April 12, 2026:

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.“

(Matthew 10. 11)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

Jesus’ reputation precedes Him and them. The mission of the newly formed band of disciples of Christ was clear in the context of Matthew. I am not speaking of the gospel writing as a whole as in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The mission of the disciples is always clear. In Matthew and Luke that clarity comes into focus with the post-resurrection commissioning of the remaining disciples as Judas of Kerioth has taken his own life. I often wonder what the story of the gospels and the early Church would have looked like if Judas was not so moved by the dire consequence of his action as to take his life. Would Jesus have addressed the other eleven in those post-resurrection events as to the reconciliation of Judas. Would Jesus have taken Judas into His eyes as He did Thomas and bring him to the deeper understanding of the events which they played a part in? Would his “betrayal” have been too much even for the empowered and encouraged disciples to accept him back into the fold? What of the process of discernment and reconciliation in Matthew 18 which Jesus proposed to restore a sinning believer back into the faith community? Would Judas had been the test case and poster child for this teaching? Would he become a kind of Matthew who had been ostracized by his countrymen for being a traitor to Judaism for the cause of Rome? Would Judas be found “worthy”? Of course, we will never know as it pertains to Judas of Kerioth. Judas hung himself and, in his death, the branch which supported his hung body broke. He fell to the ground and burst open full of maggots. Judas was presented as “rotten to the core.” Unreconcilable and forever condemned. Unworthy.

No, I am not speaking of clarity of purpose as according to the gospels. Rather, I am speaking of the clarity of purpose according to the call of Matthew himself. We found in that critical chapter preceding this one the call of Matthew to step away from “Levi” the tax collector for Rome who benefitted from his “ill-gotten” gain and become Matthew the reconciled and one who would become the benefactor for the sake of the gospel to the sinners. Immediately after Matthew accepts the call to lay aside his trade and follow Jesus, he throws a banquet of celebration. He invites others whose position in Israel was like his own. They, too, were hated tax collectors by Israel’s terms and welcomed patrons of Rome or at least tolerated as they were not Romand citizens. To Israel they were sinners tantamount to prostitutes and lepers. They would have been seen as unworthy and irreconcilable. There would have been no sacrifice great enough to allow them back into the fold. Yet, Jesus considered Matthew worthy and acceptable. He was an example of “the lost of Israel” being found. So as it was with Matthew, so it was meant to be for all. It is here that we find ourselves with a new definition of “worthy.”

Jesus told the Twelve to go out to preach the good news and heal and reconcile. They were to do so freely. This meant that were compelled by Christ to be agents of righteousness. As Jesus required only their faith and trust to open their eyes and believe, so Jesus expected them to do the same as they went out to become missionaries of the gospel. They were to seek out a person in every town in which they needed to find lodging who was “worthy.” Most of us would immediately think that Jesus meant a person of great reputation within that community. A respected and honored Jew whose hospitable was without question. Of course, this makes sense. Why would anyone want to put themselves in question by “associating with sinners.” Skepticism would impede their work. Except their work was to go to the “lost of Israel.” “Worthy” would be understood as “someone who has accepted the gopsel of Jesus Christ. His reputation of godliness, righteousness and the power to heal and restore would have preceded the disciples by word of mouth. If you remember when Jesus sent two disciples into Jerusalem to find a donkey, the foal of an ass, upon which to ride into Jerusalem the following day, He told them exactly who to look for. They were to see someone carrying water who had such an animal. When they were asked “Why do you need this animal,” they would reply “The Lord has need of it.” As it is was a known “code,” the animal was immediately released. Here, too, now in the sending out of the twelve, they were to go into each town and find someone worthy of the gospel. They would be like a “Levi” in that city. They would have been a transformed Jewish person who have been “lost but found” by Jesus, or at least the gospel message already preached. They would know them by the “passing of the peace.” This was a traditional greeting such as “The peace of God be with you” to which there was a response “And with you, amen.” If the peace could not be passed, accepted, then they would move on further until it was. The disciples needed a welcome place to stay in while they preached the gospel themselves. Where better than in a house of a believer in Jesus as the Christ. They would have already begun to tell others (such as John reports the woman at the well did). There would have been an eager crowd ready to hear the teachings of Jesus and receive the healing from on high in Jesus’ name. The disciples themselves would have been encouraged and empowered to do good work there. We only need a story of places such as Nazareth where few believed and would receive Him and little to no good work could be done there. Jesus would never return to Nazareth after that. He shook the dust off His feet and moved on. So it was for the disciples as they began their ministry to the “lost of Israel.”

What does this say to us, mighty ones of God? Who is it that we are supposed to minister to and where shall we first put ourselves? Imagine, as in the days of Jesus, that such a place would not be in the house of those who, like the Pharisees, did not believe and would not accept the gospel of Jesus. There would be a sense of debt owed to stay in a house there and always under suspicion. While we would know that they were themselves “lost sheep,” they would not recognize it. They would be contrary to the call. We have stories of Simon the Pharisee (Simon the Leper) who received the blessing of the gospel. We know of Nicodemus as well who came representing others who saw the difference and heard it in Jesus and desired it for themselves. But those individuals would be few and far between in those days. Do we find ourselves in such “safe places” where we would be beholding to others and thus compromise our ability to witness the call of sinners to salvation? Or equally, to be in places hostile to the gospel among those who were of the lost? This would be those who continued to sin even though they said they believed. We would call them hypocrites. Skepticism would abound and there, too, such hindrances to believability would lessen the impact so that “no good work could be done there.” Yes, mighty ones, it is in the context of Matthew, Levi, that we find the true sense of worthiness when it comes to Jesus’ expectation of who and where to minister most effectively.

TODAY’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.