When I had thus chosen the twelve disciples as My messengers and forerunners, conferred all kinds of power on them through laying My hands upon them and also briefly instructed them in what they will have to do, all the chosen twelve nevertheless most urgently asked Me to give them complete instruction in how they should conduct themselves and what their lot would be here and there?! For they all had no insignificant fear of the many Pharisees and scribes.
Matthew the toll collector alone was somewhat more courageous and said in response to the various misgivings presented by the twelve: ‘Oh, what of it! I am a Greek; they cannot easily do anything to me?! At the same time I have a sound tongue, two strong arms, and on top of that, according to tangible documents, I am a Roman citizen, upon whom no insolent Jew may dare lay a hand. So at least in public I shall manage with them; but the most almighty Spirit of our Lord and Master will protect me against secret and murderous plots, and so I have the best weapons in great abundance, even against the craftiest enemies, and therefore do not fear all hell! But all of you are Galileans, which means for the most part opponents of the temple and more Greeks than Jews, and you have the Romans as friends; what should you fear in such circumstances?! In any case, we must be full of courage when it comes to carrying out such endlessly great and holy things! Let the earth be shaken to pieces: the upright man must despise death, remain standing upon the ruins and not waver like a marsh reed! But I too am for exhaustive and complete instruction before carrying it out; for we must know well what we will and should do and say!’
After this energetic speech by Matthew the toll collector, they all gained more courage, and their shoulders actually began to itch as though they would already rather fly away than travel on foot.
Then I placed Myself in their midst and said to them: ‘Then be collected in spirit; now I also wish to make everything known to you and withhold nothing that you need to know.
‘On the first sending you will indeed not experience everything I shall now make known to you; but after I have ascended bodily from this earth into My heavens to prepare eternal dwellings for you in the Father’s house, then you will experience everything I shall now reveal to you at once for the present and for the whole future. Therefore pay close attention and grasp what is for now and what for afterwards!
‘But what I shall now tell you will also be experienced, more or less, by all who come after you fully in your footsteps in My name. But you, Matthew the scribe, should now, as on Gerizim, write down from My mouth everything I shall now say; for this must not be lost to the world, since it will be a sharp testimony against it!’
Matthew the scribe now still prepares (Chapter 10, verse 5) to write, and I say to the twelve:
‘Above all, do not now go upon the roads of the heathens! That means:
‘Do not go about with violence like the heathens, and also avoid peoples known to you as too savage. For you should not proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom of God to dogs and pigs, for a pig remains a pig, and the dog always greedily returns to what it had vomited up! That is what I mean when I advise you not to go along the heathens’ road.
‘Likewise, do not enter the Samaritans’ cities! Why? I have already appointed an apostle for them at your side and before your eyes; first, they do not need you, and second, you would be received all the worse by the Jews if they learned that you made common cause with their most hated enemies. (Matt. 10:6) But go courageously everywhere to the lost sheep of the house of Israel!
‘When you come to them (Matt. 10:7), preach and tell them in a sensible manner how the kingdom of heaven has now come near to them; and if they will hear you and (Matt. 10:8) accept your preaching, then make their sick well, cleanse the lepers, raise their dead—bodily where necessary, as the Spirit will show you, but everywhere and above all spiritually! (NB. Matthew had not written this down because the command to raise the dead is in any case understood chiefly as spiritual awakening.)
‘Drive out the devils and guard the people against the devils’ possible return! But above all, mark well that you let no one pay you anything for it! For freely you have received it from Me, and in the same way you should give it again in My name!’ At that time I made this addition chiefly because of Judas Iscariot, who immediately began secretly calculating within himself how much he would charge for one or another act of help. For raising a person from the dead, especially someone very rich upon whom an extraordinary amount depended, he wanted to demand a thousand pounds! But as I noticed this calculation in the traitor’s heart only too quickly, I immediately made the above addition, at which the person concerned of course pulled a somewhat sour face. This did not escape Thomas, who stood opposite, and he could not refrain from making this remark in the meantime: ‘Well, well, you have the face of someone who has usurious interest to demand, but the court draws a line a good arm’s thickness through his reckoning!?’
Judas says: ‘It concerns you little what face I make! In the end I shall have to give you an account even of my face?! I am called and now chosen just as well as you; why, then, are you forever correcting me?!’
Thomas says: ‘I am not correcting you; but surely a question to you on certain occasions will be allowed?! Why did you not make such a sour face earlier, when the Lord had conferred all kinds of wonderful power on us and shown how we can and should exercise it? But as soon as the Lord said we should do it freely, your face became vinegar-sour; yes, why, then? Did you get a cramp that twisted your cheeks and forehead into such sour folds?! Speak openly, if you have courage!?’
Judas says to Me: ‘Lord! Do rebuke him for it once! Otherwise I am constantly exposed to his remarks, which in time would seriously have to offend me!’
I say: ‘Friend! If someone imputes a sin to an innocent person, he laughs at it in his heart; for his heart immediately absolves him of all guilt. But if someone reproached a person with his guilt, even as though by chance, that person will never be his friend! Do not dwell on it, otherwise in the end you yourself confess your guilt!’
When Judas hears these words, he immediately puts on the friendliest face possible so as not to betray that he is guilty of anything! But Thomas says to himself: ‘O fox! I know you! You will not escape me!’
But Simon of Cana asked and said: ‘Lord! What should we do if someone offers us gold, silver or coined bronze for a healing? Should we not accept it even then? There are, after all, many poor people whom we could then help well with such money?’ Judas, entirely approving, adds this remark unasked, saying: ‘Yes, yes, that is precisely my opinion too! If gold, silver or even bronze were virtually forced upon someone for help rendered, surely one should accept it for the purpose Simon of Cana mentioned!?’
I say (Matt. 10:9): ‘Not so, My brothers! I tell you: you should have neither gold nor silver nor bronze in your belts, for an upright worker is worthy of his food without all that! But whoever is unwilling to work when he has the strength to work should not be fed either! For it is written: “In the sweat of your face you shall win your bread as booty!” But that someone who shuns work should provide his food through alms of gold, silver and bronze is written nowhere! The weak, old and infirm, however, must in any case be maintained and well provided for by the whole community according to the law.
‘But in any case, a time will come only too soon when gold, silver and bronze will rule people and determine their worth before the world. But that will be an evil time: then the light of faith will go out, and love of the neighbor will from then on grow cold as bronze!
‘Therefore (Matt. 10:10), you should now take no travel bag for the journey, nor two coats, nor walking staffs. For, as I have already said, an upright worker is worthy of his food even without all that!’