Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
8. cleanse the lepers ] Leprosy is not classed with the other diseases. As especially symbolical of a sin-stricken man, the leper requires cleansing or purification.
raise the dead ] These words are omitted in a large number of important MSS. but not in the two most ancient Codices.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Freely ye have received, freely give – That is, they were not to sell their favors of healing, preaching, etc. They were not to make a money-making business of it, to bargain specifically to heal for so much, and to cast out devils for so much. This, however, neither then nor afterward precluded them from receiving a competent support. See Luk 10:7; 1Co 9:8-14; 1Ti 5:18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 10:8
Heal the sick.
Heal the sick
I. A confirmation of our sincerity.
II. An illustration of the completeness Of Christianity.
1. Its concern with the whole nature of man.
2. Its care for the individual.
III. A revelation Of the Spirit of the Lord.
IV. An undoubted mode of serving the Christ Himself. (U. R. Thomas.)
Cleanse the lepers.–
History of leprosy
Leprosy is a disease with which we are happily so little acquainted in Western lauds that the miraculous power exerted by our Lord and His apostles in connection with it does not strike us with the wonder and admiration it must have occasioned in early times, It is, in the passage before us, distinguished from sickness-Heal the sick and Cleanse the lepers, being distinct commands. For leprosy was the special disease of Palestine; was looked upon as a type of sin, was in most cases incurable, and was one that necessitated separation, as indeed it does at the present day, though what is now termed leprosy, Elephantiasis Groecorum, is distinct from the Lepra Mosaics to which the Israelites from the period of their bondage in Egypt to the time of our Lord, were subject. But the former disease, like the latter, is of Eastern origin, and is thought to have been brought into Europe by the Crusaders, while others affirm that it was introduced in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the Moors and Arabs, who not only conquered the larger part of Spain, but penetrated much further into Europe than is generally known, reaching, it is believed, even as far as Switzerland. Its frequency in various parts of Europe through the Middle Ages is shown by the word Lazar, for hospital, which referred to Lazarus, because he was full of sores, and these hospitals were intended primarily for lepers. Most great towns in England had their St. Giless Gate, outside which these wretched beings were housed to avoid infection, St. Giles being the patron saint of lepers. This was generally a particularly low and wretched part of the town-St. Giless Church in London and the Gilligate at Durham are instances. The laws to prevent the spread of leprosy were very stringent, sometimes even cruel. At Edinburgh, for instance, there was at one time a statute that if any person harboured a leper in their house, he was, among other penalties, to be branded in the cheek. There is only one country in Northern Europe in which this dire disease is still frequent, Norway. From want of vigorous measures to stamp it out leprosy is common in that country, and there is a large leper hospital at Christiania, the capital. In England isolated instances are met with-for instance, at Marazide, in Cornwall, there lived some years ago a person most grievously afflicted with Elephantiasis Groecorum, a form of the disease in which the extremities swell to a great size, and sometimes fall off. In the Holy Land, at the present day, as well as in Greece and Spain, this form of leprosy is far from uncommon. Ewald gives a thrilling account of a village near Jerusalem which is exclusively inhabited by lepers-about one hundred in number at the time he visited it. This unfortunate and pitiable race, he says, are compelled to live separate from all. The malady appears generally when they are about twelve or fourteen years old, and increases every year, till they lose literally one limb after the other. As they grow older their sight fails, their throat and lungs become infected, till death ends their protracted sufferings. They live upon the alms which they receive from pilgrims and others. In South Africa the disease is very frequent, more especially among the negroes and Hottentots. Very little care was taken to tend or isolate these unfortunate sufferers while the Dutch were in possession of Cape Colony, since they mostly belonged to the despised black race, but when the English came into power in 1810 a settlement was appointed for the lepers at a place called by the Dutch Hemel en Aaede (Heaven on Earth), which seems a most inappropriate name, but that the devoted labours of the Moravian missionary Lehmann sweetened the lot of these unhappy ones. In 1845 the settlement was removed to Robber Island, nearly opposite Cape Town, where the lepers, it was thought, would be more completely isolated, and would enjoy the benefit of sea-air. There the devoted Lehmann continued his ministrations, having under his spiritual charge a motley assemblage of English, Germans, Frenchmen, Malays, Swedes, Africans, only alike in their misfortune.
Freely ye have received, freely give.–
Freely ye have received, freely give
I. A very profitable recollection. Have you received at all? How have we received? Freely.
1. Look at your own personal salvation.
2. Look at the abundance of grace given you.
3. Look at the treasures set before you.
II. The constraining obligation-Freely give.
1. Think what you have to give, give your own selves, your substance, your prayers.
2. How you are to give. (C. Bridges, M. A.)
I. Consider the privileges which have been so freely bestowed upon us. The value of the gospel seen-
1. From our Lords commission to His disciples.
2. The labours attendant on the execution of that commission.
II. The duty resulting from these privileges.
1. Freely give your money, influence, and ability.
2. Freely give your friends and relatives to engage in this great missionary work.
3. Freely give yourselves, your lives to this great work.
4. Freely give your prayers. (J. B. Sumpter, M. A.)
The philosophy of benevolence
I. Giving is an act of consecration.
II. It is an act of grace.
III. It is an act of communion.
IV. It is a privilege. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Freely ye have received
1. Manifested in creation.
2. Redemption.
3. Assurance.
4. All these blessings come freely.
5. The favourable administrations of providence. (R. Alliott.)
The best place for a fortune
When a gentleman, who had been accustomed to give away some thousands, was supposed to be at the point of death, his presumptive heir inquired where his fortune was to be found. To whom he answered, that it was in the pockets of the indigent.
The gospel gratis
In The Indian Female Evangelist for September of this year, we meet with rather a pleasing illustration of this verse, in the report given by a native Bible-woman, who accompanied the missionary, Mr. Harding and his wife, on an evangelizing tour of 180 miles in the Bombay Presidency, in a bullock-cart. At one place they came to, she says, We had so many openings in the town here to-day. There were several of us who went, and at times we divided into two companies. We must have gone to six places. One interesting-looking lad followed us around, waiting patiently for his time to come, when we could follow him to his home. We gladly did so, and had a large company in front of his mothers house and yard. He tried to slip a few coppers into our hands but we refused, for as we have received freely, we are glad to give freely. But the boys offer was gratifying, as showing how the work was appreciated. Freely St. Helanon healed very many sick persons, but would not receive any gifts from them, not so much as a morsel of bread; for he was wont to say, Gratis ye have received, gratis give. He replied to a certain nobleman whom he had delivered from a legion of devils, and who urgently pressed him to receive a gift, at least that he might distribute it among the poor, Be not grieved, my son at what I do, for I do it for thy sake as well as my own. If I should receive this I should offend God, and the legion would return to thee.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. Raise the dead] This is wanting in the MSS. marked EKLMS of Griesbach, and in those marked BHV of Mathai, and in upwards of one hundred others. It is also wanting in the Syriac, (Vienna edition,) latter Persic, Sahidic, Armenian, Sclavonic, and in one copy of the Itala; also in Athanasius, Basil, and Chrysostom. There is no evidence that the disciples raised any dead person previously to the resurrection of Christ. The words should certainly be omitted, unless we could suppose that the authority now given respected not only their present mission, but comprehended also their future conduct. But that our blessed Lord did not give this power to his disciples at this time, is, I think, pretty evident from Mt 10:1, and from Lu 9:6; Lu 9:10; Lu 10:19-20, where, if any such power had been given, or exercised, it would doubtless have been mentioned. Wetstein has rejected it, and so did Griesbach in his first edition; but in the second (1796) he has left it in the text, with a note of doubtfulness.
Freely ye have received, freely give.] A rule very necessary, and of great extent. A minister or labourer in the Gospel vineyard, though worthy of his comfortable support while in the work, should never preach for hire, or make a secular traffic of a spiritual work. What a scandal is it for a man to traffic with gifts which he pretends, at least, to have received from the Holy Ghost, of which he is not the master, but the dispenser. He who preaches to get a living, or to make a fortune, is guilty of the most infamous sacrilege.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
8. Heal the sick, cleanse thelepers, raise the dead, cast out devils(Theitalicized clause”raise the dead“is wanting inmany manuscripts). Here we have the first communication ofsupernatural power by Christ Himself to His followersthusanticipating the gifts of Pentecost. And right royally does Hedispense it.
freely ye have received,freely giveDivine saying, divinely said! (Compare Deu 15:10;Deu 15:11; Act 3:6)an apple of gold in a setting of silver (Pr25:11). It reminds us of that other golden saying of our Lord,rescued from oblivion by Paul, “It is more blessed to give thanto receive” (Ac 20:35).Who can estimate what the world owes to such sayings, and with whatbeautiful foliage and rich fruit such seeds have covered, and willyet cover, this earth!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Heal the sick,…. For so he had given them power to do, and this both for the confirmation of their doctrine, and the recommendation of them to men; for nothing could more evidently prove their mission to be divine, and their doctrine from heaven, or be more acceptable to men, than to “heal” their “sick” friends and relations, who were given up by physicians, and incurable by the art of man; and to do this without the use of medicines, either by a word speaking, or by laying on of their hands, or by anointing with oil, joined with prayer; and particularly to
cleanse the lepers, of which there were many in Israel, who otherwise could not get rid of that disorder, and by the law were deprived of many privileges, and advantages, which others enjoyed: and especially to
raise the dead, which had never been done before the times of Christ, since the days of Elijah and Elisha; and which must be allowed by all men to be more than human, and to require the arm of almighty power: and lastly, to
cast out devils, the sworn enemies of mankind, and who had taken possession of the bodies, as well as souls of multitudes in the Jewish nation; all which they are ordered to do, without taking any thing of the people, for so doing:
freely ye have received, freely give; which refers both to the working of miracles, and preaching of the Gospel. As they had these miraculous gifts freely imparted to them by Christ, they had them not of themselves, nor did they procure them at any charge, or expense of their’s, or purchase them with their money, as Simon Magus impiously proposed to the apostles; so they were freely to make use of these wonderful powers, they were possessed of, for the relief of the distressed, without insisting upon, or receiving any thing for the same; a practice which was formerly disapproved and condemned in Gehazi, the servant of Elisha: and with respect to the Gospel, as the knowledge of it was freely communicated to them by Christ, and gifts qualifying them for the preaching of it, were of his mere grace and goodness bestowed upon them, so they were to dispense it without making a gain of godliness, or discovering in the least an avaricious disposition. Our Lord seems to have respect to a rule frequently inculcated by the Jews concerning teaching their oral law g; which is this;
“in the place where they teach the written law for a reward, it is lawful to teach it for a reward; but it is forbidden to teach the oral law for a reward, as it is said, “behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me”, c. De 4:5. As I have , “freely” learned, and ye have also , “freely” learnt of me so when ye learn posterity,
, “teach them freely, as ye have learnt of me”.”
Now what the Jews say of their traditions, Christ applies to the Gospel: in dispensing of which he would not have his disciples come behind them; but as they had freely received the Gospel from his lips; so they would as freely, as well as faithfully, make it known to others; and which no ways contradicts the maintenance of the Gospel ministers by the people; only forbids amassing wealth and riches by it, or preaching for sordid gain, or filthy lucre’s sake: for otherwise it is Christ’s own ordinance, that the preachers of the Gospel should live by it; and which is confirmed in the following verses.
g Maimon. Talmud Tora, c. 1. sect. 7. T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 36. 2. & 37. 1. & Becorat, fol. 29. 1. Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Nedarim, c. 4. sect. 3. & in Pirke Abot. c. 4. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Heal the sick,” (asthenountas therapenete) “You all heal those who are ailing,” those physically ill. They were given miraculous powers to attest their credibility as apostles of Jesus Christ, Heb 2:4; Act 4:13-21.
2) “Cleanse the lepers,” (leprous katharizete) “Cleanse those who are lepers,” wherever you go, those with contagious flesh eating diseases.
3) “Raise the dead,” (nekrous egeirete) “Raise the dead ones;” This phrase is omitted in many manuscripts. If they raised anyone no mention is given of it, Luk 10:17-20.
4) “Cast out devils:” (daimonia ekbailete) “Expel the demons,” from those mentally deranged, mentally and emotionally imbalanced, irresponsible.
5) “Freely ye have received, freely give.” (dorean elabete dorean dote) “Freely you all have received, freely give, Act 8:18; Act 8:20, of yourselves, to others, to meet their spiritual needs, as yours have been met, Luk 10:17; Mat 18:19-20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. Cure the diseased As he has bestowed on them power, so he enjoins them to be faithful and liberal in dispensing it, and charges them not to suppress that power, which had been lodged with them for the common benefit of all. By those miracles he shows why he was sent by the Father, and what was the design of his Gospel. It is not without design that he enjoins them to raise the dead and heal the sick, instead of bringing diseases on the healthy and inflicting death on the living. There is an analogy and resemblance, therefore, which those miracles bear to the office of Christ; and this is intended to inform us, that he came to bestow upon us every blessing, to rescue us from the tyranny of Satan and of death, to heal our diseases and sins, and to relieve us from all our miseries.
Freely you have received (572) That they may be more willing to communicate the gifts which he had bestowed on them, he declares that they were not entrusted to them for their own individual renown, but in order that they might be, as it were, a sort of channels for transmitting the free bounty of God. “Consider whence you derived this power. As it flowed without any merit of yours from the pure grace of God, it is proper that, through your agency, it should flow freely to others.”
We know how unwilling every man is to communicate to others what he considers to belong to himself, and how any one who excels the rest of the brethren is apt to despise them all. No higher commendation could have been given to a liberal communication of spiritual gifts, than by the warning which Christ gives them, that no man surpasses another through his own industry, but through the undeserved kindness of God. Now Christ has presented to us in his ministers a proof of that grace which had been predicted by Isaiah, (Isa 55:1)
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milh without money and without price.
At the same time he shows, that no man will be a sincere minister of his word or dispenser of his grace, till he is prepared to bestow his labor gratuitously, (573) and that all hirelings basely corrupt and profane the sacred office of teaching. Yet it is not inconsistent with this gratuitous dispensation, that the teachers of the church receive public salaries, provided that they willingly and generously serve Christ and his church, and that their support is, in some sort, an accessory of their labor.
(572) “ Vous l’avez receu pour neant;” — “you have received it for nothing.”
(573) “ S’il n’est prest de s’y employer, et d’y mettre son labor gratuitement, et sans consideration de son profit;” — “if he is not ready to be employed in it, and to bestow his labor on it gratuitously, and without regard to his own gain.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Raise the dead.The words are omitted by the best MSS., and their absence is more in accordance with the facts of the Gospel history, which records no instance of that highest form of miracle as wrought by the disciples during our Lords ministry. That was reserved for His own immediate act. The insertion of the words was probably due to a wish to make the command cover such instances of power as that shown in the instances of Dorcas (Act. 9:40) and Eutychus (Act. 20:9-12).
Freely ye have received.The English hardly suggests more than giving liberally. The Greek is much stronger, Give as a free giftgive gratis They had paid Him nothing. They were not in this their first mission to require payment from others. When the kingdom had been established, the necessities of the case might require the application of the principle that the labourer is worthy of his hire in an organised system of stipend and the like (1Ti. 5:18); but the principle of giving freely in this sense is always applicable in proportion as the work of the ministers of Christ has the character of a mission. They must proclaim the kingdom till the sense of the blessing it has brought shows itself in the thank-offerings of gratitude. The like principle of gratuitous teaching had been asserted before by some of the nobler of the Jewish Rabbis.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Heal the sick The preaching was to be confirmed by the miracle. The miraculous powers were a foretaste and premonition of the nature of that kingdom. They were the first rays of its manifestation; and the powers of that kingdom, exercised by these apostles, prove them its true heralds. The four evils which these miracles removed, namely, sickness, leprosy, death, and devils, were all tokens and products of the reign of hell. Raise the dead This clause, being omitted by some manuscripts of the New Testament, is suspected by some able critics to be an interpolation. The absence of any account of such miracle by them performed, does, indeed, prove nothing; for no account is given, of any performances during this mission. But the supposition of so great a miracle stands opposed to the general analogy of that state of pupilage in which the apostles remained during the Saviour’s life. Freely give Sell no miracles; sell no Gospel. As the apostleship, the Gospel, and the power were received by you unbought, so give that Gospel unsold. All this freeness, however, presupposes that the gratitude of those whom you freely bless will, not, indeed, pay you, but freely give you all your needs require. The miracle by which you save other’s lives and souls, must not sustain your own. You are not to live by miracle.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Heal sick people, raise dead people, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.”
And the evidence that the Kingly Rule of Heaven is here is found not only in the establishing of His renewed Law (Mat 10:5-7), but in the establishing of the well-being of His people and the casting out of the foes of the Kingly Rule (Mat 4:23; Mat 9:35; Mat 11:5). Thus His followers are themselves also to fulfil the Messianic signs (Mat 11:5; compare chapters 8-9). Just as He is doing, they are to heal sick people, raise dead people, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons, this last being specifically stated later to be conclusive evidence that the Kingly Rule of God has come (Mat 12:28). In fact no incident of a leper being healed by a disciple is known, and raisings from the dead were few (Act 9:40-41; Act 20:9-11), which the more confirms that this was what Jesus actually said. But by reproducing the miracles of Elijah and Elisha (1Ki 17:17-24; 2Ki 5:1-19) in greater measure they would make it clear that the Kingly Rule of Heaven was here.
Note the lack of article on the nouns. These are to be the by-products of their preaching, in the same way as they are with Jesus. Central is the proclamation of the Kingly Rule of Heaven. It is to establish the Kingly Rule of Heaven that Jesus has been sent (Mar 1:38). The other results will follow as and when people seek them. It will be observed that they follow the pattern of Mat 11:5, with blindness, lameness and deafness all being included within ‘being sick’, while the healing of lepers and the raising of the dead are clearly to be recognised as specific Messianic signs.
‘Freely you received, freely give.’ Many preachers charged for their services, as no doubt did many wonder-workers and healers, although the Rabbis were forbidden to do so. Thus Jesus may here be telling His disciples that they must offer their services freely for no payment, as the Rabbis were supposed to do. But it is more probable that what He is really saying is that having freely received all the benefits of God’s goodness, they should pass them on in abundance, without stint. They were to show the generosity of spirit which should be the mark of the servant of God (Mat 5:44-48), especially in offering God to men and women.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 10:8. Raise the dead In several copies this clause is wanting; for which reason, and because the disciples did not raise any person from the dead whom we read of, till after Christ’s ascension, Dr. Mill takes it for an interpolation. But his opinion is ill-founded; as it is certain that this, with several other articles in the apostles’ first commission, have a direct relation to the period comprehended under that more extensive commission which they received after their Master’s resurrection. See Mat 10:18; Mat 10:21; Mat 10:23. Whitby and Wetstein. That the direction at the end of this verse, Freely, or gratis ye have received, freely give, relates to the miraculous cures which the apostles were empowered to perform, and not to the stated offices of the apostolical function, is evident from Luk 10:7 where our Lord, in giving a like commission to the Seventy, bids them eat and drink what was set before them, because the labourer was worthy of his hire; nay, in this very charge, no sooner did he order the apostles to give freely, than he forbade them to provide gold, &c. because the workman is worthy of his meat; [deserves his maintenance; Heylin;] plainly intimating, that while they were preaching, they had a right to maintenance from those who enjoyed the benefit of their labours, and should, in the course of divine providence, be supplied with all things necessary. Accordingly, we find the apostles receiving such maintenance, and insisting upon it as their due, 1Co 9:4-5; 1Co 9:14. Gal 6:6. See Macknight.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:8-9 . ] with reference to the miraculous gifts just mentioned, not to the teaching , for which, as a matter of course, nothing was to be asked in return except the bare necessaries of life, Mat 10:10 (1Co 9:4 ff.).
] refers back to Mat 10:1 .
] you must not provide for yourselves .
The girdle , which holds together the loose upper robe, served the double purpose of keeping money as well, the different kinds of which are, in the order of their value, denoted by , , . Rosenmller, Morgenl . V. p. 53 f. Therefore . . .: in your girdles, is depending on .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1342
DIFFUSION OF THE GOSPEL, A DUTY
Mat 10:8. Freely ye have received, freely give.
COMPASSION for the wants and miseries of men is a very distinguished feature of the Christian character. It is a lovely grace, even when it has respect only to the temporal necessities of mankind: but it is of a far higher stamp, when it is called forth by a view of their spiritual wants, and seeks to administer to their eternal welfare. Such was the feeling which our blessed Lord and Saviour chiefly manifested on the occasion before us, and sought to diffuse amongst those who were to be his more immediate followers and servants: When he saw the multitudes, we are told, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then said he unto his Disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest [Note: Mat 9:36-38.]. Then having, on the following day, called his twelve Apostles, he bade them go out and preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand; and, in confirmation of their word, to work the most benevolent miracles; that so the people might have, in the healing of their bodily disorders, an emblem and a pledge of what He was come to effect upon their souls [Note: ver. 7, 8.] Then, reminding them how sovereignly he had acted in selecting them to this high office, he added, Freely ye have received; freely give.
This direction of his to the Apostles will afford me a fit occasion to set before you,
I.
The blessings which God has freely communicated to us
Those which had been conferred upon the Apostles were great
[The Apostles had been called, from their several occupations, to wait upon their Lord; and had been drawn with a power which they were not able to withstand. They had been selected from all the people of Israel, to be more especially instructed by their Lord in the nature of his religion, which he was about to establish: for to them did our Lord explain in secret the truths which he had delivered only in parables to his public auditories. To them also was given an experience of what they knew, by an operation of divine grace upon their souls; and an authority also was vested in them, to proclaim to others the truths which had been so far revealed to themselves. They were empowered, also, to work the most astonishing miracles in confirmation of their word: and, ultimately, to become instructors, yea, and instruments of salvation also, to millions of the human race. Finally, their names were written in the Lambs book of life; and they were taught to look forward to all the felicity of heaven, as their sure and everlasting inheritance. No one of these things had they merited: no one of these things had they purchased or procured to themselves: all these blessings, whether official or personal, had been freely given to them, as an act of sovereign grace on the part of their Lord and Saviour: and, in reference to every one of the mercies, our Lord could say, Ye have not chosen me; but I have chosen you [Note: Joh 15:16.].]
Nor are the blessings which have been vouchsafed to us less worthy of notice
[True, we are not called to be Apostles, or to receive truth by inspiration, or to work miracles: but if we fall short of them in what relates to their official character, we are not a whit below them in all that is personal. To us it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven; whilst the great mass of mankind are yet lying in heathen darkness, without so much as one ray of light to guide them into the way of peace. I may add, too, that a faithful ministration of the Gospel is no small mercy, of which millions of those who possess the Christian Scriptures arem yet destitute. But what, if we can say that our eyes have been opened to behold the truth, and our hearts opened to embrace it? What, if we can say that we have been quickened from our death in trespasses and sins; and that we have been enabled to give up ourselves to Christ, as his stated and avowed followers? What, if we have a good hope that our names are written in heaven and that we have been begotten again to an inheritance that is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us? Have not we reason to bless our God?
Then, as to the freeness of these gifts; what have we ever done to merit them? Must we not acknowledge, in reference to every one of them, that God has prevented us with the blessings of his goodness? and that, in reference to them all, He was found of them that sought him not, and made known to them that inquired not after him [Note: Isa 65:1. with Rom 10:20.]?
Know ye then, brethren, that as to the external ministration of the Gospel, it is what ye have freely received; and if ye have been made partakers of an inward experience of its power, for that also ye are altogether indebted to the free and sovereign grace of God.]
Let us, then, proceed to consider,
II.
The obligation which he has thereby entailed upon us
The Apostles received not their gifts for themselves only, but for the good of others: and in like manner must we consider the benefits which we have received, as talents to be improved by us for the honour of our God, and the welfare of our fellow-creatures. This is true, even in relation to our faculties, our property, our influence in the world; but much more is it true in reference to the possession of divine knowledge, which is so distinguishing a mercy, and of such infinite importance to every child of man. To all, then, I say, Freely give; for,
1.
The call on us is as urgent as it was on the Apostles
[Were the bulk of the Jewish nation ignorant; what must the heathen be, who possess not one of their advantages? Cast an eye over a map of the globe, and see how small a part of the world is enlightened with divine truth. Not so much as the very name of Jesus is known to more than one-sixth part of the world; or, if known, is known only to be hated and abhorred. Go through the world, as the Apostles went through Juda, and say whether you will not find the souls of men diseased and leprous, and under the power of Satan, as much as ever their bodies were whom the Apostles were authorized and empowered to heal. Yes, verily, the whole world lieth in wickedness, and under the power of the Wicked-one [Note: .]; and it is the Gospel only that can heal them. I therefore call upon you to send forth the Gospel, by any means in your power. Individually, I well know, you can do but little; but in concert you may do much. What might not the Christian world effect, if they all felt their obligations to the extent that they ought, and laboured to fulfil them to the extent that they might? At all events, do ye rise to the call of duty; and give as liberally as ye have freely received.]
2.
The obligation, too, is as great on us as on them
[We are not to hide our talent in a napkin: or, if we do, we must expect to be condemned as unprofitable servants. We must give an account of our stewardship, and answer for every talent committed to our charge. On the score of responsibility, therefore, we are as much bound to exert ourselves as ever the Apostles were. But I am ashamed to urge such an argument as that. Shall those who have been redeemed by the blood of Gods only dear Son, and been renewed by his Holy Spirit, want any other motive to exertion than gratitude, especially when called to such a service as this? Should not the love of Christ constrain them to do all that they can in this blessed work? Let me hope that you need no other impulse than this; and that now, with one heart and one hand, you will combine in aiding the society whose cause I plead.]
3.
The opportunity, also, is as favourable as ever theirs was
[Was there at that time an expectation of the Messiahs advent? So is there now, to a vast extent, both amongst Jews and Gentiles. An idea seems to be pervading gradually the whole world, that one great religion is about to be established, to which all others will give way. And the Christian world, in particular, is beginning, and to an extent never known before, to feel its obligations, and to fulfil its duties in this respect. The diffusion of the Holy Scriptures in the different languages of the earth; the sending out of missionaries from almost every different church in Christendom; the zeal that is spread amongst all classes of society; and the liberality that is exercised; all augur well respecting the success of our endeavours: for, beyond all doubt, this zeal and liberality proceed from God: and what he has thus been pleased to excite, we may reasonably hope he will accompany with his blessing [Note: This being preached in behalf of the Missions of the United Brethren, called Moravians, it was here shewn, that they have claims upon us of no ordinary kind: they are an Episcopal Church, like ourselves: they have, amongst Protestants, taken the lead in the establishment of Missions, and are universally acknowledged as the brightest patterns of Missionary exertions: they have selected the places most difficult of access (Greenlandthe Coast of Labradorthe North-American Indians and Cherokeesthe West-Indian Islands, among the Negroesthe Calmucs in Russian Asiathe Hottentots at the Cape, &c.) Their self-denial has been great, like that of the Apostles, ver. 810: their preaching simple, the cross of Christ) like theirs, ver. 7: their success wonderful; (twenty-eight thousand in the West Indies and two thousand among the Hottentots, besides thousands elsewhere); so that the number of their converts exceeds that of the members of their own communion: their necessities urgent, for their own people are poor, and not able to raise more than one fourth of their annual expenditure; and their economy most remarkable; for, with thirty-three stations, and one hundred and seventy Missionaries, including their wives, they expend only 8000l. a year. Are not such persons deserving of the aid of every Christian Church?].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Ver. 8. Heal the sick ] God glorifies himself by the fruits of our sin and the effects of his own wrath. This great Alchemist knows how to extract good out of evil. He can make golden afflictions, 1Pe 1:7 , medicinal sicknesses, fetch his own honour out of the depths of our sufferings, as wine draws a nourishing virtue from the flesh of vipers, and as scarlet pulls out the viper’s teeth.
Freely ye have received ] And so have we in some sort, and in some sense; since no pains we take, no cost we are at, can possibly countervail so great a treasure as is concredited unto us.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ., . ] See Act 8:18-20 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 10:8 . . This clause is wanting in several Codd., including L [58] , so often associated with [59] [60] in good readings. It is, however, too well attested to be omitted. It must either have found a place in the autograph, or it must have crept in as a gloss at a very early period. The evangelist’s aim seems to be to represent Christ as empowering the disciples to do the works He is reported to have done Himself in chaps. 8, 9. That purpose demands the inclusion of raising the dead as the crowning miracle of the group (raising of daughter of Jairus). Yet it is hard to believe that Jesus would give power to the disciples to do, as an ordinary part of their mission, what He Himself did only on one or two exceptional occasions. The alternatives seem to be either an early gloss introduced into the text, or an inaccuracy on the part of the evangelist. Meyer takes the former view, Weiss apparently the latter. We cannot take the phrase in a spiritual sense, the other clauses all pointing to physical miracles. This clause is not in the accounts of Mark and Luke. The seventy on their return (Luk 10:17 ) make no mention of raising the dead.
[58]Codex Regius–eighth century, represents an ancient text, and is often in agreement with and B.
[59] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[60] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the sick = sick ones.
the lepers = leprous ones.
the dead = dead people. See App-139.
devils = demons. Compare Mat 10:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8. ., .] See Act 8:18-20.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:8. -, sick-devils) An ascending gradation: cf. Mat 10:1, where the highest grade is put first.-, gratuitously) This is not inconsistent with the conclusion of Mat 10:10. Hire is due for labour, but miracles and gifts of grace ought not to be sold.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
devils
demons. (See Scofield “Mat 7:22”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Heal: Mat 10:1, Mar 16:18, Luk 10:9, Act 4:9, Act 4:10, Act 4:30, Act 5:12-15
freely ye: 2Ki 5:15, 2Ki 5:16, 2Ki 5:20-27, Act 3:6, Act 8:18-23, Act 20:33-35
Reciprocal: Lev 14:3 – be healed Num 24:2 – the spirit 2Ki 5:26 – Is it a time Mat 4:23 – healing Mat 8:2 – a leper Mat 11:5 – the lepers Luk 9:2 – General Joh 15:25 – without Act 8:20 – the gift Act 20:35 – It is Act 28:8 – and healed Act 28:10 – laded 1Co 12:9 – the gifts
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
10:8
These apostles were able to perform the same kind of miracles that Jesus did, and that included the power to raise the dead. Pretended miracle workers today refuse even trying to raise the dead on the ground that the early disciples were restricted to miracles on the living. The present passage disproves their doctrine and exposes their hypocrisy. Freely received, freely give. The aspostles received all their power from Jesus–it was not a natural trait–hence they should pass its benefits to others.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:8. According to the best authorities, raise the dead should come before cleanse the lepers. The Apostles did raise the dead after the resurrection of Christ, whether they availed themselves of this power on this journey is not stated. The power to do these things was delegated to them for the specific purpose of calling attention to and confirming their words.
Freely ye received. This refers both to the instruction and the power. Freely means not abundantly, but gratuitously, thus they were to give. The grace and the instrumentality are alike unbought.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here our Saviour empowers his apostles to work miracles for the confirmation of their doctrine; but gives them a charge to work them freely, without making any private advantage to themselves.
Where observe, 1. How beneficial the miracles were (which Christ and his apostles wrought) to mankind. Moses’ miracles were as great judgments as wonders; but these were beneficent, they delivered men from miseries, from bodily diseases, from the power and malice of evil spirits; they healed the sick, and cast out devils.
Observe, 2. That Jesus Christ, to show himself a free Saviour, and that whatever came from him was the effect of free grace, gave his apostles a charge to dispense their power in working miracles freely, without money, and without price.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
10:8 {3} Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
(3) Miracles are signs verifying the word.