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A paper by Charles E. Blair, composed November 4, 2003

Overview:

The Tenth Chapter of the Book of Matthew encapsulates a great deal of doctrine as it relates to the field of evangelization. Included within the chapter are numerous 'faces and hands' passages that clearly spell out the call for evangelization, the means of evangelization, and the impact of evangelization, following a series that closely parallels end, cause, and effect.

The Call:

"And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him." (Matt. 10: 1-4)1

The key to this first passage, one dealing with the call to evangelize, is a subtle shift in terminology. That shift is from the use of the word "disciple" to the use of the word "apostle." This is the first occurrence in the New Testament of the later term. The significance is important. The term "disciple" is synonymous with "learner." The term "apostle" carries a different connotation, one more in line with "messenger" or "delegate."2 The Lord therefore called them in, called them in as teacher to students, and was now calling them out, out as evangelists. To put it simply, the Lord needed them to be the agents of change in much the same way He needs us to do the same. "The Lord does every use that is good by means of man." (DLW 11:4) The end of this work, of evangelization, of this calling out, in its broadest sense, should be the same end as Divine Providence and Creation, a heaven from the human race. (DP 27)

The Means of Evangelization:

In looking at the means of evangelization discussed in this chapter, several questions are readily apparent. These questions are

1. What should the message be?
2. How should that message be delivered?
3. To whom should that message be given?

The message, as espoused in the Matthew 10: 7 is simple, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is here. It is now - "the urgency of now" to borrow King's words. As it is often stated, in that sense the Messenger and the Message were one. What is arguably more significant in this chapter is the functionality of that message, how the message is to be lived in word and deed. This message laps over into the second question, how should the message be delivered?

In answering this question, it is important to remember that the Lord was empowering the apostles to cast out "unclean spirits", "demons". He was also giving them power to heal "all kinds of sickness and disease." (Matt. 10:1) While literally true for the time, it is obvious to any New Church reader of the text that the healing of sickness and disease is a reference to spiritual diseases and sicknesses as well. Therefore the message was to be given as a way to empower the individual to overcome those evils that afflict the human condition.

The message was to be delivered in simplicity and in integrity. The Lord did not come into the world wrapped in the accruements of royalty but in the simplest of swaddling cloths. The same can be said for disciples and their 'arrival' in the world as apostles. "9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food." There are several references in the Writings to the meaning of one tunic. They were told to only bring with them one tunic because it represented that "Divine Truth from Divine Good is one." (AC 4677) The tunic is described in another passage as "truths from a celestial origin." (AC 9942)

What of that simplicity in message, the one tunic? It may be the type of simplicity referred to several times in the Writings concerning the primary truths of revelation and perception. One example is in DLW 361 where it states that those in "common perception" can see that "We are, and live, and are moved, from God and in God." "God dwells with in man in love and wisdom." "The will is the receptacle of love, and the understanding of wisdom." "God is love Itself and wisdom Itself." "Ask what conscience is and He will tell you." There are several other lists all with the common theme - religion is not complex, the message that the Lord is striving to give us simple. Our nature is what twists it, our poor choices what pull us away from its simplicity. "For My yoke is easy and My burden light." (Matt. 11:30)

Another significant component of the message was peace. "If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you." (Matt. 10:13) Peace, real peace, can only be present to the degree that we put away evils and falsities, to the extent that our "household is worthy." Peace is the Lord's Kingdom, a kingdom of mutual love. (AC 1038:2) It is the fountain of joy in heaven and is the "Divine Nature intimately affecting everything good there with blessedness." (HH 286) In a sense it is therefore the potential fountain for joy on earth. The peace given by the Lord can permeate our being. "Peace actually flows in from the Lord into the very core of individuals, and from that core comes down and spreads into their lower natures, causing peace of mind, relief of spirit, and a consequent joy." (HH 290) This type of peace is not unduly interrupted by disappointment. The Lord tells the 12 that peace is to "return to you" if the household is not worthy. For someone who treasures those things not of this earth, the return to peace is obvious regardless of temporal disappointments.

The final question - to whom is the message to be given - is likewise addressed in the passage. It is, at this point in time, to be given to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matt. 10:6) It was not to be given to the Gentiles, Gentiles being defined as those who were not Jewish.3

Who were the "lost sheep?" The word "lost" here has a heavy connotation - the individuals were really lost almost to the point of being fully destroyed.4 Yet they were still Jewish, still within the Church at that time. They were lost in the sense that they were strangers within their own church/ estranged from their church. This arguably is a faces and hands passage referring to the gathering of a remnant from which the Christian Church was to be built.

As a church specific is dying/ collapsing/ receding from the Lord, a small group is gathered together. "The true church decreases and remains with but a few." (AC 468) They form a nucleus, a seed, for the birth of the new church to come. (AC 407) It is important to note that this seed is not evil or bad. Looking at the passage it is logical that the Lost Sheep are the same group that comprise those who have a "household that is worthy", a household that is worthy of receiving peace. They may well be those in simple good, a simple good within the church, a church that is now largely dead. "Those who are in simple good acknowledge the Lord's Human is Divine, and also that in order for man to be saved the works of charity ought to be done....(AC 4754)

It is noteworthy however that the charge to evangelize is expanded beyond the Lost Sheep at a later point in time in Matthew as well as the other Gospels. This occurs with the Great Commission. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:19) A fascinating element of the Great Commission is that it did not occur until after the Lord was resurrected.

This may well be closely connected to the state of the disciples themselves. It states that on journeying to Galilee, to the mountain, "which Jesus had appointed for them" the 11, after seeing Him there, "worshipped Him but some doubted." (Matt. 28:17) Clearly, at least among some 'doubting Thomas', there still was a failure to see the Divinity of Christ, the Human made Divine, the Glorification. They could not yet see that those things foretold in the Word were fulfilled.

The change following the Great Commission was to see all the world in its potential - its potential for the spread of the Church. There is a connection here to baptism, a rite spanning many ages, states, and nationalities.

"Not only infants are baptized, but also all proselytes from other races who are converted to Christianity, both young and adult; and this too before they have been instructed, provided only they profess their willingness to embrace Christianity, to which their baptism is an inauguration. This too is what the Apostles did, as the Lord's words prescribed, to make disciples of all nations and baptize them." (TCR 677)

To carry this work of evangelization forward in its most effective form, the disciples needed to overcome doubt, needed to work in more integrity with the Holy Spirit. "After death the first thing the angels teach every man who looks to God is that the Holy Spirit is not any other than the Lord; and that "to go forth" and "to proceed" is nothing else than to enlighten and teach by the presence, which is according to the reception, of the Lord." (Doc. Of The Lord 46)

Cautions:

In striving to be messengers, to make the potential presence more of a reality to humanity, the disciples were clearly warned that the task ahead of them was extremely difficult.

There were going to be households that "were not worthy." (Matt. 10:13) They were to remove themselves from these individuals who were committed to not being receptive/ open. This removal went so far as the call for the apostles to "shake the dust from your feet." (Matt. 10:14) A shoe represents the ultimate natural. (AC 1748) Therefore to shake off the dust from their shoes was to shake off anything clinging to even the most natural elements of life from those who had no desire to hear any parts of their message. It is in essence an act symbolic of fleeing from evil.

This obviously called on the disciples to use judgment as they went forth. "Behold I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves." (Matt. 10:16) This statement is an "exhortation to prudence." (AC 3900) There are and there were 'false prophets', those who could lead others astray. To combat them, to be able to survive as sheep amongst wolves, we need to be circumspect, wary, knowledgeable while at the same time innocent, gentle and kind.

It is reasonable to assume that in the Lord's Divine Providence, Swedenborg's work in the realm of science gave him the ability to be "wise as a serpent." This is significant for modern humanity. In a great deal of the developed world, there are no longer civic sanctions against Christianity in the same sense that one would have seen them in the time of Nero for example. However, there are social sanctions, with much of Western society devaluing religion and spirituality, especially in modern Western Europe. To argue against secular humanism and to argue for the need to develop a relationship with the Lord clearly calls for being able to speak in a rational, logical fashion, one in which there is little to no division between science and religion.

An interesting side note is also the warning that the disciples would be brought before "councils", "governors and kings." (Matt. 10:17, 18) The Lord was clear that this was for His sake, that it would be a testimony "to them and to the Gentiles." (Matt. 10:18) This represents an intriguing tie into an indirect form of evangelization - by being questioned and at times no doubt ridiculed, the Lord may well effect change among at least some who are witness to it, employing Divine Providence to gently pull people towards Him. His life lived out this prophecy. Witnessing the events around His trial, crucifixion, and resurrection no doubt became instrumental in the lives of many in their receptivity of the Lord, instrumental for many even at this day.

Again, even with the gift the peace, the battle is great. The Lord is clear in this chapter that yes, there is a granting of peace and healing. There is also a clear acknowledgement that the Lord is coming with a Sword. (Matt. 10: 34) We must lose our lives, in a sense, in order to find true life.

"The Lord desires a person's total submission so that He can make them ... happy. He does not want them to be partly their own person and partly the Lord's, for then there are two masters whom a person cannot serve simultaneously." (AC 6138)

The Lord had to go through that process of "submission" of His human from Mary in order to unite the Divine with the Human. We must go through it as well.

That of course can only occur through temptation, through "the vastations of the falsity and evil in man." (AC 4843) "Regeneration is effected predominantly by means of temptation" and therefore we must take up our cross, our death as it were, and follow after the Lord. (AC 7166)

The temptations the Lord spoke of when He enjoined, "... he who loses his life for My sake will find it" give structure to true repentance. It is very significant that in chapter dealing predominantly with the call for evangelization the Lord yet again warns mankind in terms to absolute to mess the need to repent. In discussing the above verse in TCR, it is said that "... true repentance means not examining [just] what one does in one's life but also what one intends." (TCR 532) The work of repentance and the work of evangelization are not mutually exclusive. Facing the temptations in the arena of repentance and evangelization is essential.

"The Lord's Divine Providence works things out so that what is both evil and false promotes balance, evaluation, and purification, which means that it promotes the union of what is good with what is true." (DP 2)

It is hard to envision evangelization efforts not needing a sense of balance, evaluation or reflection, as well as refinement.

Closing:

We are to freely pass on the gifts the Lord has given us, however small. "And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward." (Matt. 10:42) That cup of water is "something of truth." (DP 230) The reward in the end that is promised for those who pass it on is true happiness. (DP 230)

Footnotes:

1. The Holy Bible, New King James Translation, http://www.blueletterbible.org/
2. Strong's Exhaustive Bible Concordance, QuickVerse, FINdex.com., Omaha, NE. 2000.
3. Adam Clark's Commentary on the New Testament, QuickVerse, FINdex.com., Omaha, NE. 2000.
4. Strong's Exhaustive Bible Concordance, QuickVerse, FINdex.com., Omaha, NE. 2000.