B. Declarations of the King’s presence 9:35-11:1
The heart of this section contains Jesus’ charge to His disciples to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom (ch. 10). Matthew prefaced this charge with a demonstration of the King’s power, as he prefaced the Sermon on the Mount by authenticating the King’s qualifications (cf. Matthew 4:23; Matthew 9:35). However there are also some significant dissimilarities between these sections of the Gospel. Before the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus separated from the multitudes (Matthew 5:1), but here He has compassion on them (Matthew 9:36). Then He ministered to His disciples, but now He sends His disciples to minister to the multitudes in Israel. The Sermon on the Mount was basic to the disciples’ understanding of the kingdom. This discourse is foundational to their proclaiming the kingdom. Jesus had already begun to deal with discipleship issues (chs. 5-7; Matthew 8:18-22; Matthew 9:9-17). Now He gave them more attention.
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