protect you sheep among the wolves,” and He is still doing it. Principle: You are sheep today among the wolves and you are going to be protected.

Now the Lord is going to protect you so what do you have to do? — “be ye therefore as wise as serpents.” This analogy doesn’t mean much to us but in the ancient world the serpent was the emblem of wisdom. In other words, you don’t have to worry about defending yourself, you have to be able to apply doctrine. How are we as sheep going to make it among the wolves? We can make it in one way only and that is by means of the application of doctrine to experience; “and harmless as doves.” “Harmless” here is not harmless, it means to be without gimmicks. The point is simply: don’t go with gimmicks, stick to divine power. Wisdom: application of doctrine to experience; harmless as doves: use divine power, stay away from the gimmicks.

Verses 17, 18 -- the nature of the opposition.

Verse 17 — religious opposition. “But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in the synagogues.” Scourging means to take persons and beat them until their skin is gone. And notice where they were going to be scourged: “in the synagogues,” the place where they worshipped. And who does it? Religion does it! Religion is the greatest persecutor of the truth, always has been, always will be. The “Council” is the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. In other words, if you don’t get a good skinning in the synagogue go up to the temple and let the Sanhedrin lay it on.

Verse 18 — political opposition. Politicians don’t like you either. “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings.” Governors are Roman governors. This is political opposition. Kings are what we call client kings, the Roman senate appointed client kings, e.g. Herod; “for my sake, for a testimony against them and against the Gentiles.”

Verses 19,20 -- what should you do in the midst of this opposition?

Verse 19 — “But when they deliver you up, take no thought.” Don’t fall apart, it would be a very bad testimony. Do not become frightened or worried; “how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.” Notice: This is not a verse of scripture for unprepared preachers who are going to occupy the pulpit next Sunday. This is for people who have been taken prisoner and it isn’t a speaking situation, it is a flexible type of thing where they are going to be quizzed. E.g. Why are you preaching about this Jesus? What’s it all about? And you are under great pressure.

Verse 20 — “For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father [the Holy Spirit] which speaketh in you.” In other words, they already have doctrine in their frontal lobes and so the Spirit will give them wisdom as to what they should say.

Principle

1. To say the right thing before political leaders will be something of an ordeal for the disciples.

2. Hence God will provide special wisdom for the situation of pressure.

3. This promise does not apply to preachers in preparation for messages, but to believers under pressure from persecution.

4. The more doctrine believers have learned, the more they have studied, the easier it will be for them to answer under pressure. In other words, to answer under pressure you have to have doctrine.

5. Verse 19 is actually a principle: God will provide for the believer under pressure.

Remember that in chapter 10 so far we have seen Jesus briefing the apostles as they go out to Israel. These are the twelve apostles to Israel, not the twelve apostles to the Church.

In verse 20 we have the principle of the power of the Spirit operational in these apostles, minus Judas of course, fulfilling their ministry. Notice that the title for the Holy Spirit is rather unusual, He is called “Spirit of your Father.” The principle is very important for two reasons. The personal pronoun, “your” indicates that this was addressed to the eleven born-again disciples as apostles to Israel. The possessive pronoun indicates that they were born again, they were members of the family of God, and therefore the first person of the Trinity was their Father. Judas is excluded here and it is important to understand this because God the Holy Spirit cannot reside either temporarily or permanently inside of an unbeliever. The “Spirit of your Father” also indicates the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Age of Israel in contrast to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age. And it is the Father who sends the Spirit on these special missions in the Age of Israel. So this is a rather technical phrase.

Verses 21-23, the intensity of the opposition. The opposition is described here in terms of loved ones, and in using the general concept of loved ones the family is brought in. It could be other types of loved ones but this is probably the more general concept which will cause a large number of people to understand.

Verse 21 — division in the home. “And the brother shall deliver up brother to death.” This is the type of opposition that the apostles to Israel are going to face; “and the father of the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.” That last phrase has a classical and horrible illustration in our day in the communist take-over of China. They actually got the children to accuse their parents in the “people’s courts” and condemn them to death. Twenty million people died this way in China where the family was the basis of their culture and where the parents were revered in a most unusual way. Very quickly, under communism, this culture broke down. Now the whole point is brought out simply by this concept: in opposition so great and so intense to teaching doctrine and teaching the gospel that it breaks down even the strongest of human ties. And the family is used in verse 21 as an illustration of human ties. When a believer becomes faithful to the truth he very frequently gets opposition from his own family. Just as soon as you fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ through knowing the Word and through doctrine then your family begins to give you static.

Verse 22 — “And ye shall be hated of all [by all, literally].” This is a periphrastic future passive, and the future tense is linear and means that believers will be hated down through the ages, only when they take a stand for doctrine. There are many believers who are not hated because they don’t care about doctrine and there are many believers who are not hated because they try to imitate unbelievers as much as possible; “for my name’s sake,” Jesus Christ, “but he that endureth to the end.” This has nothing whatever to do with eternal security. The end here is the end of the age. Jesus was speaking in the Jewish Age and the end of the Jewish Age is the Tribulation and this is a reference to the fact that this opposition would be very concentrated in the Tribulation but it is possible to survive even that. Jesus was speaking in the Age of Israel. Remember that the Age of Israel comes to a halt with the cross, the burial, resurrection, ascension and session of Jesus Christ. Then we have the Church Age, and the Age of Israel is completed (after the Church is Raptured) in the Tribulation. The end of the age is at the second advent. Enduring until Christ returns to the earth at the end of the Tribulation is possible. It has nothing to do with salvation, it means to survive, to stay alive.

What Jesus is saying by this future periphrastic is that the persecution is going to continue down through the Church Age and through the Tribulation until the second advent. Jesus will depart shortly. Then He will be seated at the right hand of the Father and then He will return, and all of that time between His departure and His return there will be supernatural, extra natural persecution and pressure as well as normal pressures. This should be no surprise to any believer. But the opposition of the type mentioned here is only for those who love doctrine, learn doctrine, and live by doctrine.

“shall be saved” — shall be delivered is the principle here. It is future tense, a logical future. If you stick with the Word it is logical that you will not only survive but you will survive in status quo happiness. If you have doctrine up in your frontal lobe then you can survive any kind of pressure, and you can have happiness. But if instead of doctrine you are operating on some self-righteous system then you are going to contribute to your own misery and you will never understand why even the members of your own family who have doctrine are not as close to you as they were before. You can count on it that there are going to be members in your family who do not understand you because they simply have never got with doctrine.

Verse 23 — the principle of evangelism. Here is the principle of evangelism in its correct concept. When you lay it on the line to people and they will not buy it, leave them. “But when they persecute you in this city.” The word “persecute” here is a Greek word which has the idea that you have laid it on the line, you have declared the gospel, they have rejected the gospel, and in rejecting the gospel they are putting pressure on you; “flee,” get out, “ye into another.” Here is the principle that life is short and therefore if people are not going to respond to the gospel, to doctrine, move on; “for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come.” “Be come” is a reference to the second advent which officially ends the Age of Israel.

Verse 24 — “The disciple is not above his master” — the master here is the Lord Jesus Christ — “nor the servant above his lord.” If Jesus Christ is going to receive opposition so will they.

Verse 25 — “It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master.” In other words, Christ communicates doctrine, they are to communicate doctrine; “and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub,” which means prince of dung, and it is a title of derision for Satan. So if they call Jesus Christ who is God and is perfect prince of dung; “how much more shall they call them of his household?” So if they call Him the worst possible names, reject Him, obviously they will reject you, is what this means.

Verse 26 — “Fear them not therefore,” do not be afraid of this opposition; “for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed.” The word “nothing covered” here has to do with obscuring the gospel. In other words, they are trying to cover the gospel. By maligning Jesus Christ they are using a simple debaters technique which is known as the name-calling device. At any time in your life when you have been faithful in witnessing for Christ people are going to call you all kinds of things in terms of derision. So there is “nothing covered.” This is done to cover the gospel, the opposition tries to obscure or cover the gospel; “there is nothing hid that shall not be known.” Connect with this 2 Corinthians 4:3,4 — “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” In other words, Satan and Satanic opposition are trying to obscure the gospel. The greatest obscuring of the gospel comes through religion. Religion is the greatest evil that ever came into this world, it is from Satan himself. And the opposition to Jesus came from religion.

Verse 27 — the believer’s message in opposition. “What I tell you in darkness” — Jesus didn’t teach them in darkness. That is not the point. Darkness means in isolation from the rest of the world. This is a present linear aktionsart, I keep on telling you [the teaching ministry of Jesus], “speak ye in the light.” And you go from “I tell you,” present active indicative, to “speak ye.” aorist tense, which refers to when they face unbelievers or when they face the opportunity of giving doctrine. The aorist tense and the active voice means that now they are going to pick up the ball, and the imperative mood means that they are commanded to give doctrine to others. What is the point? Firstly, you have to learn doctrine before you can communicate doctrine, you have to learn the gospel before you can give the gospel. Some people cannot witness because they do not understand the gospel. “Speak ye in the light.” In other words, the things that are obscure you are to lay on the line, you give them the gospel, you make the issue clear.

“and what ye hear in the ear” — this is a means of learning the Word; “that preach ye on the housetops.” Notice two categories: some are speakers, some are preachers, and the whole point is that whether you are a speaker or a preacher you have the responsibility of communicating doctrine. Preaching is the communicating of doctrine by those who have certain gifts but speaking is any believer communicating the Word.

Verse 28 — “And fear them not which kill the body.” The point is this: If you have the Word and give it out you are going to face opposition. The opposition in many cases is extra natural. The opposition will come from friends, family, loved ones. “Fear them not” is a present middle imperative. The present tense plus the negative means you should never fear them; the middle voice tells us that you are benefited by never fearing anything or anyone or any situation; the imperative mood is a command, an order. Who is able to kill the body? Almost anyone. In other words, never fear those who the most they could ever do is kill you. The idea of being afraid of nothing is the mental attitude of the believer. Part of the believer’s happiness is that he fears nothing.

“but are not able to kill the soul” — this could be anybody, even the religious opposition who could kill the body but are not able to kill the soul. It refers to human opposition, the religious crowd, the communists, etc.

“but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” “Fear him” is a reference to God. This is not killing soul and body in hell for the believer, it is simply describing the power of God and His ability as a Judge to cast into hell those who reject Christ as saviour. Notice it doesn’t say to kill both soul and body but it says to destroy. And the word “destroy” is not correct either, the word should be “ruined,” because you see the unbeliever, when he is cast into hell in the future, his body is going to be intact with his soul, and his body and soul will be ruined. This is an accurate description of hell. The word is not “hell” here, it is actually the word gehenna, which is the reference to the last hell. The person who goes into it goes into it in his human body — this is the second resurrection — and his soul, and body and soul stay intact and burn forever and ever.

What does it mean to fear him? It is addressed to believers. Obviously believers are not going to lose body and soul in hell. It means to be afraid of not using the great power that he has. We are not to be afraid of him because he can put us in hell because there is one thing that God cannot do to us as believers, He can never put us in hell. But this is referring to His power and His ability and we should be afraid of not getting this power and using this power, it is available to us. It is the same concept and same principle as found in Hebrews chapter four verses 1 and 2 — “Let us therefore be afraid, lest a promise being unclaimed of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” .We are told in Hebrews 4:1 to be afraid of missing the boat in the faith-rest technique and we are told in this passage to be afraid of missing the boat in utilisation of the power of God.

Verse 29 — protection for the believer. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?” In those days they ate sparrows; “and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [unless He permits it].”

Verse 30 — “But the very hairs of your head are numbered.” He can’t cast you into hell, the very hairs of your head are numbered and He thinks more of you than He does of sparrows. This is just to remind the believer that in the previous illustration God is not saying you can lose your salvation and be cast into fire. It is simply that that last phrase delineates, describes and characterises His great power, and we should be afraid of not getting that power. But as far as we personally are concerned as believers, this is where we stand -- illustration from the going price of sparrows.

“the very hairs of your head are numbered” — the hairs are analogous to problems. The number of hairs on your head are different each day and your problems change daily just as the number of hairs on your head change daily. The point is that God is aware of your problems and He is aware of the change in your problems.

Verse 31 — “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” .

Verses 32-33, the evaluation of the apostles. In verse 32 the witnessing ones and in verse 33 the non-witnessing ones.

Verse 32 — “Whosoever therefore shall confess me [Christ] before men.” The word “confess” here means to identify, just like it does in 1 John 1:9. To identify Christ is to tell people about Him; “before men” indicates witnessing; “him will I identify before my Father which is in heaven” means reward.

Verse 33 — Some of these believers are going to go out and loaf. “But whosoever shall deny me.” This is to fail to witness, it does not mean to deny Christ; “him will I deny” means denial of reward; “before my Father which is in heaven.”

Verses 34-39, some of the sacrifices that the apostles are going to have to make.

Verse 34 — “Think not,” do not presume; “that I am come to send peace on earth.” And this is exactly what religion has done today, it is exactly the teaching of the social gospel. There will not be peace on the earth until Christ returns; “I am not come to send peace, but a sword” .What is this sword?

The sword

1. The cross is the basis of spiritual warfare, it is the divider of the human race.

2. The source of our salvation -- the cross -- is the basis of war until Christ returns.

3. Therefore in the Church Age and Tribulation which follows Christ is a divider of people, depending upon their attitude toward Him. The division is not only believer and unbeliever, sometimes it is believer and believer.

4. This division reaches to the closest relationships in life, including the family.

Verse 35 — the family represents the principle of close relationship and Jesus Christ is a divider and sends a sword even into families. “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.”

Verse 36 — “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own house hold.” “Household” doesn’t mean family necessarily, but it could be husband and wife. Sometimes a woman’s greatest enemy is her husband; sometimes a husband’s greatest enemy is his wife.

Verse 37 — the Lord must come first and this is only possible through doctrine. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” “He that loveth” is a present active participle, but it is not the word for divine love. This is filew, love in the sense of liking. There are three words for love in the Greek, two are found in the Bible. First of all there is a)gapaw, which is divine love and is mental attitude love as well. When you have a combination of a)gapaw and filew together you have something great — to love someone and like them too; to have a fantastic rapport and compatibility. It comes with Bible doctrine and not many people have it.

Jesus is saying in this verse that “your capacity for enjoying members of the human race and your capacity and ability to love others depends entirely upon your relationship with me” .In other words, if the Lord is first and you know doctrine then you have something that is fantastic, you have the capacity to love. It only comes through doctrine.

Verse 38 — an illustration.

Problem: What does it mean to take the cross?

1. This is the first reference to the cross in Matthew.

2. This does not refer to the cross of Christ but to the Roman custom of crucifixion. It should be understood that the Romans, during their tenure over Judaea, had literally crucified hundreds of thousands of people. So the Jews here understand what is meant by taking up the cross.

3. Specifically, Rome had crucified many of the Jews.

4. It was the Roman custom for the condemned person to carry his own cross to the point of execution.

5. This passage of scripture is referring to that custom, and any person carrying a cross at any time was a sign that he was in disgrace and condemned by Rome.

6. In this context carrying the cross represents giving up the greatest things in life such as a fine family relationship because of doctrine. In other words, it is putting doctrine before anyone else. Picking up the cross is putting doctrine before anything else in your life.

Principle: When you put doctrine first your family are going to get on your back, your loved ones are going to get on your back, your lovers are going to get on your back -- whatever it happens to be. But this is the only road to happiness. So picking up the cross is walking out on the best relationships and ties in life in order that doctrine might be first.

7. The Lord was not thinking of His own crucifixion. However, there is a perfect illustration here for in going to the cross to die for our sins Jesus had to sever His own family connections. He severed His family connections in two ways. Jesus was on the cross for six hours. In the first three hours He severed His human family connections — He said to John: Son, thy mother; Mother, thy son — and in the last three hours He severed His family connections with the Father: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

Verse 39 — “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” There are four steps here:

1. “He that findeth his life.” But it isn’t he that findeth his life, it is he that findeth his soul. This is an aorist active participle. The action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the main verb; “shall lose it.” The word “find” is literally, to discover, “he that discovers his soul.” What does it mean to discover the soul? It means to enter into a family relationship of love and rapport, to enter into a marriage relationship of love and rapport. In other words, to find someone in life about whom you can say that you love the person and that you like the person, to have a wonderful relationship.

2. “Shall lose it” means to be deprived of it and this is the main verb. This is aorist active indicative. You have to find this before you can lose it. How do you lose it? By putting doctrine first.

3. “He that loseth. This step three is taking up your cross. So to “lose it” means to put doctrine before anything else, and you lose it in that sense. Doctrine becomes first, not what you love. When you get identified with doctrine everyone is going to look down their nose at you — opposition because you are now centred in doctrine.

4. “Shall find it” is a future active indicative. The future tense is used here for logical progression, it is logical in God’s plan, it follows that if you put doctrine first, if you pick up your cross, then you are going to find everything that is wonderful.

Verses 40-42, the reward of the apostles.

Verse 40 — “He that receiveth you [the apostles] receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” In other words, remember going into the city and finding the ones who are worthy? They are the believers who will receive you, they have a relationship with God, they have a relationship with me, and they will have a relationship with you.

Verse 41 — there is reward for these people. If a prophet comes and they receive him then they are going to enter in his reward whatever it happens to be. The word “righteous” here means to be the possessor of imputed righteousness, any believer.

Verse 42 — “One of these little ones” is a disciple, not a child. The principle is grace. Little ones are undeserving. The disciples are called little ones for three reasons: a. They operate on the principle of grace, they are nothing in themselves; b. The principle of appropriation of grace is stated in Matthew 23:11 under this same concept of little ones. These disciples have appropriated grace for their operation; c. Because he greatest are often referred to as the youngest, as in Luke 22:26. The same principle is used here and we will find it again in Matthew 20:27.