CHAPTER XXIII

MISSION OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES.-INSTRUCTIONS AND ADVICE THAT JESUS GIVES

THEM.

(a) "THEN he saith to his disciples: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he send forth laborers into his harvest." We cannot rationally doubt the execution of this order, or that all the disciples made the prayer prescribed by their Divine Master. It could not fail to be heard, since he who was to hear it was no other than he who invited them to make the petition. (b) "Then calling together his twelve apostles, he gave them power and authority over all devils, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases, and all manner of infirmities. He began to send them two and two," in order that they might aid one another, and that there might be everywhere two witnesses to the same truth. "The names of the twelve apostles are these"-as we have seen before, yet they are ranged here in an order somewhat different from the first, and we believe from that in which they were associated. "The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the publican; James the son of Alpheus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Jesus."

(c) "He commanded them that they should take nothing for the way but a staff only:" even this they were merely to make use of for a support, for we shall presently see that he did not allow them to make use of it for self-defence. This explains the apparent contradiction of the staff now allowed and now forbidden. In addition, he enjoined upon them "that they should take no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse, but to be shod with sandals, and that they should not put on two coats." An unwavering confidence in Providence was to be then substituted for all these provisions. But we

(a) St. Matthew, ix. 37, 38. (c) St. Mark, vi. 8, 9.

(b) St. Luke, ix. 1, 2; St. Matthew, x.

1; St. Mark, vi. 7.

must hear, from the very lips of the Saviour, the admirable regulations which he gave to them, and, in their persons, to their successors in the apostolic ministry; for they equally regard the latter, excepting the first, which even may also serve to teach them that they ought not to go elsewhere than whither they are sent, and that if it be criminal to preach without a mission, it would also be a crime to step ever so little beyond its prescribed bounds.

(a) "Jesus commanded his apostles, saying: Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; and going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not possess gold, nor silver, nor money in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff." Be assured, however, that no necessary shall be wanting to you, "for the workman is worthy of his meat. Into whatever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; there abide, until you go thence (1). When you go into the house, salute it, saying: Peace be to this house; and if that house be worthy, your peace shall come upon it; but if it be not worthy, your peace shall return to you (2). Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, going forth out of that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet for a testimony to them (3). Amen, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city."

This advice might suffice to the apostles for this first mission; it was to be rather brief: no persecution awaited them there, and it was merely a slight essay of those missions, wherein, cross in hand,

(a) St. Matthew, x. 5; St. Mark, vi. 11.

(1) It is said in Saint Luke: And whatsoever house you shall enter into, abide there, and depart not from thence. There would be levity in doing There would be levity in doing so without reason, or a delicacy very unbecoming in an apostle, if done from the hope of better treatment; and whatever was the motive, the host thus left would certainly have cause to complain.

(2) The good that you have wished them shall come to pass in one way or the other. (3) Dust on the feet is the proof of the journey; and to shake off this dust was, on the part of the apostles, equivalent to saying: We are come, and you have not wished to receive us. This is the way in which that action rendered testimony against the inhabitants.

they should confront all the powers of the universe, and, without other weapons than patience, range all people under the law of the Master, who sent them. As yet, they were incapable of the latter missions, because they were not yet "clad with virtue from on high." Still, before he imparted to them strength for these, he wishes to convey to them a knowledge of them, and he proceeds to do so by the following words, rapidly sketching before their eyes the terrible picture of the combats they should have to endure, they and their first disciples; for we have in this picture an historical sketch of the three first ages of the Church. This prophetic picture could not be otherwise than highly useful to each and every one amongst them. Besides, as it contained instructions relative to the various trials through which they were to pass, by seeing that they were foretold, the apostles would be less surprised, and less alarmed when they came upon them; and the accomplishment of this part of the prophecy guarantied the truth of those passages which announced their victories and their crowns. Hence the Saviour continues thus:

(a) "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents and simple as doves (4). But beware of men" (meaning those whom he has just called wolves). "For they will deliver you up in councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall be brought before governors and before kings for my sake, for a testimony (5) to them and to the Gentiles. But when they shall deliver you up, take no thought how or what to speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what to speak.

(a) St. Matthew, x. 16–42.

(4) Meekness and simplicity are the primary virtues which Jesus Christ prescribes to the apostles. They should neither oppose force to violence nor wiles to malice. The prudence of the serpent considerably perplexes the commentators. We know that this animal has a lively and piercing glance. It is natural to think that Jesus Christ enjoins his disciples to be clear-sighted like the serpent, in order to discover the snares of their enemies, and to avoid them by flight or by concealment; for he leaves them no other means of defending themselves against them.

(5) Much more by the testimony of blood than by that of speech. This it was which caused the name of martyrs, which signifies witnesses, to be given to them who sealed with their blood the truths of the Gospel. For if there be no greater love than to give one's life for those whom we love, there is no stronger persuasion than to shed our blood in support of our cause.

For it is not you that speak, but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.' " Moreover, it is not merely on the part of your fellowcitizens that you shall encounter so violent a persecution. "The brother also shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the son: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and shall put them to death; and you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved."

Meantime, Jesus Christ, who wishes that his disciples should be intrepid under the sword of persecution, would not that an indiscreet zeal should thrust them under its blows. Wherefore, he adds, "When they shall persecute you in this city (6), flee into another (7). Amen, I say unto you: You shall not finish all the cities of Israel till the Son of man come (8)."

(6) Persecution is an equivocal sign of truth or virtue. The wicked suffer it as well as the good, the Jews as well as the Christians, heretics as well as Catholics, and ranters as well as apostles. Happy those who, like the latter, suffer it for justice! It is not the pain, it is the cause which makes the martyr.-Saint Augustine.

(7) Flight was not merely allowed the apostles, it was prescribed to them: it preserved to the growing Church her first pastors, and, by dispersing them, it was instrumental to the propagation of the Gospel. In subsequent times it has been commanded or permitted, or forbidden according to circumstances. It is even commanded to the pastor, when his presence would more injure the Church than his absence: it is permitted to him, when the persecution is levelled against him alone, and that his ministry can be easily supplied by others: it is prohibited to him when his flock would in consequence thereof encounter notable damage. This is the case wherein he must give his life for his flock. It rarely occurs that flight is prohibited to those who are not pastors, and it is commanded to them, when the knowledge they have of their weakness makes them apprehend that they may fall under the effect of persecution: in this case we should prefer our own salvation to that of others.

(8) Several interpreters think that these words were said to the apostles; others contend that they regard those amongst their successors who shall preach the Gospel in the time of Anti-Christ. According to the first interpretation, the coming of the Son of man should be understood with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem; according to the second, what are here called the cities of Israel are the Christian cities which, at the end of the world, shall have apostatized from the faith, and shall persecute its preachers: each interpretation has its difficulties. Nevertheless, as these difficulties are less than those which are to be met in the other ways of explaining this text, the most probable thing we can say here is, that each of these interpretations is the correct one. In the first case, the prophecy must have been understood by the apostles; in the second case, it shall be understood at the end of ages; in either case, Jesus Christ shall not have made it in vain. For as we have already remarked, although nothing is useless in Scripture, it does not, therefore, follow that all therein should be equally useful for all times.

If he announces to them great sufferings, he presents to them at the same time great motives. Of these his own example is the first. "The disciple," said he, "is not above the Master, nor the servant above the Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household." We may conceive that this motive had much greater force, when men's rage, passing from words to the most sanguinary deeds, had fastened to the cross the Master and the Lord. "Therefore fear them not," said the Saviour, "for," despite the fury of the world, 'nothing is covered" in the doctrine which I teach you "that shall not be revealed; nor hid, that shall not be known. That which I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light: and that which you hear in the ear, preach ye upon the house-tops (9).”

God alone is to be feared, and he shields them with his almighty protection: new motives of confidence, which the Saviour proposes in these words: "Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul (10). But rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body into hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore: better are ye than many sparrows." Lastly, gathering into one focus what must form the main objects of their desires and of their fear: "Every one, said he, that shall confess me before. men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven; but he that shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before Father who is in heaven."

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It was further necessary to fortify the disciples against another trial, less terrible in appearance, yet often more formidable in effect than tyrants and tortures: that is, what they should have to undergo on the part of their own relatives. Several amongst them were

(9) Amongst the Jews the roofs of the houses were flat, which makes the figure more appropriate than if the roofs had been of the same form as ours.

(10) They should not be feared for two reasons. 1st. They cannot take away the life of the soul. 2d. They can take away the life of the body by torments. For they would be much more formidable if the body could suffer always without dying; but it soon perishes, and in perishing, it snatches away from them their victim, and disappoints their fury.