The selection Matthew 9:36-10:8 can be divided into two parts, vv. 9:36-38 and 10:1-8. In 10:1, the clause "and having called the disciples" signals a change in action. The "crowds" that catch the attention of Jesus in verses 36-38, now recede into the background as the disciples take center stage. Both these parts belong to two different contextual packets. The context of 9:36-38 actually begins in verse 35. The second one ends in 10:42. The words "sheep" (9:36; 10:6) and "laborer(s)" (9:37.38; 10:10) tie up these two parts together.
A comparison with Mark and Luke at this point shows that Matthew has been reworking his materials. Below is a table that shows how the selection from Matthew has parts that are scattered in differenc contexts in Mark and Luke.
Matthew 9:35-38 follows a series of healings that Jesus performs on different kinds of people beginning in 8:1. The only non-healing event from 8:1-9:34 is the call of Matthew and the disputation about fasting (9:9-13;9:14-17) . The case of the call of Matthew placed within the series of healings puts into perspective the compassion that Jesus feels from the crowds that he meets in 9:36. The parallel passage in Mark 6:34 is set in the context of the feeding of the five thousand. In Mark, Jesus' compassion for the crowd leads to the feeding with his teaching (6:34) and with the multiplied loaves and fishes. In Matthew, the compassion of Jesus leads to the sending of the Twelve (cf. 10:1ff). This will be followed later by the feeding of the crowds (cf. 15:32).
In verses 37-38 two eschatological images are used to describe the crowds: that of a shepherdless flock and a field waiting to be harvested. Both these images appear in prophetic oracles about the restoration of Israel. The classical text for the eschatological restoration of Israel as the Lord's sheep is in Ezekiel 34:11-16. It is however in Zechariah 10:2-6 that we find the Lord's compassion as the motive for bringing back his sheep.
In the OT, the image of harvest is linked to the Lord's judgment over the nations (Is. 8:34; Jer. 12:13), over Babylon (Jer. 50:16), on Judah (Hos. 6:11). In this sense, the image has a negative connotation, with the image of a sickle combined with the Lord's sword (cf. Jer. 50:16). On a positive note, however, Israel is identified as the first fruits of the Lord's harvest (Jer. 2:13) and in Joel 4:13-21, the harvest motif is used within the context of the eschatological vindication of Judah. It is to be noted that in this passage from Joel, the image of harvest is negative in its connotation, but the object are the nations. In the liturgy of Israel, the image of harvest is applied to the Israel that is restored from exile (Psalm 126). The remembrance of the restoration from exile is the motive for the prayer for a restoration in the future. Finally, without using the word "harvest", Jeremiah describes the joy of the harvest on the day God restores the fortunes of Judah. (Jer. 31:11-25)
The use of the above images gives special light on the ministry of Jesus and that of his disciples later. By his actions, Jesus is fulfilling Ezekiel's prophecy of Yahweh who would restore his flock (cf. Zech. 10:6) and who would give the joy of the eschatological harvest1 (cf. Jer. 31:11-25).
Jesus' saying about the workers of the harvest (Matthew 9:37) appears in Luke within the context of the sending of the seventy-two disciples (cf. 10:2ff). Matthew alone relates Jesus appraisal of the size of the harvest with his choice of the Twelve. In Mark, the choice of the apostles is presented as the choice of a group that will first learn from Jesus (Mark 3:13-19 )so as to "extend" his work later (Mark 6:7-13). It is clear from Matthew's use of the eschatological images of sheep and harvest that the choice of Twelve disciples is related to Jesus' work of restoring Israel. Here, the Twelve disciples become the basis of a restored Israel. They are not sent to the nations because their priority is the lost of sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:5-6; cf. Matthew 15:24). Later, after the Resurrection, Jesus will be sending the apostles to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).
In the comparative table above, we noted that the saying in Matthew 10:5-8 has nothing similar in the other synoptic Gospels. Matthew conserves the memory of a Jesus who confined himself to the people of Israel. In Matthew's presentation however, this "confinement" was not due to some kind of ghetto mentality, since Jesus' work in Galilee "of the Nations" is presented as the fulfillment of Isaiah 9 (see Matthew 4:12). Rather, as Matthew 28:18-20 shows, the "confined" mission to the lost sheep of Israel is a stage in a mission that is universal in scope.
The message that the disciples bring is similar to the one that John the Baptist (3:2) and Jesus proclaimed (4:17). Their work is an extension of Jesus' work: curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing lepers, driving out demons. The are the same deeds that Jesus has been performing since 8:1. The disciples are to perform their work without asking for pay. The statement "You received without paying, give without pay. (RSV)" is to be understood within the context of Jesus' compassion for the crowds. The work of evangelization derives from the compassion of Jesus. The disciples were chosen to participate in that work and given a share in the power of Jesus so that such compassion can touch a wider number of people. The saying does not preclude the possibility that the disciples themselves would receive some sustenance for themselves since in 10:10, Jesus himself implies that the disciples should receive something for their work, but not in exchange for it.
A Note On the Readings of 11th Sunday OT -- A
The selection from Exodus 19:2-6 highlights a solemn moment in the history of Israel: its formal creation as People of Yahweh through the covenant. The responsorial psalm -- from Psalm 100 -- is a celebration of this event. Yahweh assumes the care of Israel under a covenant which makes them beneficiaries of His blessings as Lord of all with one condition: that Israel keeps its part of the covenant. With this relationship with Yahweh, Israel becomes "the portion of Yahweh" and begins to partake of His Lordship as "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation". Subsequent history however will show that Israel will fail to keep the covenant such that God, in His compassion, will redeem Israel from its iniquity and will restore it Himself. In the Gospel, we find Jesus -- Matthew's new Moses -- the Messianic Son of David, in the work of restoring Israel in the spirit of Zechariah 10:6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them; for I am the LORD their God and I will answer them. (RSV)"
- 1. The image of a "harvest" as symbolizing the work of evangelizing is employed in John 4:35-38 and its context.
