Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Divine Chain of Reception: The Ambassador’s Dignity and the Reward of Grace (Matthew 10:40–42)

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The Divine Chain of Reception: The Ambassador’s Dignity and the Reward of Grace (Matthew 10:40–42) · Reformed Thinking

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  Welcome back to another session of Reformed Thinking.
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  We're glad you're here with us today.
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  We are opening our Bibles to the the very end of Matthew chapter
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  10. We're looking specifically at
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  verses 40 through 42. It's a short passage, just three
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  verses. But you know, the sources we're
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  looking at today suggest these few lines carry a massive amount
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  of theological weight. They really do.
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  To set the stage for you, the title for our deep dive today is
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  Receiving Christ By Receiving His People.
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  Now, I have to be honest, when you first read these verses, you
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  know, talking about welcoming people, giving out cups of
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  water, it sounds like a lesson on manners.
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  It sounds like Jesus is just teaching us to be polite hosts.
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  Or, you know, to practice good old fashioned hospitality.
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  It definitely sounds that way to the modern year.
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  We have a tendency to sort of domesticate these texts.
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  We make them safe. We think of dinner parties and
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  guest rooms. Right.
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  But as we dug into the source material, the commentaries,
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  theological essays, the Greek text, it became very clear.
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  Very quickly that this is not about etiquette.
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  The sources describe this passage as being about spiritual
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  verdicts and covenantal allegiance.
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  And that is a huge shift. A massive shift in tone from
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  just a simple lesson on kindness.
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  That's right, we're dealing with something far more, I'd say
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  dangerous than table manners here.
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  I mean, we live in a time where people love to separate
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  spirituality from organized religion.
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  You hear it all the. Time so constantly.
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  I love Jesus, but I don't need the church.
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  Or I'm spiritual but not religious.
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  And what makes this text so shocking, or as one of our
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  sources put it, so scandalous, is that Jesus completely refuses
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  to allow that separation. He makes a claim here that's,
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  well, it's breathtaking. He ties his own honor and even
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  the honor of God the Father to how we treat His human
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  messengers. And that really is the hook,
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  isn't it? The idea that the Holy God
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  identifies himself with, well, with imperfect people.
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  It's the central tension of the passage.
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  We want a God who is high and lifted up, you know, accessible
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  through private meditation or a walk in the woods.
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  But Jesus says no, if you want to receive me, you have to
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  receive this person I sent. And that person is usually not
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  all that impressive by worldly standards.
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  Not at all. So the scandal is that God
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  effectively stakes his reputation on the reception of
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  his servants. OK, so let's unpack this.
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  To really get why this is a spiritual verdict and not just a
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  hospitality seminar, we have to look at the context.
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  This is the conclusion of what scholars called the Mission
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  Discourse. Is that right?
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  That's correct. Matthew 10 is a commissioning
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  scene. Jesus has called the 12, given
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  them authority, and now he's sending them out.
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  But we have to remember the atmosphere of the sending.
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  He's in sending them to stay in luxury hotels or to be greeted
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  by parades. Not even close, no.
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  Earlier in the chapter, the imagery is really intense, He
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  says. He's sending them out as sheep
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  in the midst of wolves. That's the setting, so they're
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  vulnerable. They're vulnerable.
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  They're likely poor. They've been stripped of earthly
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  security. Jesus has explicitly warned them
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  they'll be handed over to council, flogged in synagogue.
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  And hated by all for his namesake, he even warned them
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  that families would be torn apart.
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  Right. Brother against brother, father
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  against child. That context changes everything,
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  So when Jesus starts talking about receiving them in these
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  final verses, the stakes are effectively life and death.
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  We have to strip away our modern idea of a dinner party.
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  Precisely in the 1st century, for a Jewish household to open
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  its door to a disciple of Jesus, someone preaching a Kingdom that
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  was seen as a threat to the religious establishment, that
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  was a risky move. It wasn't just being nice, it
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  was an act of allegiance. The sources mentioned this idea
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  of an enacted parable, especially with the whole
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  shaking the dust off their feet thing.
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  Can you explain that connection? Yes, Jesus tells the disciples
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  that if a house or town doesn't receive them, they're to shake
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  the dust off their feet as they leave.
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  That's a sign of judgement. It's a symbolic way of saying we
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  have nothing to do with you. You're standing outside the
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  covenant. So the opposite must be true
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  then. The opposite is true.
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  When a household does open its door, it's yielding to the reign
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  of Christ. It's a visible, physical way of
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  saying, I accept the message you're bringing.
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  It's an enacted parable of salvation.
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  So hospitality in this context is almost an act of war.
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  You're siding with the rejected king against the world.
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  That's a really helpful way to put it.
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  You're identifying with a contested message.
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  The source material highlights that receiving here is a moral
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  and spiritual response to the arrival of divine authority.
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  You aren't just evaluating a person's personality, you're.
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  Rendering a verdict on the king who sent them.
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  That's it. The stakes are eschatological.
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  They have to do with final judgement and salvation.
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  To receive the messenger is to receive the Kingdom.
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  To reject them is to invite judgement.
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  That certainly raises the intensity of a cup of cold
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  water. It changes everything.
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  Let's move into the text itself. Verse 40 says whoever receives
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  you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who
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  sent me. There's a very specific legal
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  idea behind this, isn't there? Yes, and this is fascinating.
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  The sources point to the Jewish legal principle of the shellac.
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  The shellac. Can you break that down for us?
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  It's the ancient law of agency. The rabbinic maxim was a man's
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  agent is as himself. So if a king sends an ambassador
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  to a foreign country, how that ambassador is treated is legally
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  interpreted as how the king himself is treated.
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  If you insult the ambassador, you've insulted the Crown.
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  You've insulted the crown, and Jesus is applying this exact
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  logic to these fishermen and tax collectors he's sending out.
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  He's establishing a divine chain of reception, if you will.
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  A chain of command. A clear chain of command.
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  The disciple represents Christ and Christ represents the
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  Father. So you have this is direct link
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  from the dusty roads of Galilee all the way to the throne of
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  God. And this connects directly to
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  our theology as Reformed believers, particularly
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  regarding union with Christ. It's the bedrock of the passage.
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  We look at the Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 26,
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  which talks about the communion of Saints.
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  It tells us believers are united to Jesus Christ in his graces
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  and sufferings. It's a mystical union.
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  This isn't just a metaphor. It's not just a metaphor.
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  The head Christ actually feels what is done to the Body at the
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  church. I can't help but think of Saul
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  on the road to Damascus here. That is the perfect cross
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  reference, Yeah. When Jesus confronts Saul, he
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  doesn't say, why are you persecuting my people or why are
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  you persecuting my church? He asks.
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  Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
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  So Saul was striking Christians, but he was hitting Christ.
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  Yes, and Matthew 10.40 is the positive side of that very same
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  coin. To open the door to a Christian
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  is to open the door to Christ. This really does dismantle that
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  modern era we touched on earlier, the idea that you can
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  bypass the church to get to God. It makes it a theological
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  impossibility. You see, the text asserts a very
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  high Christology. Christ is the exclusive
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  mediator. You can't bypass the Son to get
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  to the Father. Jesus is the only way.
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  Yeah, but this text adds an another link to that chain.
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  You generally cannot bypass the Apostolic message carried by the
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  Church to get to the Sun. That is a hard pill for our
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  individualistic culture to swallow.
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  We like to think we can act as free agents.
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  It is hard. We love the myth of neutrality.
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  We think we can be open minded observers of Christianity, but
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  Jesus says there is no middle ground.
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  A verdict on the messenger is a verdict on the sender.
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  If you slam the door on the message because the messenger is
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  awkward or poor. You've slammed the door on God
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  the Father. That's sobering.
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  It's meant to be, but you know it's also a comfort.
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  If you're the one being rejected, you know it isn't
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  really just about you. And if you're the one receiving,
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  you know that you are, in a very real way touching the divine.
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  Moving on to verse 41, Jesus gets more specific.
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  He mentions receiving a prophet and a righteous person.
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  He says whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet
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  will receive a prophet's reward. Let's break down these
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  categories. First, what is a prophet in this
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  context? This is where we need to be
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  careful and precise. The source material takes a
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  clear cessationist stance here, which aligns with our Reformed
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  understanding. Right, so we're not talking
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  about people predicting the future or getting new direct
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  revelations from God today. Correct.
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  The original foundational office of the Prophet, someone who
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  receives that direct new revelation to lay the groundwork
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  of the Church. That office has ceased, as Paul
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  tells us in Ephesians 2.2. No, the footing is laid.
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  You don't keep pouring concrete. So how do we apply the term
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  profit to our context today? Functionally, the prophet in
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  this passage represents the minister of the Word.
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  It refers to the one who faithfully exposes and proclaims
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  the Scriptures. When you receive a faithful
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  pastor or a missionary who is preaching the Bible, you are
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  receiving a prophet in the functional sense of that word.
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  And what about the righteous person?
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  That would refer to the general believer who is marked by
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  covenant fidelity. This isn't a self-righteous
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  moralist or a Pharisee. This is a Christian who is
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  bearing the fruit of the Spirit, living a life of obedience.
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  Now Jesus repeats a very specific phrase here.
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  He says in the name of receive a prophet, In the name of a
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  prophet. Why the repetition?
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  That phrase is the key to the whole verse.
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  It defines the motive. You see, you can host a preacher
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  for all the wrong reasons. Sure.
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  You might host him because he's famous.
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  Or because he's funny. Or because you think being close
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  to him will give you influence in the church.
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  Or you want to network. But Jesus says that doesn't
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  count. The blessing is attached to the
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  recognition of their Commission. You receive him because he's a
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  prophet. You welcome her because she is a
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  righteous person. You're recognizing their
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  identity in relation to God. It strips away all the
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  hypocrisy. You're not doing it for what you
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  can get out of it socially. Not at all, and it also seems to
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  require some discernment, doesn't it?
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  You have to know they are actually a true prophet.
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  That's a crucial point. It corrects gullibility.
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  If we're to receive a prophet as a prophet, we must determine if
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  they're actually speaking the truth.
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  We don't receive false teachers. We don't bankroll heresy.
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  It implies A hospitality that is warm hearted but has its eyes
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  wide open to the truth. Now let's talk about the payoff.
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  The text promises a reward. He will receive a Prophet's
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  reward. I can hear some of our reformed
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  listeners getting a little nervous.
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  Are we talking about earnings salvation here?
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  It sounds transactional. It is a valid concern and we
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  have to tread carefully, but the text is explicit.
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  We must have a robust doctrine of rewards or miss those in the
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  Greek. The Westminster Standards help
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  us here. This is not Roman Catholic
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  merit. We are not engaging in a
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  transaction where God becomes our debtor, as if we do a good
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  deed and God now owes us wages. So how does it work within a
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  framework of grace? It's a reward of grace.
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  St. Augustine put it beautifully
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  when he said God crowns his own gifts.
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  When we do good works, it's God's Spirit working in us.
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  And then God, in his incredible kindness, decides to reward the
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  very works he enabled us to do. It's grace all the way down.
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  Precisely. And the nature of the specific
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  reward is just fascinating. It implies partnership, or
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  quayunos in the Greek. Think about it.
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  If you support a missionary, if you feed a preacher, if you
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  drive the evangelist to the airport, you're sustaining their
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  work. You're part of the logistics
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  team for the Kingdom. Yes, and Jesus says that because
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  you sustained the work, you share in the fruit of the work.
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  The person who pays the check shares in the preaching of the
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  Word. You might never stand in a
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  pulpit, you might never translate a Bible, but if you
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  receive the One who did, you share in the prophet's reward.
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  You become a partner in the spiritual dividends.
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  That's a great way to put it. It's incredibly encouraging for
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  those who feel like their role is just support.
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  There is no just support in the Kingdom.
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  No, it's all linked. And that leads us perfectly into
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  verse 42. Jesus shifts the focus entirely.
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  He moves from the prophet and the righteous person who are,
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  you know, somewhat high status figures down to these little
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  ones. This is the descents to the
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  lowly, and I love this shift. Jesus knows our hearts.
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  He knows we are prone to hero worship.
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  We love the prophets, We love the big speakers, the conference
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  headliners. But here Jesus points to the
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  microwy the little ones. Who are the little ones?
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  Are we talking about children? In Matthew's Gospel, while it
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  can include children, it often refers to the disciples
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  themselves in their vulnerability.
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  It's the socially insignificant believer, the one with no power,
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  no influence, no resources. The awkward convert.
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  The awkward convert. The weary missionary who comes
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  back broken. The person in the Pew who
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  doesn't have much to offer you socially.
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  And look at the specific act Jesus highlights.
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  He doesn't say whoever buys them a chariot or whoever builds them
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  a new house. He says whoever gives one of
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  these little ones even a cup of cold water.
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  Why cold water? What is the significance there?
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  Well, it represents the ordinary in that climate.
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  Cold water was a mercy. But it's also the cheapest, most
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  common thing available. You didn't need to be wealthy to
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  give it. You didn't need to be talented.
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  It is accessible to every single person.
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  So it's a snack to Che apart standing for the whole.
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  Right. It stands for any act of simple
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  mercy. But again, the motive is key
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  because he's a disciple. This seems to be a direct strike
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  against pragmatism. It destroys it.
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  The source material stresses this heavily.
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  We live in an age of celebrity Christianity.
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  We value ministry by its size, its utility, its fame.
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  We want to host the famous speaker because it makes us look
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  good. Jesus rewards the one who helps
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  the unnoticed St. The idol of pragmatism says I
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  will invest in this person because they can do something
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  for me. Jesus says invest in this person
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  because they belong to me. That is the whole difference.
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  And look at the guarantee he gives.
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  The Greek grammar here is so emphatic it uses the phrase umo
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  with the Auris subjunctive. OK.
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  Breaks that down for us. That sounds technical.
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  It's a double negative. Essentially.
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  It is the strongest possible negation in the Greek language.
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  You could translate it as he will.
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  By no means, under no circumstances, ever lose his
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  reward. That's a divine guarantee.
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  It is divine accounting. The world forgets small
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  kindnesses. If you give a ride to an elderly
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  lady or bring a meal to a sick family, the world doesn't write
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  a newspaper article about it. It just vanishes.
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  But Jesus says God records it in indelible.
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  Ink. It makes the smallest act of
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  kindness into an eternal investment.
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  It does. I want to pivot now to how we
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  apply this using the categories of law and gospel, which is so
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  central to our Reformed framework.
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  How does this text act as the law?
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  I mean, how does it condemn us? Well, it acts as a mirror, and
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  if we're honest when we read this, we have to ask ourselves,
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  do we only love the great ones? We're guilty of the sin of
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  partiality, which James 2 warns against so strongly.
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  We fawn over the rich, the educated, the cool people in
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  church, and we often ignore the little ones, the people who are
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  socially awkward or needy. And according to this text, if
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  we ignore them, we're rejecting the King.
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  That's the condemnation. It exposes our splendid sins
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  that kindnesses that are actually just selfishness in
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  disguise because they're done without any reference to Christ
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  or his people. That's heavy.
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  So where is the gospel? Where is the comfort in all
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  this? The comfort is found in looking
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  at Christ. He is the ultimate sent 1.
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  He is the ultimate little one. Think about it.
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  He was rejected so that we could be received.
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  He cried out. I thirst on the cross so that we
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  could be the ones to give the cup of water.
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  So our standing with God doesn't depend on our hospitality
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  record. No, and praise God for that.
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  We are not received by the Father because we were perfect
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  hosts. We are received because we are
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  hitting in the sun. That is the indicative who we
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  are in Christ. And that indicative then fuels
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  the imperative, what we are commanded to do.
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  Correct. We don't labor to earn
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  salvation. We labor out of the overflow of
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  the salvation we have already received.
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  This is the third use of the law.
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  It guides our gratitude. It changes that cup of cold
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  water from a burdensome duty into a liturgical act of
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  worship. We're ministering to the Lord of
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  glory when we minister to His people.
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  Yes, let's get really practical here.
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  We've talked about the theology, but what does this look like on
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  a Tuesday afternoon and how do we correct some of the
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  distortions we see in the church about this?
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  Well, first we have to correct the prosperity gospel
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  distortion. You will hear TV preachers use
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  this text to say, sow a seed into my ministry, give me money
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  and God will give you a financial reward to.
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  Turn the Prophets reward into a get rich quick scheme.
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  It's a gross twisting of the text.
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  The context here is suffering. The disciples are sheep among
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  wolves. They are not flying on private
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  jets. The reward is almost certainly
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  spiritual, eschatological and relational.
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  It is not a promise that God will pay off your mortgage if
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  you tip the pastor. OK.
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  On the other hand, we have the distortion of sort of suspicion
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  versus gullibility. Yes, we touched on this.
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  We must discern. We shouldn't be naive, but we
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  also shouldn't be cynical. Some people are so afraid of
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  being taken advantage of that they close their hearts to needy
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  Saints. This text calls for a warm, open
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  handed love that is also wise. Give us some real world
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  examples. What is a cup of cold water in
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  the 21st century? It's opening your home on the
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  Lord's Day to visitors, and not just your friends, but the
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  strangers. It's supporting that unknown
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  pastor in a rural area who is faithfully preaching to 30
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  people. You can partner in his reward by
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  sending a check or just praying for him.
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  Small does not mean insignificant.
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  Not at all. It could be driving an elderly
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  member to a doctor's appointment.
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  It could be listening, just listening to someone who is
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  lonely and tells the same stories over and over.
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  That requires patience, which is a resource just like money is.
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  It absolutely is. And when you do that in the name
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  of a disciple, you are ministering to Jesus.
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  I think there's also a word of encouragement here for the
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  little one listening. Yes, if you are listening and
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  you feel insignificant in the church, you don't have a title,
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  you aren't famous, maybe you're struggling.
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  You need to know this. You are not forgotten.
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  You are so precious to Christ that he treats kindness shown to
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  you as kindness shown to him. You carry a dignity that the
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  world cannot see. And for the giver when doing the
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  unnoticed work. No act is wasted.
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  No prayer, no meal, no ride, no check is lost in God's economy.
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  So as we wrap up this divine chain we talked about, it really
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  does bind to the humblest believer, to the very throne of
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  God. It implies that the local church
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  is the embassy of the Kingdom. When we gather, we are in the
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  presence of the King's ambassadors.
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  So here's our final provocative thought for you to chew on.
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  Next Sunday. When you're sitting in church,
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  look at the person in the Pew next to you.
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  Maybe they're a bit awkward. Maybe they're needy.
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  Maybe they're just incredibly ordinary.
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  And the challenge of this text is to realize that how you treat
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  them is the truest barometer of your love for the invisible God.
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  You cannot love the God you don't see if you don't love the
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  brother you do see. That changes the way we view
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  coffee Hour, doesn't it? It changes everything.
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  Go out this week and look for an opportunity to offer that cup of
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  cold water. Thank you for joining us on
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  Reformed Thinking. Grace and peace to you.