Matthew 10:14-16

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:16

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves - He who is called to preach the Gospel is called to embrace a state of constant labor, and frequent suffering. He who gets ease and pleasure, in consequence of embracing the ministerial office, neither preaches the Gospel, nor is sent of God. If he did the work of an evangelist, wicked men and demons would both oppose him. Wise ( φρονιμοι prudent) as serpents, and harmless as doves - This is a proverbial saying: so in Shir... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:14

Verse 14 14.And whoever will not receive you. This awful threatening of punishment against the despisers of the gospel was intended to animate his disciples, that they might not be retarded by the ingratitude of the world. He directs the apostles, indeed, what he wishes them to do if they meet with despisers. But his principal design was that, wherever their doctrine was rejected, their well-founded grief and distress might be relieved by consolation, that they might not fail in the middle of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:15

Verse 15 Verily, I say to you That they may not imagine this to be an idle bugbear, (578) Christ declares that those who reject the gospel, will receive more severe punishment than the inhabitants of Sodom. Some view the word judgment as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem. But this is foreign to our Lord’s intention: for it must be understood as referring to the general judgment, in which both must give their account, that there may be a comparison of the punishments. Christ mentioned... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 10:16

Verse 16 The injunctions which Matthew has hitherto related had no farther reference than to that former expedition or commission, which was to be terminated in a few days. But now Christ proceeds farther, and prepares them for a future period, by informing them, that they were not merely chosen for that brief exercise of preaching, but that an office of greater difficulty and of far higher importance awaited them. Though they were not immediately brought into those contests of which Christ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:1-42

The "commanding" of the twelve. This was a grand historic occasion indeed. The honoured but ever-comparatively feeble and now dimmed, dying, or dead schools of the prophets are to be succeeded by a scion of Christianity that marks at one and the same time its noblest and most amazing human institution, and Heaven's most condescending gift and human trust. Now begins "the great company of preachers" of the New Testament. They began with twelve;. they very soon grew to seventy; and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:2-15

Christ's charge to his apostles. After a night spent in prayer, Jesus called his twelve disciples and constituted them into an apostolic college. With his commission he gave them his charge. Notice— I. THE PERSONS COMMISSIONED AND CHARGED . 1 . They were twelve in number. 2 . Their names are given in order. II. THE CHARGE . 1 . As to the apostles preaching. (a) Not to the Gentiles. (b) Not to the Samaritans. (c) They were to limit their... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:5-15

The external conditions of conveying Christ ' s message , with special reference to the immediate occasion. Our Lord points out (a) the sphere of their work ( Matthew 10:5 , Matthew 10:6 ); (b) the substance of their message ( Matthew 10:7 ); (c) its accompanying signs ( Matthew 10:8 ); (d) the external means and methods that they should employ ( Matthew 10:9-15 ). read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:5-15

The Lord's charge to his apostles. I. DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR IMMEDIATE MISSION . 1 . It leas to be confined to the house of Israel. This was a temporary limitation; it was wholly removed at the ascension. The Lord himself entered into the city of the Samaritans; lie healed the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman. But for the present the apostles were to preach only to the Jews; it was necessary that the gospel should be first offered unto them; they were the covenant... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:13-14

The responsibility of opportunity. This direction may be stated in a plain way thus: "Give every man a chance, and let it rest with him whether he takes advantage of it." Moral work can never be done by force. Persuasion of will there should be; constraint of will there should never be. The gospel is to be preached, proclaimed, heralded, to all nations, but it must rest with men themselves whether it shall prove to them a "savour of life unto life, or of death unto death." Here our Lord... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 10:14

Parallel passages: Mark 6:11 ; Luke 9:5 (the twelve); Luke 10:10 , Luke 10:11 (the seventy). And whosoever shall not receive you —on your formal request as heralds of the kingdom— nor hear your words ( Matthew 7:24 , note), when ( as , R evised Version, Luke 10:12 , note) ye depart ( go forth , Revised Version) out of. At the moment of going out (cf. Luke 10:12 ), ἐξερχόμενοι ἔξω ( Matthew 21:17 ; Acts 16:13 ), in this case finally. That house... read more

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