Weekly Reflection 

 

On Friday of this week we read from MATTHEW 9:36-38; 10:1-8 

 

“Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity.” 

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Christ here lays the groundwork for what He will instruct His disciples to do at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, when He sends them into all the world to “make disciples of all nations.” In this passage, He commands them to “go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Christ is fulfilling the Davidic Covenant, which we see in 2 Samuel 7:12-16.  

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God promised David, that “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.” Christ is of the “house and lineage of David” and fulfills this promise in the Incarnation. God also tells David, in verse 13: “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” The New Covenant is not with one particular people, as the Covenant with David was. Rather, it is a renewal of the Covenant God had with Adam, with all of humanity. In the Resurrection, and the establishment of the New Covenant in Christ, He sends His disciples out, now as apostles, into the whole world, to call all people into His kingdom. 

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The word apostle means one who is “sent out.” Here, however, although they are sent out by Christ to the “lost sheep of Israel,” they remain disciples, students, rather than being given the title apostle. It is when they are sent to fulfill the commission of the New Covenant, that they will be given the title of apostle. It is also in this New Testament, that Christ gives the apostles the full measure of their authority, of which they are given a foretaste here. Here, they are given power to cast out unclean spirits and to heal disease, they are sent to restore the health, spiritual and physical, of the people of Israel and so to witness to the coming of the Messiah. 

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In sending out the apostles into all the nations, however, Christ gives them the full measure of apostolic authority, they are given the power to bind and loose sins, for example, an authority that had thus far belonged only to God.  

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Christ is a king, establishing His kingdom which encompasses all peoples. A human king, when he needs to send a message or treat with another kingdom, sends forth heralds and emissaries, who speak with his authority. Christ, in the same way, sends forth the apostles. The relationship of emissary and king is perfected in the Christ, however, and the apostles become living icons of Christ, and participate not only in His kingly authority, but also in His prophetic and priestly authority as well. The direct successors to the apostles, the hierarchs, maintain this relationship with Christ, and it is because of this that the bishop, surrounded by his presbyters, deacons, and laity, are the catholic, the complete (which is a better translation for catholic than universal is) Church.