Not You Who Speak

Yesterday we revisited a 2020 post in which the Lord commissions his twelve closest disciples as his representatives to the nation of Israel. Matthew 10 is one of many examples in the gospels where alert Bible students feel compelled to ask the question “To whom is the Lord speaking here?”

Obviously, he was speaking to the Twelve, but that doesn’t answer the real question. Those disciples played multiple roles in the plans and purposes of God. We might better state the question as “In what capacity is the Lord addressing his disciples?”

Examining the Possibilities

One possibility is that he was speaking to his disciples as his messengers to Israel in the first century. This is certainly the case from verses 5 to 15. We have no reason to suspect the disciples did not follow the Lord’s instructions in those verses to the letter, and in the flesh, personally. A second possibility is that he was speaking to his disciples in their capacity as representatives of his future Church, much as he does in Matthew 16, telling them in brief his instructions for you and me, for Matthew’s readers, and for the many generations of faithful believers in between us. This how many Christians understand his words. However, there remains another possibility often neglected: that he was speaking to his disciples in their capacity as representatives of the godly remnant of Israel.

That’s logical. They were all Jews, every last man.

Yesterday, I made the case that from verse 16 onward to the end of the chapter, that’s exactly what the Lord was doing. The things he said to his disciples in those verses could not possibly apply to them personally during the year in which he said them, at least not in their totality. Neither were his words fulfilled comprehensively in slightly over a half century of apostolic service that followed the Lord’s ascension to the Father’s right hand. Partially fulfilled, sure, but not completely. To fulfill them to the letter, the Son of Man must return to earth and establish his kingdom here. Manifestly, that has yet to occur.

The Through-Line of God’s Blessing

The remnant of Israel has a past, present and future. God has always marked out those who are his. Paul quotes from the story of Elijah to prove there was a historical remnant in Israel (“I have kept for myself seven thousand men”) and that there existed a present remnant (“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace”), taking us from the first century through the Church Age to today. The book of Revelation reveals there is also a future remnant to come in the post-Church era. All these “remnants” are the true Israel, the faithful Israel, the set-apart Israel, the “Israel of God”.

The remnant is the through-line of God’s blessing and calling of his earthly nation.

From verse 16 onward, it’s all but impossible that the Lord is addressing anyone other than the post-Church-era remnant of Israel, also known as the 144,000 of Revelation 7 and 14. Nobody else fits the bill. If you try to squeeze the Church into those verses, you will have numerous difficulties interpreting them.

Two Kingdoms

It may help to bear in mind that these verses are not about Christians proclaiming the gospel of salvation through the death of Christ, though many treat them that way. No, the disciples went out to preach a specific message: that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. It is vital to recognize that they were occupied with the kingdom in its earthly, Jewish aspect, and rightly so. At this point in his ministry, the Lord Jesus was making a genuine offer of an earthly kingdom to the nation of Israel, as all the OT prophets foretold.

So then, the good news the disciples brought exclusively to the towns of Israel in those days was not the gospel we preach today. The “kingdom” we offer with the gospel today is not of this physical, material sort. It is not of this world at all. Not a word dropped from the mouths of the Twelve concerning our Lord’s death, resurrection and subsequent glory. Not one word did these emissaries say concerning the Holy Spirit, whose coming they would later proclaim. These events had not happened yet, and the disciples did not understand the things Jesus had declared about them until after he rose from the dead.

Likewise, the gospel preached in a future day by the 144,000 to their fellow Jews and to the world will be another equally legitimate offer of Christ’s earthly kingdom. Unlike the first offer, those who make it will be fully aware that Israel’s restoration is only possible because of the sacrifice of Christ. They will offer their hearers not just an earthly kingdom as at first, but along with that kingdom eternal life and a personal relationship with God. Vast numbers of Gentiles will hear and believe their message, eagerly awaiting our Lord’s earthly glorification along with them. Jesus Christ will be enthroned in Jerusalem and the whole earth will finally bow to Heaven’s will, just as our Lord taught his disciples to pray.

Implications that Follow

When we read these verses with both the relevant history and the prophesied future in mind, certain implications follow for Church Age believers. One great example is this notorious promise in verse 19-20:

“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

Christian, can you claim that with confidence? Careful now. The passage has a context, and we have to respect that. Some believers interpret our Lord’s words much more broadly and generally than do others. For example:

“This speaks to the idea that God equips and empowers those who are obedient to his calling and are actively engaged in spreading the message of the Gospel. This theme of divine empowerment is not limited to the disciples alone but applies to all believers who are called to be God’s ambassadors in the world.”

Or again:

“This verse is talking about witnessing — sharing your faith with people around you!”

Well, yes, in a manner of speaking. But it’s a particular kind of witnessing specific to a particular time and place. Christians trying to apply these verses to our own day and age invariably get caught up in questions like “Did the Lord mean we don’t have to prepare sermons?” or “Did the Lord mean apologetics are pointless in evangelism?” Yet our efforts to preach the gospel to our friends, family, co-workers and neighbors are not the circumstances in which our Lord promises divine empowerment, nor are we the individuals to whom Christ promised it.

A Personal Confession

I have been in numerous situations throughout my life where I made a real effort to witness for Christ. I will candidly share with you that few were “successful” by any measure I can bring to the table. In some cases, I prepared appropriately for the confrontation, both in prayer and with relevant scriptures in mind. In such encounters, the message was at very least received, even if it did not provoke a visible or perfectly agreeable response. At bare minimum, I felt a sense that I had gotten through, and that a choice had to be made. In other situations, caught off guard by opportunities that presented themselves unexpectedly, I most definitely fumbled the ball. I am confident no small number of our readers can dredge up less-than-perfectly-pleasant memories of similar witnessing debacles.

Moreover, the Lord made this promise of divine enabling with no apparent conditions attached. Would I therefore be right to conclude that in the latter situations, the Spirit of my Father failed to speak through me? Were the semi-coherent ramblings of my earnest-but-ill-equipped youth the best my heavenly Father could come up with when put on the spot? Again, did he perhaps fulfill his promise in ways I could not observe or quantify despite my perceived inadequacy at the job he had given me?

Who Is Speaking?

Frankly, it felt very much like I was the one doing the speaking, not the Spirit of my Father at all. I could not confidently ascribe the mess I had created to him, and I had to repent of my failings and floundering in communicating a message I should rightly comprehend very clearly by now.

Alternatively, is it just possible I was trying to claim a promise that properly belongs to the faithful of another time, another place and a very different set of circumstances? That certainly seems a more reasonable explanation to me.