6/10/21
Gibbs, Jeffrey A. “Matthew 10:40-42: Their Lord Is with His Servants." Matthew 1:1-11:1. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2006, pp. 541-545.
Verses 40-42 of Matthew 10 shows the converse of verses 34-39. Earlier, we saw the result of rejecting Jesus and His messengers. Here, Gibbs sees Jesus treating the Twelve and other "missionaries" as prophets who are welcomed. The welcome is rewarded (Gibbs 2006, 542). A significant part of the reward is the presence of the Father and the Son with those who proclaim the Gospel. Gibbs sees this as a significant theme throughout the New Testament as well as the early Christian writings (Gibbs 2006, 543).
Gibbs asks whether the categories in these verses, "prophet . . . righteous nam . . . . little ones . . . disciple" (Gibbs 2006, 544) are meant as four separate groups. His conclusion is that the parallelism suggests they are meant to be a collective of all Christ's missionaries.