Matthew 10:7-8

Matthew 10:7-8. And as ye go, preach Κηρυσσετε , proclaim, namely, with ardour and zeal, as becomes my heralds. The word is derived from κηρυξ , a herald. “Probably,” says Doddridge, “they were to make this proclamation with a loud voice, as they passed through the streets of the towns they went to, as Jonah delivered his message to Nineveh.” The kingdom of heaven is at hand Ηγγικεν , hath approached. Publish everywhere the glad tidings of the approach of the Messiah’s kingdom, promised by the prophets. Properly speaking, the kingdom of heaven, or gospel kingdom, did not begin till the Jewish dispensation was abolished, and therefore the apostles, in our Lord’s time, and even our Lord himself, preached the approach only, and not the actual existence of that kingdom. But though the apostles were directed to preach the approach of this kingdom, they did not yet fully understand its nature, that it was not to be a temporal, but a spiritual kingdom, consisting in the dominion of truth and grace, of righteousness, peace, and joy within men. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, &c. Perform all these miraculous cures in confirmation of your mission, to prove to men the certain truth and unspeakable importance of your message. Freely ye have received All things; in particular the power of working miracles: freely give Exert that power wherever you come, and that in a manner honourable to yourselves and me: scorn the thought of making any gain of those for whom these works of mercy and power are performed. That this clause relates to the miraculous cures which the apostles were empowered to perform, and not to the stated offices of the apostolical function, is evident from Luke 10:7, where our Lord, in giving a like commission to the seventy, bid them eat and drink what was set before them, “because the labourer was worthy of his hire.” Nay, in this very charge, no sooner did he order the apostles to give freely, than he forbade them to provide gold, &c., because the labourer, says he, is worthy of his meat, plainly insinuating that while they were preaching the gospel, they had a right to a maintenance from those who enjoyed the benefit of their labours, and should in the course of the divine providence be supplied with all things necessary.