And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses; nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.—MATT. X. 7-11.
DO we understand by these words of the Master that the disciples were to go forth upon their healing and preaching mission, trusting in some supernatural way for the supply of their needs; trusting that manna would fall from the unseen, and they need only stoop, pick it up, and eat it, and thereby satisfy their hunger? Do we understand that after their first coat was worn out they were to go without a coat; and when their first pair of shoes was gone they were to go barefoot? or do we understand that by some mysterious means a coat and shoes were to be sent down from heaven? Were they to trust blindly and implicitly in Providence to provide for their material wants, and to feed and clothe them, supplying them with an unknown hand, while they were laboring for the benefit of their fellow men, healing them of their diseases, and pointing them, so far as they had eyes to see and ears to hear, to a higher and better life? Are we thus to infer from the Master's command and injunction to them to make no material provision for their journey? On the contrary, it is plain that he expected that those for whom they were laboring, and whom they were benefitting, would provide them with the necessities of this material life, and that this would be done in no mysterious or supernatural way, but in a perfectly natural and every-day sort of fashion. He knew that those who were aided by their labors of love would have sufficient appreciation thereof to see to their wants and necessities. If there was any doubt about this from the language used by him elsewhere, it is removed by the closing terms of the tenth verse: "For the workman is worthy of his meat." Worthy of his sustenance, and of fair and reasonable remuneration for his labor.
The lesson contained in this command I take it is twofold. First: It was to show the disciples that they were not to wait until they had laid up a competency before starting out upon their labor of love; that they were not to commence making excuses, and looking about for reasons why they could not go forth, why they were not quite ready, and why they might come to want if they did go out without making ample provision for their needs. They were to go forth in the full consciousness that if they truly and sincerely sought "first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these things would be added unto them." It will be observed that he gave the disciples no time to ponder the question as to whether they would follow him, or to cast about to see whether "in their judgment" it would be expedient for them to become his followers.
