Week 11: Matthew 10-12; Mark 2; Luke 7 & 11

The following is not a full verse by verse commentary. I pick out various themes from the reading and extrapolate upon them below. They range from clarifications to add insight and plainness to the reading or interesting themes that I feel are important to point out. I will return to full commentary next week as I am almost done with the newlywed chaos. :)

MATTHEW 10

Verse 2: You will notice that this is the only instance where Matthew uses the word 'Apostle'. The other Gospel's do not use the term that much if at all (the Gospel of John never refers to the disciples as Apostles). What are we to make of this? Not sure, but my hunch might be that the early Christians understood the following truth taught by Joseph Fielding Smith than we do:

"I do not care what office you hold in the Church -- you may be an apostle, you may be a patriarch, a high priest, or anything else -- but you cannot receive the fullness of the priesthood and the fullness of eternal reward unless you receive the ordinances of the house of the Lord; and when you receive these ordinances, the door is then open so you can obtain all the blessings which any man can gain.
Do not think because someone has a higher office in the Church than you have that you are barred from receiving the fullness of the Lord's blessings. You can have them sealed upon you as an elder, if you are faithful; and when you receive them, and live faithfully and keep these covenants, you then have all that any man can get." (Conference Report, April 1970, p. 59)

It could also be that during the time of Jesus' ministry that the ecclesiastical organization grew and evolved over time (much like our day). It could be that the Quorum of the Twelve in the meridian of time did not fully become the kind of Qorom they are known as being until after the ascension of Christ into heaven. This is reflected in the Book of Acts alone as the disciples are referred to as apostles or apostle 30 times. Even further, these men probably didn't take on the fullest mantle of Apostle until they received some sacred temple instruction after the Lord's resurrection. They received this instruction in an 'upper room'. 

Verses 9-11: These verses can often be puzzling because we compare it to our missionary force. It is interesting, therefore, that this commandment to go forth without purse or script was later revoked by Jesus in Luke 22:35-36. McConkie comments:

"Acting through his duly appointed representatives on earth, the Lord has now withdrawn this requirement that all modern missionary work should be done by laborers who go forth without purse or scrip. Legal requirements, and different social, economic, and industrial circumstances, have made such a change necessary -- a fact which illustrates the need for continuous revelation so that the Lord's affairs on earth always may be conducted as befit the existing circumstances. Instead of relying for food, clothing, and shelter upon those to whom they are sent, missionaries are now expected to support themselves or be supported by their family or friends. There is, of course, no paid missionary force in the Lord's true Church." (DNTC, digital copy, p. 263-264)

I am not sure exactly why this commandment was flipped or changed. Although, it might be a good illustration of how the Lord adapts His Kingdom to reflect the circumstances of the day.

Verse 15: D&C 82:3 serves as a commentary on this verse.

Verse 16: Jesus uses animal imagery that might confuse some. In the spirit of interest, it might be worth pointing out that the Holy Ghost appears as a serpent in Facsimile 2 Figure 3.

Verse 40: This reflects a bit the tone of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. Wayment translates 'receive' as 'welcome' (NTTFLDS, p. 25). This might suggest that open hearts, ears, and a desire to act are implied with 'receive'.

Verse 42: 'Little Ones' doesn't refer to little children in this context. It refers to new Christian missionaries.

MATTHEW 11

Verse 6: This is worded and is translated just like a Beautitude according to Wayment (NTTFLDS, p. 25). The interesting thing is what the term 'blessed' means in Hebrew. According to Legrand Baker and Stephen Ricks, it means 'enjoying the state of the gods'. Those who can live life in such a way that they are not embarrassed by Christ, are not offended by His generosity of light and knowledge and do not take his teachings as offensive are those who can grow a relationship with Him that they become 'blessed'.

Verse 20: In the Hebrew, according to Barker, 'justified' could mean wisdom, who was rejected, did her work of healing through her children. The personal pronoun of 'her' is interesting especially in the ancient Wisdom tradition and the woman washing of the feet story that follows after this. Wayment suggests that earlier manuscripts say 'works' instead of 'children'. 

Verse 28: Rest in this verse should be defined as the Lord defines it in D&C 84:24, "... rest is the fulness of his glory." This allows the verses that follow to take on increased meaning.

Verse 30: I like to point out in this verse that Christ is not saying that His burden easy to lift. His burden, after all, eventually become the sins and sicknesses of all mankind. Similar things can be said of us. If we believe in such ideas as being tried even as Moses and Abraham, we are naive to interpret this verse in this way. Light, in my opinion, refers to actual light. The light that shines and illuminates. His burden is light in that revelation radiates from it. If we take upon his yoke and burden we are promised the following:

"If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal." (D&C 42:61)

This idea to me is much more consistent with other ideas expressed in the scriptures. It is consistent with the God who weeps in Moses 7.

The 'yoke is easy' refers to the qualifications, ordinances, and covenants one must take upon oneself in order to be yoked to Christ. That is easy.

MATTHEW 12

I find it curious that the Pharisees conspire to kill Jesus after healing on the Sabbath. It was their commitment to zeal instead of further light and knowledge that did them in. Healing on the Sabbath was a sign of blasphemy for them, but the act of constant healing miracles would have detracted from Deutronimistic principles.

The podcast below is a great discussion on Christ's healing. A discussion of the Greek 'Sodzo' which means Savior AND Healer.