TRANSLATION MATTHEW 10:1

Jesus called to himself his twelve pupils, giving them power over unclean spirits, so that they would drive them out and heal every kind of disease and disability. These were the names of the twelve ambassadors: first, Simon (the one called Peter) and Andrew, his brother, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholemew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James, the son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; Simon the Rebel and Judas from Kerioth, who handed him over.

Jesus sent out these twelve, saying, “Do not take any road to the Gentiles, and do not go into any Samaritan township; but go rather to the abandoned sheep of the household of Israel. As you go, make this annoucement: ‘the Rule of Heaven has drawn near’. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out the demons; you have received without cost; give without charge. Do not equip yourselves with gold or silver or copper in your belts, nor pack for the road, nor a spare tunic nor sandals, nor pole. For the worker is worth his keep. Whenever you arrive in a town or village, find out who is a decent person in it, and stay there until you leave. As you come into a house, greet them cheerfully and if it is a decent house, let your peace come upon it. If it is not a decent house, let your peace turn back to you. and if someone will not welcome you nor listen to your message, when you depart from that house or town shake off its dust from your feet. Amen I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorra on judgement day than for that town.

A comparison of the lists of the ambassadors in the four gospels, shows that there are variations even with regard to this group. Very quickly they ceased as a group to exercise authority in the first Christian Assemblies, which means that scholars who see the twelve as an invention of these assemblies, have a hard argument to make. It seems perfectly likely that Jesus might appoint a symbolic number equal to that of the tribes of Israel, to represent the new people of God. The gospels however tell us not very much about their lives or actions. Peter’s leadership is agreed by all, in spite of his betrayal of Jesus being recorded. He, with Andrew, James and John are shown to be a leadership group. Matthew is noted here as a tax official, Simon is called Cannanean, which indicates his sympathy with the armed rebels against Rome, or it may be a joke name like the other Simon’s (The shaky one called a rock). Jesus may have been smiling at Simon’s fierceness, for example. Judas is always singled out as the agent of “handing Jesus over” an almost technical term which would most naturally apply to betrayal into the power of Rome. There is never any pretence in the gospels that Judas was not chosen by Jesus. They are called “apostles” in Greek which means “people sent out” in this case, on behalf of Jesus. To translate “ambassadors” seems accurate, and appropriate for official messengers of the Rule of God.

It is not really a mission to gain proselytes, rather a brusque invitation to have citizenship of a new polity. (The formal similarity to the violent IS is a little thought-provoking) No time is to be spent on people who don’t want the message or its ambassadors. Nor is anyone to be persuaded by emotional appeals, dramatic presentations, bible courses or promises of business success. Threats of future judgement however, remain. It is tempting to see these as additions to the genuine message of Jesus by his followers, but the fact is that threats of punishment are frequently present in words attributed to Jesus. My guess is that it’s hard, perhaps impossible to exclude divine rewards and punishments from Jesus’ original preaching. The words used however need not be taken literally.