มัทธิว 10:30 วิจารณ์

This chapter is an ordination sermon, which our Lord Jesus preached, when he advanced his twelve disciples to the degree and dignity of apostles. In the close of the foregoing chapter, he had stirred up them and others to pray that God would send forth labourers, and here we have an immediate answer to that prayer: while they are yet speaking he hears and performs. What we pray for, according to Christ's direction, shall be given, Now here we have, I. The general commission that was given them (Mat 10:1). II. The names of the persons to whom this commission was given (Mat 10:2-4). III. The instructions that were given them, which are very full and particular; 1. Concerning the services they were to do; their preaching; their working miracles; to whom they must apply themselves; how they must behave themselves; and in what method they must proceed (Mat 10:5-15). 2. Concerning the sufferings they were to undergo. They are told what they should suffer, and from whom; counsels are given them what course to take when persecuted, and encouragements to bear up cheerfully under their sufferings (v. 16-42). These things, though primarily intended for direction to the apostles, are of use to all Christ's ministers, with whom, by his word, Christ, and will be always to end the world.

And when he had called to him his twelve disciples,.... These persons had been for some time called by the grace of God, and were already the disciples of Christ, and such as were more familiar and intimate with him, than others, that went by that name. They had sat down at his feet, and had received of his words; they had heard his doctrines, and had seen his miracles, and had been by him training up for public work; but as yet had not been called and sent forth to enter on such service: but now all things being ready, they being properly instructed, and the time for the conversion of a large number of souls being up, he called them together privately; and gave them a commission to preach the Gospel, ordained them ministers of the word, and installed them into the office of apostleship. The number "twelve", is either in allusion to the twelve spies that were sent by Moses into the land of Canaan, or to the twelve stones in Aaron's breast plate; or to the twelve fountains the Israelites found in the wilderness; or to the twelve oxen on which the molten sea stood in Solomon's temple; or to the twelve gates in Ezekiel's temple; or rather, to the twelve patriarchs, and the tribes which sprung from them; that as they were the fathers of the Jewish nation, which was typical of God's chosen people; so these were to be the instruments of spreading the Gospel, not only Judea, but in all the world, and of planting Christian churches there. And that they might appear to come forth with authority, and that their doctrine might be confirmed, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out; or "over all devils", as Luk 9:1. It was usual with the Jews to call a demon or devil , "an unclean spirit"; especially such as frequented burying places: so in one place (l), an unclean spirit is interpreted by the gloss, , "the spirit of the demons", or devils; and in another (m) place, , "the demon of the graves"; where necromancers sought to be, that these spirits might be their familiars, and assist them in their enchantments: accordingly the devils are here called, "unclean spirits"; being in themselves, in their own nature, unclean, and being the cause and means of defiling others, and delighting in impure persons, places, and things. There were many of these spirits, who, because of the great impiety of the Jews, the prevalence of magic arts among them, and by divine permission, had at this time taken possession of great numbers of persons; whereby Christ had an opportunity of giving proof of his deity, of his being the Messiah, the seed of the woman, that should bruise the serpent's head, by his ejecting them; and of confirming the mission of his disciples, and establishing the doctrine preached by them, by giving them power and authority over them, to cast them out also: and whereas various diseases frequently followed and attended such possessions; he likewise gave them power to heal all manner of sicknesses, and all manner of diseases, as he himself had done. The expressions are very full and strong, and include all sorts of maladies incident to human bodies, either of men or women; all distempers natural or preternatural, curable or incurable, by human methods: so that at the same time they were sent to preach the Gospel, for the cure of the souls of men, they were empowered to heal the diseases of their bodies; and which, one should think, could not fail of recommending them to men, and of ingratiating them into their affections. (l) T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 3. 2. (m) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 65. 2.

Fear ye not therefore,.... Neither be afraid of men, nor distrust the providence of God; for if that reaches to the meanest of creatures, sparrows, and to that which is of the least account with men, the single hair of a man's head; much more must it regard the lives of men, and still more such useful lives as those of the disciples were, who were called to, and employed in preaching the everlasting Gospel; a work which so much concerned the glory of God, the interest of Christ, and the good of immortal souls: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Two of them were worth no more than a farthing; there must be a great multitude of them to be mentioned with any man: and indeed there is no comparison between the whole species of them and the life of a single man, and much less between them and the apostles of the Lamb. Any man is more valuable, as a man, than many sparrows, and much more a Christian man, and still more an apostle: the argument then is, that if God takes care of sparrows and is concerned for their lives, much more will he take care of his faithful ministers, and not suffer their lives to be taken away, till they have done the will and work of their Lord.

He affirms, lastly, that "the very hairs of our head are all numbered," and in the affirmation He of course includes the promise of their safety; for if they were to be lost, where would be the use of having taken such a numerical care of them? Surely the only use lies (in this truth): "That of all which the Father hath given to me, I should lose none," -not even a hair, as also not an eye nor a tooth.

For when any thing is numbered it is carefully watched over. For it is an unworthy task to number things that are to perish. Therefore that we should know that nothing of us should perish, we are told that our very hairs are numbered.

And besides what hath been mentioned, there is another thing also, which we learn from this; that His providence is not only over all in common, but also over each in particular; which He also declared with respect to His disciples, saying, "But the very hairs of your head are numbered." And from these demoniacs too, one may clearly perceive this; who would have been choked long before, if they had not enjoyed the benefit of much tender care from above.

Thus, lest they should think, when killed and butchered, that as men forsaken they suffered this, He introduces again the argument of God's providence, saying on this wise: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall into a snare without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." "For what is viler than they?" saith He; "nevertheless, not even these shall be taken without God's knowledge." For He means not this, "by His operation they fall," for this were unworthy of God; but, "nothing that is done is hid from Him." If then He is not ignorant of anything that befalls us, and loves us more truly than a father, and so loves us, as to have numbered our very hairs; we ought not to be afraid. And this He said, not that God numbers our hairs, but that He might indicate His perfect knowledge, and His great providence over them. If therefore He both knows all the things that are done, and is able to save you, and willing; whatever ye may have to suffer, think not that as persons forsaken ye suffer. For neither is it His will to deliver you from the terrors, but to persuade you to despise them, since this is, more than anything, deliverance from the terrors.

Not that God reckons our hairs, but to show His diligent knowledge, and great carefulness over us.

But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Therefore, do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. The deeper meaning of our previous explanation is expressed: that those who can kill the body should not be afraid, for they cannot kill the soul, and if even small animals do not fall without God's knowledge, how much more so for humans, who are supported by apostolic dignity! Moreover, when it is said that even the hairs of your head are all counted, it shows the immense providence of God towards humans and signifies His ineffable affection, that nothing about us escapes God, and even the smallest and most insignificant things do not elude His knowledge. They mock the ecclesiastical intelligence in this place, who deny the resurrection of the flesh, as if we were all saying that even the hairs that have been counted and cut by the barber will rise again, when the Savior did not say, 'But all the hairs on your head will be saved,' but 'They are counted.' Where there is number, the knowledge of number is demonstrated, not the preservation of the same number.

That He says, The hairs of your head are all numbered, shows the boundless providence of God towards man, and a care unspeakable that nothing of ours is hid from God. Those who deny the resurrection of the flesh ridicule the sense of the Church on this place, as if we affirmed that every hair that has ever been cut off by the razor rises again, when the Saviour says, Every hair of your head—not is saved, but—is numbered. Where there is number, knowledge of that number is implied, but not preservation of the same hairs.

(De Civ. Dei, xxii. 19.) Though we may fairly enquire concerning our hair, whether all that has ever been shorn from us will return; for who would not dread such disfigurement. When it is once understood that nothing of our body shall be lost, so as that the form and perfectness of all the parts should be preserved, we at the same time understand that all that would have disfigured our body is to be united or taken up by the whole mass, not affixed to particular parts so as to destroy the frame of the limbs; just as a vessel made of clay, and again reduced to clay, is once more reformed into a vessel, it needs not that that portion of clay which had formed the handle should again form it, or that which had composed the bottom, should again go to the bottom, so long as the whole was remoulded into the whole, the whole clay into the whole vessel, no part being lost. Wherefore if the hair so often shorn away would be a deformity if restored to the place it had been taken from, it will not be restored to that place, but all the materials of the old body will be revived in the new, whatever place they may occupy so as to preserve the mutual fitness of parts. Though what is said in Luke, Not a hair of your head shall fall to the ground, (Luke 21:18.) may be taken of the number, not the length of the hairs, as here also it is said, The hairs of your head are all numbered.

Figuratively; Christ is the head, the Apostles the hairs, who are well said to be numbered, because the names of the saints are written in heaven.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of much more value than sparrows." So that they would not fear that they are abandoned, He says, "If not even a sparrow is caught without My knowledge, how shall I abandon you whom I love?" And to show His precise knowledge and forethought for us He says that even the hairs of our head are numbered by Him. But do not think that the sparrows are snared by God's doing; rather, that even the snaring of sparrows is not unknown to Him.

Then he shows that care for men is different from that for brutes; hence he says, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. He shows that God's providence varies, in as much as he provides in diverse ways. For he had said about sparrows that not one falls to the ground without the Father; but here he says that not only you will not fall but not even the hairs of your head. And here he points out the providence over the slightest acts, because everything in them is ordained to them, and the Lord makes provision for them. But it should be noted that he says, are numbered. The reason is that it is customary for a person to count things he wishes to keep; whatever he wishes to dispose of he gives to someone. Hence this is the difference between providence over rational creatures and others, that the former are immediately ordained to God but the others not. Again, what we count we wish to keep for ourselves; therefore, he did not say that the sparrows are counted, because they will not exist forever. But there is a question here: If the hairs are numbered, will they not all be restored in the resurrection, even those that have been cut off? If so, the length will be unsightly. Some say that the matter will not perish, but that what is superfluous in one section will be transferred to another section. But if no hair has been lost, what then? Here are three opinions: Some say that nothing will be resurrected except what pertains to the truth of human nature. Others say that only what has been cut off by Adam will rise, for his grew so much. But others say that not only what was cut off by Adam but also by our own immediate parent. Hence whatever is added, if it is truly human, will rise; but whatever does not pertain to the quantity of the parts will not rise. But against this it seems that heat acting on something moist and nourishing acts also on the root, and so a man does not consume one without the other, since they are mixed together. Therefore, it seems that a different answer must be given, namely, that whatever is of the truth will remain only in so far as it pertains to completeness. But by the truth of human nature I mean what is specifically flesh; but the other, materially flesh. The flesh will rise as to its species, though not according to matter. But what is meant by flesh according to its species? I answer that man's parts can be considered either as to form or as to matter: as to form he remains always; but if we consider the matter removed, something is lost and then replenished, as happens in fire. So if logs are added to fire, the fire remains the same specifically; yet there was matter according to the removal of the logs. Hence the more perfect will rise. Consequently, he does not say, "your hair is weighed," but numbered. Therefore, they will rise not in weight but in number.

MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. ( = Mar 6:7-13; Luk 9:1-6). (Mat 10:1-5) And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power--The word signifies both "power," and "authority" or "right." Even if it were not evident that here both ideas are included, we find both words expressly used in the parallel passage of Luke (Luk 9:1) --"He gave them power and authority"--in other words, He both qualified and authorized them. against--or "over."

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered--See Luk 21:18 (and compare for the language Sa1 14:45; Act 27:34).