"Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages [in Galilee], teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction" (Mt 9:35).
The Gospel of the kingdom is the Good News of the kingdom. And the good news is that the kingdom is come and is at hand because the King, Jesus Christ, is come and is at hand. The miracles are signs that accompany this Gospel and signify and confirm this coming and at-handness. Both Matthew and Luke in parallel passages emphasize that early on in his ministry, as here, Jesus healed everyone who came to Him.
For instance, in the home of his disciple Peter, in Peter's hometown of Capernaum, after the healing of his sick mother-in-law, we're told, "that evening [the townspeople] brought to [Jesus] many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick" (Mt 8:16). And at the start of his ministry, after he called his first disciples, in a summary account that is almost identical to today's gospel lesson Matthew records, "he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people" (Mt 4:23).
For the most part, in the initial stages, Jesus’ ministry was well received, to say the least, except for the Jewish leaders who opposed him from the outset. "So his fame spread throughout all Syria," Matthew writes, "and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan" (vv 24-25).
But as his ministry continued and his influence grew, the Gospel writers note the growing skepticism toward him and opposition of him and how Jesus coped with it. "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons" (Mt 12:24), the Pharisees counter Jesus’ exorcism of the same. Jesus reasons otherwise. "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?" (vv 25-26)
First Jesus handles the accusation itself. It is self-evidently absurd. If it is by Satan that Jesus casts out satanic demons then Satan is destroying himself! Then Jesus brings the matter closer to home. "And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges" (v 27). Having thus convicted them, Jesus goes to the heart of the issue. "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you" (v 28). The kingdom of God is come and is at hand, because the King is come and is at hand!
This is the Gospel or Good News of the kingdom. Here it comes in God the Son by the Spirit of God. Next Jesus addresses the implications. "Or how else can one", namely Jesus, "enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods", namely Satan’s, "unless he first binds the strong man" and unbinds those bound by him, like the helpless demoniacs? "And then he will plunder his house" (v 29), freeing the demon-possessed.
After this, Jesus deals with his opposition. "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters abroad" (v 30). This is the radical nature of all sin and every sinner, the sin whereby we are all dead in trespasses even when simultaneously and paradoxically we are justified through faith in Christ. Finally, however, there is an unpardonable sin, unpardonable because it refuses the only cure, and that is the Holy Spirit, by rejecting him and his application of forgiveness on account of Jesus through faith.
"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. But the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men" (v 31). And here is the upshot. "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man," the Son of Man, mind you, "it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit," God forbid! "it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come" (v 32).
Sin in general, and especially this unspeakable sin of incurable hardheartedness against the Holy Spirit and the irremediable impenitence which follows, is the reason even his townsfolk took offense at Jesus. "When he had come to his hometown, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they were astonished and said, 'where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?’" (Mt 13:54-56a)
This then is that contempt born of familiarity whose root cause is unbelief, especially when a hometown fellow from so unremarkable a family happens to be the Son of God. "'Where then did this man get all these things?' so they were offended at him" (vv 56b-56a). Jesus diagnoses their malady, their stiffneckness, that familiarity which spawns disrespect even toward God, and its bitter fruit, his unfruitful ministry among them as a result.
He said to them, "'A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.' And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (vv 57b-58). Jesus went to the heart of this terminal disease when he said, “’seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Indeed in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: “hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their heart and turn, so that I should heal them”'" (Mt 13:13-15).
To these Jesus spoke in parables. Because of their hardness toward him and the Holy Spirit, because of their unbelief, they never understood. They never had a change of heart for the better. These are the ones who hear the Word of the kingdom, the Word of their King, but because they resist him and the Holy Spirit, they fail to comprehend. "Then the wicked one comes and snatches away what is sown in [their] heart" (v 19).
Others gladly hear the Word and immediately receive it joyfully. But because of the allure this life holds for them their faith is only skin deep. "For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately [they stumble]" (v 21). Still others when they hear the message are like thorns and thistles. They're prickly; they bristle. "And the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word" (v 22), and they become unfruitful.
Still today, Jesus looks out on the multitudes. And he is "moved with compassion for them, because they [are] weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd" (Mt 9:36). Truly these are the fields ripe for harvest! "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (vv 37-38).
And insofar as Jesus’ flock on earth consists of both true sheep and back-biting, back-stabbing imposters, and true undershepherds and counterfeits, those ravenous wolves disguised as shepherds who divide and devour the sheep, the undershepherds needs must rely entirely on Jesus, chief shepherd of his sheep, inasmuch as he is entirely reliable. Therefore Jesus instructs his undershepherds, then as now. "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your moneybelts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs, for a worker is worth his food" (Mt 10:9-10). And the chief shepherd will provide.
"Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy," and by God's grace through his Spirit and Spirit-wrought faith the worthy one will be the one receptive to the King and his kingly Gospel and, therefore, his messenger, "and stay there until you depart. And when you go into a household, greet it" (vv 11-12). Peace be to this house! The peace of sin forgiven and reconciliation with God, that is. "If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you" (v 13).
The Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of discernment and who renders peace will see to this, be it one outcome or the other. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand'" (v 7). The King is come! Alleluia! "Freely you have received, freely give" (v 8b). Give as you have gotten and what you have gotten, remembering from whom you obtained it, the King himself, and how he gave it and what he gave. "Peace be with you! As the father has sent me, I also send you. . . .receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20:21, 22b-23).
And here is the king's pronouncement against the recalcitrant naysayers who in refusing his messengers will receive neither the King nor his kingdom. "Whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city shake off the dust from your feet. Verily, verily, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!" (Mt 10:14-15)
But the faithful undershepherds must never assume that it will go better for them than for the chief shepherd, nor be dismayed when it doesn't. Says Jesus, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their [assemblies]" (vv 16-17).
"And you will be brought before [the governing elite] for my sake, as a testimony to them" and to the people. And herein lies the Gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the King who is come. "When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak" (vv 18-19a). The message is not the messenger's but the one who sends him, namely, the Holy Spirit. "For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you" (vv 19b-20).
This is the assurance we need. For cross and persecution and suffering await the King's messenger even as it accompanied him. Do not be deluded; do not be naive. For the sake of Christ and the testimony concerning him, which will divide even families, "brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child. And children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake." But here is the thing. "He who endures to the end will be saved" (vv 21-22). Though it is a foretaste of the feast of victory to come, it is no picnic!
It is like Jesus’ parable of the tares wherein the harvest field is the world in which the Son of Man sowed the good seed of the sons of the kingdom while the devil sowed tares in the same. The harvest Lord elects to let both grow together until the harvest, lest in trying to eradicate the tares his servants inadvertently uproot the wheat with them.
"The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness", like the noxious weeds they are, "and will cast them into the fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
"Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" (Mt 13:39-43). This is the Gospel of the kingdom. The kingdom is at hand. The King is come! Long live the King and his kingdom dwellers. Amen.