Matthew 10-20: On the Road with Jesus

by Kevin Perrotta, Kevin Perrotta (Editor)

Overview

In the book of Matthew, Jesus teaches his disciples, and us, how to follow him. Matthew 10-20: On the Road with Jesus brings to life the teachings of Jesus as found in the book of Matthew.

A Guided Discovery of the Bible
The Bible invites us to explore God’s word and reflect on how we might respond to it. To do this, we need guidance and the right tools for discovery. The Six Weeks with the Bible series of Bible discussion guides offers both in a concise six-week format. Whether focusing on a specific biblical book or exploring a theme that runs throughout the Bible, these practical guides in this series provide meaningful insights that explain Scripture while helping readers make connections to their own lives. Each guide
• is faithful to Church teaching and is guided by sound biblical scholarship
• presents the insights of Church fathers and saints
• includes questions for discussion and reflection
• delivers information in a reader-friendly format
• gives suggestions for prayer that help readers respond to God’s word
• appeals to beginners as well as to advanced students of the Bible
 
By reading Scripture, reflecting on its deeper meanings, and incorporating it into our daily life, we can grow not only in our understanding of God’s word, but also in our relationship with God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780829415452
Publisher:	Loyola Press
Publication date:	04/15/2004
Series:	Six Weeks with the Bible Series
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Kevin Perrotta is an award-winning Catholic journalist and a former editor of God’s Word Today. In addition to the Six Weeks with the Bible series, he is the author of Invitation to Scripture and Your One-Stop Guide to the Bible. Perrotta lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Read an Excerpt

How to Use This Guide

You might compare the Bible to a national park. The park is so large that you could spend months, even years, getting to know it. But a brief visit, if carefully planned, can be enjoyable and worthwhile. In a few hours you can drive through the park and pull over at a handful of sites. At each stop you can get out of the car, take a short trail through the woods, listen to the wind blowing through the trees, get a feel for the place.
 In this booklet, we’ll drive through a small portion of the Bible—the Gospel according to Matthew—making half a dozen stops along the way. At those points we’ll proceed on foot, taking a leisurely walk through the selected passages. After each discussion we’ll get back in the car and take the highway to the next stop.
 This guide provides everything you need to explore the readings from Matthew’s Gospel in six discussions—or to do a six-part exploration on your own. The introduction on page 6 will prepare you to get the most out of your reading. The weekly sections provide explanations that highlight what the Gospel means for us today. Equally important, each section supplies questions that will launch your group into fruitful discussion, helping you to both investigate the Gospel for yourself and learn from one another. If you’re using the booklet by yourself, the questions will spur your personal reflection.
 Each discussion is meant to be a guided discovery.
 Guided. None of us is equipped to read the Bible without help. We read the Bible for ourselves but not by ourselves. Scripture was written to be understood and applied in the community of faith. So each week “A Guide to the Reading,” drawing on the work of both modern biblical scholars and Christian writers of the past, supplies background and explanations. The guide will help you grasp the message of Matthew’s Gospel. Think of it as a friendly park ranger who points out noteworthy details and explains what you’re looking at so you can appreciate things for yourself.
 Discovery. The purpose is for you to interact with Matthew’s Gospel. “Questions for Careful Reading” is a tool to help you dig into the text and examine it carefully. “Questions for Application” will help you consider what these words mean for your life here and now. Each week concludes with an “Approach to Prayer” section that helps you respond to God’s word. Supplementary “Living Tradition” and “Saints in the Making” sections offer the thoughts and experiences of Christians past and present. By showing what the Gospel has meant to others, these sections will help you consider what it means for you.
 How long are the discussion sessions? We’ve assumed you will have about an hour and a half when you get together. If you have less time, you’ll find that most of the elements can be shortened somewhat.
 Is homework necessary? You will get the most out of your discussions if you read the weekly material and prepare answers to the questions in advance of each meeting. If participants are not able to prepare, have someone read the “Guide to the Reading” sections aloud to the group at the points where they appear. (Note that the guide in Week 5 is twice the usual length.)
 What about leadership? If you happen to have a world-class biblical scholar in your group, by all means ask him or her to lead the discussions. In the absence of any professional Scripture scholars, or even accomplished amateur biblical scholars, you can still have a first-class Bible discussion. Choose two or three people to take turns as facilitators, and have everyone read “Suggestions for Bible Discussion Groups” (page 76) before beginning.
 Does everyone need a guide? a Bible? Everyone in the group will need their own copy of this booklet. It contains the text of the portions of the Gospel that are discussed in the weekly sessions, so a Bible is not absolutely necessary—but each participant will find it useful to have one. You should have at least one Bible on hand for your discussions. (See page 80 for recommendations.)
 How do we get started? Before you begin, take a look at the suggestions for Bible discussion groups (page 76) or individuals (page 79).
Getting the Most out of Your Journey

The marvelous thing about the Gospels is that they bring us into contact with Jesus. Jesus’ earthly life is far in the past. But through the Gospels, we can join his disciples as they accompany him along the roads of first-century Palestine, watching and listening to him. The Gospels are a meeting place where we can hear Jesus speaking to us and we can speak to him.
 In this book, we are going to do just that—listen to Jesus so that we can speak to him. We’re going to hit the road with Jesus. Our six readings are all taken from the accounts of Jesus’ journeys with his disciples in the middle part of Matthew’s Gospel.
 Entering into the Gospel accounts is a simple matter. All we have to do is begin to read. But a little work is required for us to get the most out of our reading. The work is twofold. First, in order to get into the story thoroughly and grasp the significance of what Jesus is saying and doing, we need to know something about the political and religious situation in which he is operating. Then, when we leave the story and return to the twenty-first century, we need to determine how his words and example should guide us in our very different modern world.
 A full-scale review of the situation of the Jewish people in the early first century would take us way beyond the limits of this short introduction. But you are probably acquainted with some of the basic facts. In Jesus’ time, the Jews’ ancestral land was ruled by Rome. Under the Romans, the Jews suffered both the humiliation of foreign domination and the pain of economic exploitation, which fell especially hard on the poorer inhabitants. Some Jews—such as Herod and his aristocrats, whom we will meet in our readings—benefited from cooperating with the Romans, but they were a small minority.
 Of course, the situation was largely the same for other peoples in the Roman Empire. But in some respects the Jews were different from other peoples. They were convinced that God (unlike most of their neighbors, they believed in the existence of only one God) had chosen them to be his special people. Many Jews believed that God would ultimately make a grand intervention into history to free them from foreign oppression and other evils. They thought that God would gather his people, Israel, from foreign lands, wipe away their sins, and inaugurate an age of holiness, abundance, and peace.
 Jewish people held varying opinions regarding how and when God would fulfill these expectations. Many expected God to send a powerful figure (or perhaps more than one) to lead the process of liberation and renewal—a man specially deputized, or “anointed,” to spearhead the coming of God’s kingdom through military action. The Hebrew for “Anointed One” is Messiah; via Greek this title has come into English as Christ.
 The history of Palestine in the century after Jesus’ death and resurrection demonstrates just how powerfully these expectations influenced Jewish people in that period. Inspired by the belief that God was about to liberate his people, as well as by economic desperation, Jews mounted two massive revolts against Rome—the greatest uprisings ever carried out by any people in the Roman Empire. Both rebellions ended in utter failure.
 In some way, to some degree, many of the men and women who observed Jesus in first-century Galilee, including those who became his followers, shared these expectations of an ultimate intervention by God in the world. These expectations shaped their understanding of who Jesus was and what he was about. His displays of healing power and other miraculous deeds led them to suspect that he might be the one to accomplish God’s plans (see John 6:11–15). They interpreted his announcement that God’s kingdom was about to arrive (4:17—except where noted, the scriptural citations in this guide refer to the Gospel of Matthew) as a declaration that the liberation of God’s people was at hand (see Luke 24:21). When Jesus instructed his disciples to take his announcement “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (10:6), the disciples probably understood this commission as the beginning of the gathering of God’s people—the first phase of the awaited liberation. Perhaps the revolt against the Roman occupation was about to begin!
 The anticipations that Jesus aroused must have been one of the major reasons why Jesus’ first disciples were attracted to him. But, as we will see in our readings from Matthew’s Gospel, while Jesus did encourage his disciples to recognize him as the Messiah, he also countered some of their expectations with a massive no. He revealed that he was not the kind of Messiah they had been looking for, that God’s kingdom was not going to come in the way they expected it to, and that life in God’s kingdom would not be exactly as they envisioned.
 Jesus taught that God’s kingdom would not be established through military conquest and political domination but through his own voluntary death (20:17–19, 28). Unlike earthly realms, God’s kingdom would not be geared to making the powerful rich and the rich honored. It would be based on principles of love and service (20:25–27). Life in God’s kingdom would not be a matter of getting but of giving, not a matter of gaining power and prestige but of relinquishing power and prestige in the process of serving other people. It would be a kingdom of unlimited forgiveness, mercy, compassion, and humble care for the socially insignificant (18:1–5, 21–35).
 The difference between Jesus’ understanding of his mission and his disciples’ expectations created powerful crosscurrents in the relationship between the master and his disciples. The disciples accepted Jesus as their teacher—that is what it meant to be his “disciples”—but they did not receive his teaching as simply as, for example, accounting students learning principles from a business school professor. They did not advance to higher and higher levels of understanding and maturity as if riding a smoothly running escalator. Jesus urged them to follow him in a direction they did not yet understand—or even want. Given their different values, the disciples sometimes failed to understand Jesus or absorb his instruction. They balked at the first indication of impending suffering.
 Jesus called his disciples to change their outlook on life. Indeed, “a change of mind” is precisely the basic meaning of the Greek word for repentance used in his keynote announcement: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (4:17). The middle chapters of Matthew’s Gospel are marked by the drama of Jesus’ call to repentance striking against the disciples’ ambivalence—their mixture of desire to follow him and resistance to basic elements of his vision. As they travel with Jesus, the disciples jockey for the best positions in his soon-to-be-established regime, on the assumption that he is bringing a kind of heaven-on-earth kingdom that, like earthly kingdoms, will be based on self-aggrandizement. The tension between Jesus and his followers extends all the way through our readings, right up to the last one, at which point Jesus is about to bring his teaching ministry to a close.
 The disciples need a change of thinking, and that requires an inner transformation, a change of heart. This, however, is not something they can produce in themselves. The resource for this personal transformation is, of course, Jesus himself. But in the central portion of Matthew’s Gospel, this message is hinted at rather than stated directly. Perhaps the broadest hint lies in Jesus’ healing miracles, which demonstrate his creative power to make damaged human beings whole.
 It is in the sequel to our readings—in the final eight chapters of the Gospel—that Matthew shows more clearly that Jesus is the source of the change of heart that his disciples need. At his last meal with his disciples, Jesus indicates that he is about to voluntarily offer his life as a sacrifice to forgive sins and create a new bond, or “covenant,” between God and human beings (26:26–28). This renewed relationship with God will be the source of deep inner change. Rising from death, Jesus becomes permanently, if invisibly, present among his followers (28:18–20). The risen Jesus himself will be the resource for all who seek to embrace the lifestyle of God’s kingdom. He is “God is with us” (1:23).
 When we return from our travels with Jesus in the Gospel to our lives in the twenty-first century, we are challenged to act on what we have seen and heard. With some of Jesus’ instructions, the process of application is fairly straightforward. Jesus’ directive that we should put ourselves in a posture of service to our neighbor is transparently simple. Of course, it is difficult too, but the difficulty lies in putting it into practice, not in understanding what the principle means.
 Others of Jesus’ instructions, however, require further pondering before they can be applied to our present situations. In the Gospel, for example, Jesus leads a life of deliberate poverty (8:20) and calls his disciples to leave everything behind and accompany him on the road (19:21). He invites them to renounce not only possessions but also marriage (19:11–12). He sends them out as missionaries with the command to maintain a strict level of material poverty and depend entirely on the hospitality of those who welcome them (10:9–11). How, if at all, do these instructions apply to Jesus’ disciples in later, different situations?
 The challenge of drawing guidance for Christian living from Jesus’ example and instructions began as soon as he died and rose from the dead. Obviously, once Jesus was no longer physically present, it was no longer possible to be his follower by joining him as he walked from town to town in Palestine.
 Matthew’s Gospel reflects a very early stage in the process of determining how to apply Jesus’ teaching to changing circumstances. Matthew probably composed his Gospel about fifty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Most likely he wrote for communities of Christians from a Jewish background living somewhere in northern Palestine and Syria (what is today northern Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and southern Turkey). Many of these Jewish Christians lived in towns and villages like those that Jesus visited during his preaching tours of Galilee. Some even spoke the same language that Jesus spoke—Aramaic. Thus the Christians for whom Matthew was writing were applying Jesus’ teaching in a setting quite similar to that in which he had taught his original disciples.
 From evidence outside Matthew’s Gospel, it seems that some of Matthew’s readers continued to imitate Jesus’ lifestyle and follow his instructions fairly literally, living a wandering, evangelistic life. Scholars surmise that some Christians in the Christian communities of the time lived this way for at least a period of their lives.
 Yet in Matthew’s day the Church was evolving from a traveling band of disciples to a settled community. Many Christians stayed at home with their families, farmed the land, raised livestock, worked at trades. They had to adapt to their own situation Jesus’ instructions to leave everything behind and follow him and to go out preaching his message without any material provisions. Rather than writing off Jesus’ instructions as directed only to other, freer, unmarried members of the community, they found ways to wholeheartedly serve the coming of God’s kingdom within their more settled life. They used their material resources to care for the needy. They trusted in God’s care for them without selling all and taking off down the road.
 This process of pondering Jesus’ instructions and the example of his life and then discovering ways of following him in new situations has continued through the centuries. In the course of Christian history, a wide variety of responses to Jesus’ message and example has arisen. Christians have developed diverse ways to forgo possessions and family life, embrace poverty, and make themselves fully available to Jesus for service in God’s kingdom. Some Christians who have chosen not to marry have pursued lives of prayer and poverty at home, in secluded places, and in monastic communities; others have created religious orders for advancing God’s kingdom through myriad forms of service to the needy. At the same time, Christians who have married, raised children, worked at ordinary occupations, and taken part in shaping culture and politics have found a multitude of ways to act on Jesus’ teaching.
 As twenty-first-century readers of Matthew’s Gospel, we enter into this tradition. Some of us will hear Jesus’ words as a summons to set aside the option of marriage and career and to follow him in some form of single life and material renunciation. But the rest of us are challenged to take Jesus’ example and instructions as addressed to us also. Because of the great differences between the situation of Jesus’ first disciples and our situation as his twenty-first-century disciples, we have some hard work to do in determining how his words apply to our lives today. As the author of this guide, I have to struggle with these questions myself. As a reader of Matthew’s Gospel, so do you. In the Questions for Application in the weekly sessions, I have suggested some questions to spur your thinking on this. May the Holy Spirit guide you as you consider what Jesus’ words mean for you, given your particular circumstances and call from God.
 Matthew has given us a Gospel that is rich in meaning. One aspect of his account where this wealth of meaning is on display is his portrayal of the Twelve—Jesus’ inner circle of disciples—who play a large part in our readings (10:1–5; 11:1; 20:17).
 On one level, by their number the Twelve symbolize the identity of the community that Jesus gathers around himself. They correspond to the twelve tribes of Israel (19:28), thus indicating that Jesus is restoring the people of Israel.
 On another level, the Twelve are the embryonic leadership group for Jesus’ community after his death and resurrection. As the leaders of Jesus’ future community, they have a dual role. First, having been the most intimate observers of Jesus, they can present knowledgeable, credible testimony about him. Thus they are the link between Jesus and all future generations of Christians. Second, they give the basic shape to Christian teaching and to the order of the Church. While the first function is historically unique—there will never be another set of witnesses of Jesus’ earthly life, death, and resurrection—the second function is one that the Twelve pass on to new leaders. As the Church grows, a succession of leaders develops. The teaching and governing authority that Jesus gave to the Twelve is exercised by their authorized successors from century to century. These are the bishops and, in a special way, the bishop of Rome, who carries on the role of Peter.
 The Twelve have a third level of meaning for us. They are not only revered figures of the past, the “apostles” (10:2), the foundation stones of Jesus’ community; they are also, simply, his “disciples” (10:1), that is, his learner-followers. As apostles, the Twelve are objects of veneration. As disciples, they are our representatives in the story, our stand-ins. By identifying with them we can enter the story and, like them, encounter Jesus. Through them, we ourselves speak with Jesus.
 At the point where our readings from Matthew’s Gospel begin, Jesus is well launched into his public ministry. Matthew does not give time indicators to enable us to determine how long Jesus has been preaching and healing. But in the Gospel passages that lead up to our readings, Matthew has already offered a great deal of information about Jesus. He has recounted a considerable sequence of events: Jesus’ baptism, his initial announcement that God’s kingdom is near, and his calling of disciples (chapters 3–4). He has shown Jesus giving extensive teaching to crowds and disciples in a sermon on a hillside—the Sermon on the Mount—in which Matthew has probably drawn together elements of Jesus’ teaching from many times and places (chapters 5–7). He has shown Jesus engaged in constant encounters with crowds of people who seek healing from him and are interested in his preaching about God’s kingdom. And he has also shown us the first signs of opposition to Jesus developing among the religious leaders (chapters 8–9).
 These events set the stage for the central section of the Gospel, from which our readings are taken. In our readings, we will mostly see Jesus on the road, traveling from town to town in Galilee (the northern portion of the modern state of Israel—chapters 10–18) and then journeying south to Jerusalem, apparently taking a route on the east side of the Jordan River (in the modern kingdom of Jordan—chapters 19–20). Along the way, Jesus continues to be mobbed by people seeking healing, although increasingly he devotes his time to teaching his disciples, in preparation for his death and for their continuation of his work after his resurrection.
 In our final reading, Jesus has crossed over to the west side of the Jordan River and is passing through Jericho (in the Palestinian territories today). This is his last stop before Jerusalem. There he will complete his public and private instruction, celebrate the Passover with his disciples, allow himself to be arrested and put to death, and rise triumphant from the dead.
 
 
Week 1
Travel Light, My Friends

Questions to Begin

15 minutes
Use a question or two to get warmed up for the reading.

 1 What is the most interesting course or training program you’ve ever taken part in?
 2 Describe (briefly!) the most difficult trip you’ve ever taken. Would you do it again?
Opening the Bible
5 minutes
Read the passage aloud. Let individuals take turns reading paragraphs.
The Reading: Matthew 9:35–38; 10:1–33, 40–42; 11:1
Being Sent by Jesus
35 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. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
 10:1 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. 2 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; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
 5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.”
Imitating Jesus
“You received without payment; give without payment. 9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. 11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
 16 “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
 24 “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; 25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! . . .
 28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
 32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven. . . .”
Receiving Those Jesus Sends
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
 11:1 Now when Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and proclaim his message in their cities.
Questions for Careful Reading
10 minutes
Choose questions according to your interest and time.

 1 The disciples are urged to pray for evangelistic and pastoral workers (9:38). Is their prayer answered?
 2 How would you explain Jesus’ statement in 10:30?
 3 What does it mean to “acknowledge” Jesus (10:32)? to “deny” him (10:33)?
 4 How many different persons or groups are referred to in 10:40?
 5 How much success does Jesus lead his disciples to expect in the mission on which he is sending them?
 6 How do you think the disciples felt at the end of Jesus’ instruction in chapter 10? (How do you feel?)
A Guide to the Reading

If participants have not read this section already, read it aloud. Otherwise go on to “Questions for Application.”

9:35–10:7. Centuries before Jesus, God brought the people of Israel into existence. Now God has come among them in Jesus, who is “God is with us” (1:23). These chosen people are Jesus’ first priority (10:5–6). He feels compassion for them (9:36). Everything about Jesus’ approach to his mission expresses faithfulness.
 Matthew lists the apostles in pairs (10:2–4). Teamwork, rather than working alone, is the norm in Jesus’ service.
 10:8–15. Jesus highlights the importance of his followers leaving everything behind with a triple statement: no gold, no silver, no copper (10:9). His remark about laborers deserving their food (10:10) is a way of saying that the disciples are entitled to accept bed and board from their hosts but should decline further compensation.
 By setting out on their missionary journey without supplies the disciples will demonstrate their trust in God—and will give God the opportunity to show his care for them. Their message is that God is a totally dependable Father (see 6:25–34). Who will believe that message if the messengers themselves do not trust in God’s fatherly care? By not acquiring anything along the way, the dis­ciples will show that their purpose is not to enrich or empower themselves but to benefit the people to whom they preach. Unlike the original disciples, few of us are called to live in stark poverty as we go about our service to the Lord. Yet he summons us also to rely on his help and to serve others for their sake rather than our own.
 Jesus’ command to use his healing power is not to be overlooked (10:8). His healing power continues to be operative in the Church through the sacrament of anointing and through less formal prayers. God answers prayers for healing as he wills—sometimes miraculously, sometimes in hidden ways, sometimes through natural processes, medical treatment, and ordinary care.
 10:16–33. Biblical scholar David E. Garland points out that “Jesus does not promise to protect the sheep so that they will not be harmed or to destroy the wolves before them. The disciples are given authority to cast out demons and to heal every disease, but not to fend off persecution. There are no safe-conduct passes for their mission.”
 Jesus’ warning might raise the disciples’ anxieties. Significantly, the first fear that he addresses is not their concern for their own well-being but their concern that they might not be able to carry out his mission effectively (10:19–20). Don’t worry about whether you will know how to bear witness to me, Jesus says. God’s Spirit will help you. (“It is not you . . . but the Spirit of your Father speaking” is a way of saying “not only you but also the Spirit”; for a similar way of speaking, see 9:13). Thus we should not let our feelings of inadequacy prevent us from speaking about Jesus when opportunities present themselves.
 St. Jerome suggested a playful interpretation of 10:23: When adversaries of Christian teaching “persecute” us in one city, that is, in one book of the Scriptures, let us flee to other cities, that is, to other books, to defend our cause. No matter how argumenta­tive our opponents may be, the help of the Savior will arrive before we have made our way through all the books of the Bible.
 Jesus’ advice is to trump fear of opposition with fear of turning away from God, the source of our life (10:28). Jesus warns that judgment will befall those who abandon him and his mission (10:33), but along with fear of God’s judgment goes the comfort of knowing that the one who will judge us is the one who now leads us on the road—Jesus, God-is-with-us.
 Jesus reassures us that if we are on a mission for him, God will be with us and will hold our entire lives in his hands (10:29–31). He does not explain how God’s care works or what exactly God will provide for us. We trust God not because we can understand how he acts or what he will do for us but because he is our Father.
 10:40–11:1. Jesus has been speaking to his disciples as though all of them will be wandering missionaries seeking hospitality. Now he speaks as though they will be householders who welcome wandering missionaries. The wandering ones and the stay-at-homes are members of the same community of followers. Jesus is present in all. Even the smallest service to anyone who is identified with Jesus is a service to him.
Questions for Application

40 minutes
Choose questions according to your interest and time.

 1 Jesus counsels prayer before he gives his instructions about how to serve in God’s kingdom (9:38). What is the role of prayer in serving God?
 2 How has God’s faithfulness made a difference in your life? To whom is God calling you to be faithful?
 3 Who are the fellow disciples Jesus has given you? How is he calling you to cooperate with them in sharing his kingdom with others?
 4 What does it mean today to proclaim that “the kingdom of heaven has come near” (10:7)? How and where do those of us who do not work full-time in the Church proclaim the kingdom of heaven?
 5 How does the Church today carry out the work that Jesus gives to his disciples in 10:8? How do you take part in this work? How is Jesus calling you to be an instrument of his compassion to those in need?
 6 When have you felt challenged by God to rely more directly on him? How did you respond to the challenge? What was the outcome and what have you learned from it?
 7 When have you surprised yourself by speaking a truth or giving advice that seemed perfectly suited to the situation and person you were speaking to? Could this have been an experience of what Jesus predicts in 10:20? What might you learn from this incident?
 8 When have you been afraid to do something that you felt God wanted you to do? What helped you deal with your fear? Have you applied this lesson to other situations in your life?
When people share with one another what they are discovering, it becomes clear that the Bible is full of endless meanings and applications.
Steve Mueller, The Seeker’s Guide to Reading the Bible
Approach to Prayer

15 minutes
Use this approach—or create your own!

 ♦ Let one participant read aloud the following statements by Jesus. After each statement, pause for silent prayer and then let the group pray together, “Lord, send us wherever you wish and be with us in whatever work you give us to do.”

9:37–38
10:7
10:16
10:19–20
10:30–31
10:32
10:41–42
At the end, pray the Our Father together.
Saints in the Making
Literally on the Road, for a While

This section is a supplement for individual reading.

Jesus’ instructions to his disciples to go out into the world an­nounc­ing the coming of God’s kingdom have spurred Christians to explore a wide variety of methods for spreading his message.
An obstacle to creativity here is either-or thinking, that is, that spreading the gospel means either making a lifetime commitment to full-time missionary work or bearing witness to Christ by leading an ordinary life—being married, raising children, earning a living, and taking care of household chores.
 But there are options outside this either-or. One organi­zation that has come up with a different approach is National Evangelization Teams Ministries, known as NET. Based in St. Paul, Minnesota, NET enlists and trains young adults for a one-year commitment to full-time evangelization.
 Ranging in age from eighteen to thirty, NET volunteers take a year off school or work to go out in teams visiting Catholic parishes, schools, and youth groups around the United States, Canada, and Australia. In presentations and retreats that run from three hours to three days, the teams use drama, personal stories, music, and other activities to bring to young people an invitation to a personal relationship with Jesus.
 Each team consists of about ten volunteers who travel in a van together, accepting hospitality from parishes and families in towns where they give their presentations. Currently, twelve teams crisscross the United States and Canada each year.
 Volunteers put other aspects of their lives on hold during their year of service. They receive only a tiny stipend and have to raise money to help pay for the five-week training program (NET gives them health coverage). They agree not to date during their service year.
 Since 1981, NET volunteers have given presentations to and led retreats for almost a million and a half young people. The impact of their efforts is difficult to measure, but stories of young lives touched by God’s grace abound. One indication of NET’s success is simply that schools and parishes keep inviting them back.
 Certainly the year of service has an effect on the volunteers themselves. Almost all of those who continue as laypeople go on to serve actively in their parishes. A sizable minority decide to make a lifelong commitment to religious life or the priesthood.

Table of Contents

Contents

    4    How to Use This Guide

    6    Getting the Most out of Your Journey

    14  Week 1
           Travel Light, My Friends
           Matthew 9:35–38; 10:1–33, 40–42; 11:1
    24  Week 2
           Miracles on Turf and Surf
           Matthew 14
    34  Week 3
           Halfway There
           Matthew 16
    44  Week 4
           How to Build a Community
           Matthew 17:24–27; 18:1–10, 19–35
    54  Week 5
           Commandments and Invitations
           Matthew 19:1–26
    66  Week 6
           Have Mercy on Us, Lord!
           Matthew 19:27–20:34

    76   Suggestions for Bible Discussion Groups

    79    Suggestions for Individuals

    80    Resources