Fe y confianza

Sheep Among Wolves: Trusting the Sender

When Jesus sent out the Twelve with no gold, no silver, no staff, they had only His presence and His word.

BibleVibe Editorial5 min de lectura
Traducción：ESV
Mateo 10:1-20
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And he called unto him his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. And into whatsoever city or village ye shall enter, search out who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go forth. And as ye enter into the house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in theirs synagogues they will scourge you; yea and before governors and kings shall ye be brought for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, be not anxious how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you. And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household! Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the light; and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon the house-tops. And be not afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father: but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven. Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law: and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward: and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Matthew 10:1–20 records Jesus commissioning the Twelve. He gives them authority, then sends them out penniless, telling them not to worry about what to say when handed over. Faith here is not abstract belief; it is the concrete trust of a missionary who has been given a mission but not yet given the means — and who walks anyway because the Sender is trustworthy.

📖 Mateo
🕰️ Second Temple period / Jesus' Galilean ministry📍 Sea of Galilee📍 Jerusalem📍 Samaria
Narration

Contexto

Matthew 10 sits inside a narrative block (Matthew 8–10) in which Jesus has been demonstrating messianic power — cleansing lepers, calming storms, forgiving sins, raising the dead. Now, in chapter 10, He does something new: He shares His authority. He calls the twelve disciples to Him, names them as apostles, and gives them delegated power over unclean spirits and bodily disease. The Twelve are then sent out with strict instructions: go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, preach the kingdom, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons — and take no money, no bag, no second tunic, no shoes, no staff. They are to find a worthy household and stay there. If a city rejects them, they are to shake off its dust. This commissioning is mirrored in the Synoptic parallels: Mark 3:13–15 (the choosing of the Twelve with authority), Mark 6:7–13 (the sending out two by two), and Luke 9:1–6 (the mission of the Twelve). Luke 10:1–17 records a further sending of seventy-two. Mark 16:18 picks up the same thread in the longer ending, noting the signs that will accompany those who believe. Together these passages frame Matthew 10 as the charter of apostolic mission: Jesus extends His own ministry through His authorized agents. The historical backdrop is the Galilean ministry of Jesus, roughly the late 20s to early 30s AD, operating from towns around the Sea of Galilee and moving toward Jerusalem. The 'lost sheep of the house of Israel' language echoes earlier prophets (Jeremiah 50:6, Ezekiel 34) and frames this first mission as intra-Jewish, before the Gentile commission of Matthew 28.

Tiempo y lugar

Set during the First Temple era across the regions of the Sea of Galilee, Davidic Jerusalem, and Samaria, where Matthew 10 calls disciples to active faith and missionary trust.

Qué significa

Matthew 10 is not first a manual for missions; it is a theology of faith and trust. Three movements emerge. First, faith is grounded in delegated authority. Jesus does not send the Twelve on their own resources. Verse 1 is foundational: He gave them authority over unclean spirits and to heal every disease and every affliction. The work of the kingdom is not a freelance project; it is a continuation of what the Sender is already doing. Faith, therefore, is not a substitute for power — it is a willingness to exercise someone else's power on someone else's behalf. Second, trust is tested by what is withheld. Verse 9 says, 'Get you no gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; no wallet for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff.' A rabbi would normally bring a wallet and staff; a workman brings a tool. Jesus forbids both. He is forcing the Twelve to a particular kind of dependence: their daily bread will come from the households that receive them, and the laborer, He says, is worthy of his food. Faith is the willingness to live as receivers rather than as those who have stored up. The command reveals what faith trusts — not a cushion, but the Father who watches over sent ones. Third, faithfulness is shaped by hostility. Jesus announces what is coming: councils, synagogues, governors, kings. Sheep in the midst of wolves. Yet the instruction is double-edged — wise as serpents and harmless as doves — and the promise is breathtaking: when they are handed over, they are not to be anxious about what to say, because it will be given to them in that hour. The Spirit of the Father speaks through the mouths of those who have nothing to rely on but Him. Faith, in other words, is the surrendered voice in a courtroom, the quieted heart in a hostile city, the dust shaken from the sandals of those whose trust was never in the response of others but in the word of the Sender. Throughout, Matthew weaves two threads together: trust as the outward shape of mission (no money, no bag) and trust as the inward gift of speech (it shall be given you). Faith is both feet on the road and words on the lips, and both are sustained by the same source.

Cómo aplicarlo

Many of us are not sent on a literal missionary journey, but every Christian is a sent one. Matthew 10 presses us in three directions. First, audit what you are carrying. The Twelve were told not to bring gold or silver or a backup coat. We tend to bring everything: our savings, our plans, our reputation, our escape route. Where in your life are you clutching a second tunic because you do not trust the Father to clothe you today? The question is not whether preparation is wrong; it is whether your preparation has become a substitute for dependence. Faith sometimes begins with an empty hand. Second, ask what you have been authorized to do. Jesus gave the Twelve real authority. He has not given us identical powers, but He has given each of us a stewardship — gifts, vocations, families, doors. Faith is not passive waiting; it is the active exercise of delegated authority. Where has the Lord named you, and where are you failing to step into the authority He has given? Third, prepare your mouth for the trial. The verses that follow our text — and the parallels in Mark and Luke — promise that when you are handed over, what to say will be given to you. This is not a promise that we will escape trouble; it is a promise that we will not face it alone. Are you rehearsing anxious speeches for courts that may never come? Lay them down. The same Father who feeds the laborer will give the witness their words. Finally, expect to be a sheep, and expect to be sent. The 'wolves' are not the people you serve; they are the systems that oppose the gospel. Faith in this chapter is not naïveté about the world's hostility; it is sobriety about it, combined with serenity about who provides. The laborer is worthy of food. The laborer is also worthy of a word. Trust the Sender.

Reflexión

Matthew 10 sits at the seam between the Sermon on the Mount and the journey to Jerusalem. Jesus has finished teaching; now He begins training. The Twelve are named one by one, including Matthew the tax collector and Judas the betrayer. Jesus knows what each man will become, and still He gives them authority and sends them out. There is a mercy here that is easy to miss: He does not wait for His disciples to be finished. He sends them as they are. The early church fathers read this passage as the charter of Christian mission. Chrysostom observed that Jesus stripped the Twelve of every visible support so that they might learn that the One who fed them in their homeland could feed them on the road. Augustine noted the phrase 'the laborer is worthy of his food,' and used it to ground the church's obligation to support those who preach the gospel. The Reformers returned to it often as proof that mission is not funded by the missioner but by the Father. There is also a quieter note. When Jesus says, 'Be not anxious how or what ye shall speak,' He is not forbidding preparation; He is forbidding the kind of anxiety that crowds out the Spirit. Faith here looks like a settled heart that has already decided whose voice matters most. In a courtroom of hostile powers, the witness does not need to win. The witness needs to be faithful. The words will be given. So pray with this chapter. Lay a coin on the table and ask whether you are carrying it where the Lord told you not to. Lay your prepared speech on the table and ask whether you are trusting your words or His. Then walk out the door with nothing in your purse, because the Sender is faithful, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Preguntas frecuentes

Why did Jesus tell the Twelve to take no gold, silver, or bag?

It was training in radical dependence. Jesus wanted the Twelve to learn to travel on daily provision rather than on stored resources, so that their trust would rest in the Father who sends them.

What does it mean to be 'wise as serpents and harmless as doves'?

It means staying shrewd and alert in a hostile environment while keeping one's motives pure. The serpent's wisdom avoids traps; the dove's innocence refuses to harm.

Does 'be not anxious how or what you shall speak' forbid preparation?

It forbids anxious self-reliance, not diligent preparation. We are still called to study and pray, but the final word in testimony belongs to the Spirit of the Father.

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Measuring the Promised Land by Faith

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