Readings for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity — Year A — and exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 10:40-42

The Fourth Sunday after Trinity is July 2, 2023.

Readings for Year A differ from the ones I posted in 2020 and can be found here, so all credit to the Lectionary compilers for giving us a different series of Bible passages.

Emphases mine below.

First Reading/Psalm — option one

One option for the First Reading is God’s test of Abraham by telling him to sacrifice his only child, Isaac.

Genesis 22:1-14

22:1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

22:2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.”

22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him.

22:4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away.

22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.”

22:6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

22:7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

22:8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

22:9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son.

22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”

22:12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”

22:13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

22:14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

The accompanying Psalm describes David’s dejection which turns into joy.

Psalm 13

13:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

13:2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

13:3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,

13:4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

13:5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

13:6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

First Reading/Psalm — option two

Jeremiah takes issue with the false prophet Hananiah, who said that God would provide speedy deliverance from Nebuchadnezzar. Here, Jeremiah hopes that the prophecy might be true, however, by the end of the chapter, Jeremiah tells Hananiah that he has lied to the people, and the false prophet dies.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

28:5 Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD;

28:6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles.

28:7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

28:8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.

28:9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”

Matthew Henry says that the accompanying Psalm was written when the House of David was under threat, possibly by Nebuchadnezzar or by the revolt of ten of the tribes of Israel. Nonetheless, the psalmist places his hope in the Lord.

Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18

89:1 I will sing of your steadfast love, O LORD, forever; with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.

89:2 I declare that your steadfast love is established forever; your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

89:3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David:

89:4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations.'” Selah

89:15 Happy are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your countenance;

89:16 they exult in your name all day long, and extol your righteousness.

89:17 For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.

89:18 For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.

Epistle

Paul tells the Romans that, since they have become followers of Christ, sin has no more dominion over them and that their reward is eternal life. A familiar verse is at the end of the reading.

Romans 6:12-23

6:12 Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions.

6:13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness.

6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

6:15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

6:17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted,

6:18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

6:20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.

6:21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death.

6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life.

6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Gospel

The Gospel reading concludes the 2023 deep dive into Matthew 10, which provides our Lord’s instructions to the Apostles before He sends them out on their first foray into active ministry without Him.

Matthew 10:40-42

10:40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

10:41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous;

10:42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple — truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

My other exegeses on Matthew 10 can be found in the following posts:

• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 1
• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 2
• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 3
• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 4
• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 5
• Second Sunday after Trinity, Year A: exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 9:35-10:23 — part 6
• Third Sunday after Trinity, Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 10:24-39 — part 1
• Third Sunday after Trinity, Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 10:24-39 — part 2
• Matthew 10: parts 1 and 2 (Matthew Henry, 2015)

Jesus tells the Apostles that whoever welcomes — receives — them welcomes Him, and whoever welcomes Him welcomes He who sent Him — God the Father (verse 40).

John MacArthur tells us that not everyone will want to hear the Good News, and that we should be prepared for that. However, there will be those who do and, for them, we should recognise the divine agency working through mankind. Bear in mind that Jesus has just finished speaking about family divisions that faith and unbelief will bring:

… this is the best part … A true disciple, as well as creating war, and strife, and division, and separation, and friction, also fosters rewards. We do have a positive effect. You see, we are the destiny determiners in the world.

When we bring the sword that separates, on the one hand are the unbelievers, but ah, on the other hand are the – what? – the believers. And when we preach, and when we live, and when we give our testimony, some believe, don’t they? And for them, everything is so positive. Not everyone is going to refuse the message of the disciples. Some are going to believe. Some are going to receive them. Some are going to receive their Lord.

And since we have limited ability to reward their faith, the Lord’ll do it for us. Look at verse 40; this is great, “He that receiveth you receiveth Me, and he that receiveth Me receiveth Him that sent Me.” This is incredible.

MacArthur tells us about the word ‘receive’, or ‘welcome’ in the Lectionary:

Let me tell you what’s in the word “receive” here. When you go out, and you represent Jesus Christ, and you speak of Jesus Christ, and you give Jesus Christ message, the people who believe it are the ones who receive you. It is a full receiving that they accept you and your message. And when you go out – and they don’t all get hostile, but some receive you. The ones that receive you are receiving the Lord, and the ones that are receiving the Lord are receiving the one who sent the Lord. So, you know what? You become an agency of men receiving God Himself. What a marvelous thing.

On the one hand, you create this antagonism. On the other hand, you create this marvelous reality that people receive God through you. Every time somebody say to me, “You know, I was saved when you preached,” or, “I received Christ when you talked, or when you told me the Gospel,” I am thrilled beyond the ability to express. Aren’t you? Because God has used a frail human instrument as an agency. And when someone receives us, they receive the Lord and the Father who sent Him. What an incredible thought. We give people the Trinity as it were.

It’s like John 14, you know; everything is bound up, “I in the Father, and the Father in Me, and we’ll both make our abode with you.” Great thought. It goes beyond that even.

Jesus goes further, saying that whoever welcomes a prophet — e.g. the Apostles — in the name of a prophet — Himself — will receive a prophet’s reward — eternal life; similarly, whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous (verse 41).

MacArthur says that being a prophet and being righteous tie together:

Look at verse 41, “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.” Now, that’s a tremendous divine principle.

By the way, a prophet is what he says, and a righteous man is what he is. And they really speak of the same individual, for a true disciple lives what he says. Right? He speaks and he is. He speaks the Word forth, and he is righteous. The prophet is his task. The righteous man is his character. But he’s a representative of God.

And He says, “When you go out representing God by your life and your lip, by your speaking and your living, those who receive you will receive the reward that you receive.”

Now, wait a minute. What does that mean? That just means exactly what it says. It could be a pastor, or a teacher, or a missionary, or an evangelist, or anyone who presents Christ. The one who receives that one will share that one’s reward. If the Lord gives to me a reward for proclaiming to you, He’ll give you the same reward for receiving what I proclaim. And we all share.

So, I then become a means to your blessedness. Do you understand that? So, on the one hand, when I proclaim, some are alienated. But on the other hand, when I proclaim, some will receive the very reward that God has promised to give the one who preaches. So, you become the instrument by which others are blessed. You want to be a blessing in the world? Then confess Christ before men. Then stand up boldly and don’t mitigate your testimony, and don’t be ashamed of Christ. And let your life become the source of their reward. Great thought.

Jesus concludes by saying that whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones — i.e. the spiritually developing — in the name of a disciple, truly — He emphasises His point — none of these will lose his or her reward (verse 42).

MacArthur explains:

What is the little one here? Young disciples, babes, a little nobody disciple. And by the way, that’s what the Twelve were right now. Did you know that? At this point in their career, they were a bund of unproven nothings. Remember our series in the beginning of chapter 10? The company of the unqualified? They were nobodies.

And He says, “When these go out to preach and to present Me, if you receive them, and you can demonstrate that by giving them just a cup of cold water because they’re My disciples” – in other words, you’re helping them in the simplest way, responding to them in the simplest way – “you in no way will lose your reward.”

People then will be rewarded when they believe our message because they’ll receive the salvation we preach. They will be rewarded when they receive us, because they will share in the very reward we have for proclamation. And they will be rewarded when they help us along in our ministry, because God will not hold back a reward to those who have shared in the ministry and His ministry.

So, you know what it saying? We then become the source of blessedness for others. We give them the privilege of hearing and receiving We give them the pleasure of receiving and being rewarded. We give them the pleasure of giving to us and being doubly rewarded.

So, the good thing you do for the messenger will be rewarded. The fact that you receive his message, you’ll share in his reward. The fact that you receive his Savior, you’ll receive his Savior’s salvation.

A disciple, then, is a person who is a determiner of destiny. And even the least of us shares with the greatest of us in what God does in blessing us.

Matthew Henry’s commentary has the following summary which includes a pertinent, albeit secular, quote from Seneca:

That kindness to Christ’s disciples which he will accept, must be done with an eye to Christ, and for his sake. A prophet must be received in the name of a prophet, and a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, and one of those little ones in the name of a disciple; not because they are learned, or witty, nor because they are our relations or neighbours, but because they are righteous, and so bear Christ’s image; because they are prophets and disciples, and so are sent on Christ’s errand. It is a believing regard to Christ that puts an acceptable value upon the kindnesses done to his ministers. Christ does not interest himself in the matter, unless we first interest him in it. Ut tibi debeam aliquid pro eo quod præstas, debes non tantum mihi præstare, sed tanquam mihi—If you wish me to feel an obligation to you for any service you render, you must not only perform the service, but you must convince me that you do it for my sake. Seneca.

This concludes my posts on Matthew 10.

May all reading this have a blessed Sunday.