Ambassadors for Christ / Matthew 9:36-10:23
Returning to the Gospel of Matthew
Well Church, it’s good to be with you again. How are we doing? We have just finished our summer series in the book of Hebrews, walking through Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall of Faith, and we are now journeying back into the book of Matthew. If you’re new to the Well Community Church, you picked a perfect time to jump back in. We are going to be in Matthew chapter 9, picking up in verse 36 and moving into chapter 10. If you missed the messages before, good news: there are only 23 of them. So if you want to binge this weekend and listen to all the messages up to this point, I’m sure you have spare and abundant time to do that if your heart so desires.
We have been in the book of Matthew since last fall, and it has been a rich book to study. As we look back on where we’ve been thus far, Matthew is making this claim—this plea—to the Jewish audience he is writing to, declaring that Jesus is actually the Messiah. He is the one you have been waiting for. He is the anticipated Messianic King who has come now to initiate His messianic kingdom.
We have broken this book up into sections. In chapters 1 through 4, we looked at the early life of Jesus—His genealogy, His birth, and the early narrative—demonstrating that He possesses all the credentials to be the Messiah. Then in chapters 5 through 7, we saw the greatest sermon ever preached in human history, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus took a shovel and dug deep into our hearts, showing us that true righteousness is not merely about external actions; He is after our hearts, because everything we do, believe, and are stems from what is inside.
Then in chapters 8 and 9, we examined the miracle section. We watched Jesus perform ten miracles over demons, disease, nature, and death. Through these signs, Jesus authenticated both His message and His person, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies that the Messiah would bring healing and restoration. He began ushering in the kingdom of God—His rule and reign on earth—this “already and not yet” kingdom.
Throughout this journey, we have watched how people responded. Some were drawn to Jesus, others turned away, and the religious leaders—the Pharisees—continually pushed back.
Matthew 9:34 (NASB)
But the Pharisees were saying, ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.’
At the end of the miracle section, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the ruler of demons. They rejected His message and His identity. The tension and animosity between Jesus and the religious establishment continued to grow.
Now we embark on a fourth major section in Matthew’s Gospel, spanning from Matthew 9:36 through chapter 12, where we see a distinct shift. Jesus begins to unpack the reality of the kingdom that is both present and to come. Up to this point, the twelve disciples have been observers. They watched Jesus perform miracles and followed His ministry, but they had not yet engaged in direct ministry themselves. Here, the baton is handed to them. They will begin participating alongside Jesus. In Matthew 10, the Twelve are commissioned and sent into the world with an urgent message.
Yet before He sends them, Jesus provides a foundational mindset. Without this perspective, they would be doomed before they even started. If they do not see people the way Jesus sees them, their mission cannot succeed.
Seeing the Crowds with Compassion
Matthew 9:36 (NASB)
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus looked out at the crowds that had been following Him. He observed that they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd. Literally, they were harassed, oppressed, bruised, and helpless—unable to rescue themselves or escape their spiritual plight. In context, Jesus was pointing directly at the religious leaders of the day. The Pharisees, who were supposed to shepherd the people, were actually driving them away from the true Shepherd. Jesus had a profound burden over this failure of spiritual leadership.
Notice the operative word in verse 36: seeing the people, He felt compassion.
Compassion is a powerful concept. If I asked you what part of the body you associate with compassion, you would likely say the heart. While compassion certainly touches the heart, the biblical language goes much deeper. In the original Greek, the word is rooted in the internal organs—what ancients associated with the gut. When I was in college, my pastor used to preach what he called his “spleen sermons,” where he spoke straight from his gut about cultural issues that deeply troubled him. That is the depth of emotion conveyed here. When Jesus saw the crowds, He felt it deep in His gut.
This specific word is used eleven times in the New Testament, exclusively in the Gospels. Eight of those times, it describes Jesus’ response to crowds or individuals in need. And without exception, every single time this word describes Jesus, it leads directly to action.
Compassion that does not act is merely pity. The crowds did not need Jesus’ pity; they did not need Him to say, “What a terrible situation,” and walk away to eat lunch. They needed Him to enter in and bring relief.
Matthew 14:14 (NASB)
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick.
In Matthew 14, His compassion moved Him to heal the sick. In Matthew 15, His compassion led Him to feed the hungry. In Mark 6, His compassion compelled Him to teach the shepherdless crowds. Compassion was the lens through which Jesus viewed all of humanity.
Why does Matthew place this right before the commissioning of the Twelve? Because Jesus is modeling how kingdom workers must view a lost and broken world. By default, when the disciples looked at the crowds in their cities, their knee-jerk reaction was likely not compassion. It was probably much like ours: frustration, cynicism, annoyance, or feeling inconvenienced. Our natural instinct when faced with human brokenness is often to retreat and protect our own time, energy, and resources. But Jesus makes it clear: if you are going to represent the King in His kingdom, you must see people through His eyes.
Furthermore, this reveals how God feels about people who are far from Him. Many people imagine God as a harsh judge waiting to strike down sinners in anger. But here, Jesus looks upon the lost and feels deep compassion. He desires to gather wandering sheep, forgive them, love them, and lay down His life for them.
Matthew 9:37-38 (NASB)
Then He said to His disciples, ’The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. ‘Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.’
Compassion naturally translates into prayer and mission. Jesus tells the disciples to earnestly plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out workers. What is remarkable is that the very disciples praying this prayer are about to become the answer to it. They are the workers who will be sent.
Ordinary Men with an Extraordinary Call
Matthew 10:1 (NASB)
Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Jesus calls His twelve disciples and gives them authority over unclean spirits and diseases. This is their formal commissioning. Matthew does not record their initial calling chronologically as Mark and Luke do, because he is arranging his Gospel thematically to demonstrate Jesus’ messianic authority. Here, Jesus shares His authority with the Twelve, enabling them to perform the same works He performed to validate the message of the kingdom.
Matthew 10:2-4 (NASB)
Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.
When you read through this list of names, you find Peter, who was often impulsive and outspoken; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew the tax collector; Simon the Zealot; and the rest. If you had to write down all twelve names from memory right now, you might struggle. Aside from a few prominent figures, most of these men were remarkably ordinary.
Based on first-century Jewish educational customs, many of these disciples were likely quite young—some perhaps in their late teens—working as fishermen or ordinary laborers. Among them was a tax collector who had worked for Rome and a Zealot who had opposed Rome with violence. There were no political, social, or academic elites among them.
God does not require supermen to accomplish His work. As Luke records later in the book of Acts:
Acts 4:13 (NASB)
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and [began] to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
The religious authorities observed that Peter and John were uneducated, common men, but they recognized that they had been with Jesus. That was their defining qualification.
In verse 1, they are called disciples—from the Greek word for learners or pupils. In verse 2, they are called apostles—from apostellō, meaning “ones sent forth with authority to represent another.” They spent time learning from Jesus so they could be sent out on His behalf.
Mark 3:13-14 (NASB)
And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He [could] send them out to preach,
Jesus summoned those He wanted for Himself, first to be with Him, and second to send them out to preach. Luke adds that Jesus spent the entire night in prayer before selecting these twelve.
Luke 6:12-13 (NASB)
It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:
No human organization would have selected this group to launch a worldwide movement, yet Jesus chose them intentionally. And He continues to call ordinary, unlikely people today. He calls us to Himself through the gospel, forgives our sins through His death and resurrection, and then sends us out as ambassadors. He does not need performers or polished professionals; He uses broken, ordinary people who are willing to follow Him.
The Scope and Strategy of the Mission
Matthew 10:5-6 (NASB)
These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: ’Do not go in [the] way of [the] Gentiles, and do not enter [any] city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Jesus gives specific instructions regarding where they should go: do not go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but go exclusively to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. This might sound surprising. The Gentiles were non-Jewish peoples, and the Samaritans were a mixed ethnic and religious group with whom the Jews had deep, historic hostility. Why restrict the mission to Israel?
Later in Scripture, the scope expands globally. In the Great Commission and in Acts 1:8, Jesus commands His followers to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. But at this specific moment, the priority was Israel.
Romans 1:16 (NASB)
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
As Paul explains, the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. Israel was God’s covenant people. They possessed the Law, the prophets, the promises, and the messianic prophecies. They had every reason to recognize the Messiah. God’s plan, established through Abraham in Genesis 12, was that through Israel’s faith, all nations would be blessed. Therefore, the message had to be offered to Israel first.
Matthew 10:7-8 (NASB)
’And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ’Heal [the] sick, raise [the] dead, cleanse [the] lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.
Their message was simple: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They were to proclaim that the King had arrived and demonstrate that reality through healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, and casting out demons. They were freely receiving power, and they were to freely give.
Matthew 10:9-10 (NASB)
’Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for [your] journey, or even two coats, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.
Jesus instructed them to travel light—no gold, silver, extra bags, or spare tunics. This was not a luxury trip; it was an urgent mission. They were to rely on God’s provision through the hospitality of those who welcomed their message, for the worker is worthy of his support.
Matthew 10:11-13 (NASB)
’And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay at his house until you leave [that city]. ’As you enter the house, give it your greeting. ’If the house is worthy, give it your [blessing of] peace. But if it is not worthy, take back your [blessing of] peace.
When entering a town, they were to look for a “worthy” person—meaning someone receptive to the kingdom message—and stay there. In that culture, entering a home came with a pronouncement of shalom (peace). If the home welcomed them, the blessing remained; if they were rejected, the blessing was withdrawn.
Matthew 10:14-15 (NASB)
’Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ’Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for [the] land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.
If a city refused to listen, the disciples were to shake the dust off their feet as they departed. When Jews traveled through Gentile or Samaritan lands, they would shake the dust from their sandals upon returning to Jewish territory as a sign of separation. Here, Jesus tells them to treat rejecting Jewish towns the same way. He warns that it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah—notorious for wicked rebellion—than for a city that actively rejects the Messiah after receiving the full light of God’s revelation.
Living as Ambassadors in a Foreign Land
This calling to represent Jesus is not confined to the original Twelve. The apostle Paul used this exact language to describe his own ministry.
Ephesians 6:19-20 (NASB)
and [pray] on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in [proclaiming] it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Paul called himself an “ambassador in chains.” An ambassador resides in a foreign nation, but their allegiance remains entirely with the king and country that sent them. They do not adopt the policies or supreme loyalties of the host land; they speak with the authority and backing of their home sovereign.
My family has been watching the television series Madam Secretary. In that show, the U.S. Secretary of State regularly deals with the Chinese ambassador, Chen. He is a small, unassuming man physically, but whenever he speaks, he does so with absolute confidence because he knows he carries the full weight and authority of his government behind him. He lives in America, but his allegiance belongs entirely to his home nation.
That is precisely what it means to be an ambassador for Christ. We live in this world, but our citizenship and loyalties belong to the King of kings. As Jesus indicates in verse 23, this calling remains active until the Son of Man comes. Every believer who has bowed their knee to Jesus is called to function as an ambassador in a foreign land.
The Reality of Opposition and Persecution
Jesus does not sugarcoat the cost of this mission. He gives the disciples a realistic view of what lies ahead.
Matthew 10:16-18 (NASB)
’Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. ’But beware of men, for they will hand you over to [the] courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.
He sends them out as sheep among wolves, instructing them to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. The message of human sin, repentance, and salvation through Christ alone inherently offends human pride. People want to earn God’s favor on their own terms. When confronted with the cross, resistance is inevitable.
Jesus warned that they would be delivered to courts, flogged in synagogues, and brought before governors and kings. This looked ahead directly to the events recorded throughout the book of Acts, where the gospel advanced through official opposition.
Matthew 10:19-20 (NASB)
’But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. ’For it is not you who speak, but [it is] the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
Yet Jesus assures them that when persecution arises, they need not panic about what to say. The Holy Spirit will speak through them in those critical moments.
Matthew 10:21-22 (NASB)
’Brother will betray brother to death, and a father [his] child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ’You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
The division caused by the gospel can reach into the closest family relationships, setting parents and children against one another. Believers will be hated because of Jesus’ name, but those who endure to the end will be saved.
Matthew 10:23 (NASB)
’But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish [going through] the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
When persecution drives them from one city, they are to move to the next and keep proclaiming the message. Their responsibility is faithfulness until the Son of Man returns.
Costly Obedience: John Allen Chau
In 2018, an American missionary named John Allen Chau traveled to North Sentinel Island, an isolated island in the Indian Ocean. He went with one singular purpose: to share the gospel with the Sentinelese people, a small hunter-gatherer tribe completely unreached and isolated from the modern world for centuries.
Indian law strictly prohibited anyone from landing on the island to protect the tribe from outside diseases and violence. Yet Chau was burdened that this group of people had never once heard the name of Jesus. He paid local fishermen to transport him near the island. On his first approach, he left gifts on the shore. On his second attempt, carrying a Bible, an arrow was shot directly into his Bible. Undeterred, he returned the following day, asking the fishermen to leave him on the beach so he could tell the islanders about Christ. When the fishermen returned the next day, they saw his body being buried on the shore by the tribe.
Media outlets widely condemned Chau as foolish and reckless. That perspective is understandable if one believes that this earthly life is all there is. But if the eternal destiny of human souls hinges on hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, Chau’s urgency makes complete sense. In his journal, Chau wrote: “Lord, is this island Satan’s last stronghold where no one has even heard your name? You guys might think I’m crazy in all this, but I think it’s worth it to declare Jesus to these people… I hope this isn’t my last letter, but if it is, to God be the glory.”
Chau understood what it meant to be an ambassador for Christ, holding loosely to his earthly life for the sake of the King.
Shifting from Neutral to a Wartime Mindset
When I look at my own life, I am challenged by this standard. When I first placed my faith in Jesus while in a fraternity in college, I had no fear. I shared Christ with everyone around me because I knew the pit of darkness from which God had rescued me. Yet years later, in professional and community settings, I can find myself hesitating—tempted to stay silent out of fear of social awkwardness, disapproval, or conflict. That hesitation falls short of our calling as ambassadors.
Hearing stories of radical martyrdom can sometimes cause us to disengage, thinking, “That’s for a rare few.” But while not everyone is called to cross oceans, every single believer is called to be an ambassador right where they are. It means crossing the street to meet a neighbor. It means having intentional conversations with coworkers. It means using our time, resources, and homes for kingdom purposes. It means seeing the people around us through the compassionate eyes of Jesus.
There is no middle ground in the Christian life. Scripture offers no category for a believer who puts their faith in neutral, sipping a drink on the beach of comfort while living entirely for earthly accumulation.
In his book Don’t Waste Your Life, John Piper describes this struggle with sobering honesty:
“I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth home. And before you know it, I am calling luxuries needs and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget about the war. I forget to think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. I sink into a secular mindset that looks first to what man can do and not what God can do. It is a terrible sickness. And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again toward a wartime mindset.”
May God grant us that same mindset. May we remember that this world is not our ultimate home, that our King is returning, and that we have been entrusted with the greatest message in human history. Let us live faithfully as His ambassadors today. Let’s pray.