Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. (Matthew 9:35-10:8 NRSVUE)
Movements (political, religious, or otherwise) begin with a core group and, if they are going to survive, fan out. Jesus’ mission to bring God’s Realm on Earth as it is in Heaven could be seen as such a movement. He practices a prefigurative politics of eating with outsiders, healing the helpless, and raising the dead. Since Jesus is only one person, he sends out his recently minted disciples to spread this mission of the Good News by performing the same kinds of acts. In Matthew, in particular, Jesus instructs the disciples to go only to Jewish towns and villages, skipping those with Gentiles and Samaritans. This could raise some red flags for our modern sensibilities. Yet, isn’t this how most movements begin? Insiders and those most similar are invited into the movement first, and then, if meaningful and urgent enough to others expands to those beyond the insiders. The expansion of God’s Realm in Matthew is built slow and steady, an example we have much to learn from.
The Occupy movement, at least in Philadelphia, was organized by affinity groups. These groups were based on one’s identity or ideology, and each group had a spokesperson. It was pitched to me as the spokes of a bicycle wheel, with each spoke working together to keep the bicycle upright and moving. The spokes council would reach agreements by consensus. It was arduous and time-consuming, and ensured no question went unanswered. In the affinity groups, one did not forsake identities or ideologies, but showed up as all of who they were. Other examples of this appear in past movements. Activist Fred Hampton had an expansive politic of all power to all people. This gave those of different racial identities permission to accept and thrive in their own identities while still working toward a common goal of liberation for all. More recently, the Poor People’s Campaign and the Moral Monday Movement, led by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, call for coalition-building among groups based on class, labor, and ideology. Movements, if they are going to be effective, start with where people are at and build outward.
The pericope begins “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages…” Jesus indiscriminately heals, teaches, proclaims the Good News, and offers compassion to anybody and everybody he encounters, especially the “harassed and helpless.” This Jesus is often preached about in mainline churches: the Jesus of reckless love and compassion. This is the Jesus whom congregants are invited to emulate and follow in the way. “The harvest is plentiful,” Jesus says, “but the laborers are few.” The invitation to spread compassion and care is embedded in this statement. The movement leader of God’s Realm practices the way through proclamation in word and deed.
Yet the instruction to the disciples is not to be careless in healing, traveling to any and all villages, but specifically to attend to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Let me note that in the other Synoptic Gospels, when Jesus sends out the Twelve (Mark 6:6-13) or the Seventy (Luke 10:1-12), no village or road restrictions are specified. Matthew, though, rooted firmly in the Jewish tradition, as seen throughout his Gospel, has Jesus instruct the disciples to go to villages not unlike those they grew up in. As I’ve already stated, movements often start where people are at. We might assume the disciples had friends or friends of friends in these villages, which might have made it easier to spread the Good News. Thus, the spark of God’s Realm would’ve started with the disciples’ friends of friends, and continue as a wildfire in these communities.
Warren Carter presents another take on the “lost sheep” in the Illuminations commentary. He suggests that the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” could be interpreted in a few different ways. This line could be all of Israel, which is the most common interpretation. But it could also be a continuation of Jesus’ healing of the harassed and helpless, but for the disciples, it meant finding these “lost sheep” in Jewish villages.(1) Perhaps then the “lost sheep” are more nuanced than what we may have assumed. This line shows up again when Jesus speaks to the Canaanite woman. He will confirm that he was sent “only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (15:24). That is, until just four verses later, he heals her daughter of demon possession. Perhaps missions are one part of the whole, and not the whole in themselves.
This mission for the “lost sheep” demonstrates a preference for those whom the disciples could already relate to, speak the same religious language with, and share a similar disposition toward life. This insider/outsider understanding of text still seems relevant in faith communities. The people groups have changed, yet the conversation points have remained the same. Whether the debate is about LGBTQIA+ inclusion, bemoaning the lack of Black, Brown, and other skin tones in mainline worship spaces, whether noisy children are allowed in the sanctuary, or the introduction of programs that seek to provide resources for those who are lower income or immigrants, these questions are as old as Scripture itself. I’ve come to the conclusion that the mission today must be to both insiders and outsiders. One must care for, educate, and love on one’s own, as the disciples in Matthew were told to do. We create better neighborhoods by getting to know our neighbors and taking steps to build greater connections.
At the same time, the mission does not stop merely with one’s own, but must seek to be beyond one’s community. The ways of solidarity, deep listening, and following the guidance of community leaders will create inclusive, mutual bonds. Yet they are not created overnight, but are fostered with discernment, prayer, and intention. The movement of God’s Realm was preached to those who could relate to and understand it, and by the end of Matthew, the mission expanded to all nations (28:19). Movements are meaningful and effective when they are cautiously spread, often by word of mouth, and in the case of this passage, through the care and compassion shown to the harassed and helpless.
