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Just as the one who utters the vision and word of God does not speak his own, so the one who calls himself an apostle does not teach his own teaching, but that which the Sender commanded him. The dignity of an apostle (messenger) is not to add anything from himself. That is why Christ said: “and do not call anyone on earth your father... for you have only one Teacher – Christ” (Matthew 23:9, 10), showing that the beginning of all our dogmas comes from above, from the Heavenly Lord, although people serve to teach them (4). “As you go,” He says, “preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 10:7). Do you see the greatness of the ministry? Do you see the dignity of the apostles? They are not commanded to speak about anything sensual, as Moses and the former prophets spoke about, but they are commanded to speak about new and extraordinary subjects. They preached not about the Kingdom of Heaven, but about the earth and earthly goods; but these They preach about the Kingdom of Heaven and everything therein, but not only in this way do the apostles excel the prophets, but also in obedience. They do not refuse, do not evade commands, as the ancients did; obeyed when they should have preached without sorrow and burden. What are you saying? Are they not commanded to do anything painful? Don't you hear about prisons, about death sentences, about persecution from fellow tribesmen, about universal hatred? All this, according to Christ, they were soon to experience for themselves. He sends them as preachers and dispensers of countless benefits to others; and he himself announces and predicts unbearable disasters. Then, so that their preaching could more conveniently attract them to faith, he says: “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons; Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8). Notice how He cares about their rights: no less than about miracles, showing them that miracles without good morality mean nothing; saying: “Freely you have received, freely give,” He humbles their arrogance and warns against the love of money. And so that they do not think that the miracles they perform are the fruit of their virtues, and do not become proud of it, he says: “Freely you have received, freely give.” You give nothing of your own to those who receive you; You received these gifts not as a reward or for your labors - this is My grace. So give to others, because it is impossible to find a price worthy of these gifts. Then, immediately rooting out the very root of evil, he says: “Take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper for your belts, nor a scrip for the road, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor a staff” (Matthew 10:9, 10). He didn’t say: don’t take it with you, but at least you could take it somewhere else, avoid this destructive illness. Through this He achieved a lot. Firstly, he removed all suspicion from the students; secondly, he freed them from all worries so that they could focus on preaching alone; thirdly, He showed them His power. That is why he says to them afterwards: did you lack anything when I sent you without clothing and without shoes? And he doesn’t suddenly say to them: don’t take it; but first he said: “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,” and then he commanded: do not take anything; “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:9, 8), commanding them what is actually useful, what is decent and possible. But perhaps they will say: other demands are fair, but why did He not order them on the road to have neither a bag, nor two clothes, nor a staff, nor boots? Because he wanted to accustom them to a strict life, as above he did not even allow them to worry about the next day. He prepared them to be teachers of the universe; That’s why He makes them, so to speak, from people into angels, freeing them from all worldly cares, so that they would care about preaching alone - or, better to say, He frees them from this care, saying: “Do not worry about how or what to say” (Matthew 10:19), and in this way, what seemed very difficult and burdensome, makes it very easy and convenient for them. Truly, nothing serves peace of mind so much as freedom from worries and cares, especially if, freed from these worries and cares, one can lack nothing, having God as an assistant, Who replaces everything. Then, as a warning to the question: where will we get the necessary food? - does not say to them: you heard what I said to you before: “Look at the birds of the air” (Matthew 6:26), - which commandment they were not yet able to fulfill - but put it more simply, saying: “For the one who works is worthy of food” (Matt. 10:10), wanting to show with these words that they should receive their food from the disciples, so that they do not pride themselves in front of their disciples in the fact that, while providing them with everything, they themselves do not borrow anything from them, and the disciples, in turn, being despised by them, do not separate from them. Further, so that the disciples do not say: So, do you command us to live by alms? - and they would not consider it a shame, Christ, calling them workers, and what is given to them as a bribe, shows that this is how it should be. Although your work, He says, consists only of teaching, do not think that the benefit you provide is unimportant; your occupation involves great labor, and what those who teach you give you is not given for free, but as a reward: for the worker is worthy of food. He said this not because the labors of the apostles were worth it - far from it! Here He only gave the disciples the rule not to demand more, and admonished those who provided them with what they needed that they were doing this not out of generosity, but out of duty. “Whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and remain there until you leave” (Matthew 10:11). When I said, He says, “the worker is worthy of food,” I did not open the door for you to everyone; on the contrary, and in this I command you to act with great caution, which will serve you to acquire both honor and food itself. In fact, if the person receiving you is worthy, he will certainly give you food, especially if you do not demand anything more than what is necessary. But Christ not only commands to look for those worthy, but also not to move from house to house, so as not to offend the recipient, nor to be criticized for gluttony and frivolity. This is what He inspired with the words: stay there until you leave. The same thing can be seen with other evangelists. Do you see how by this He makes the disciples worthy of respect, and those who receive them zealous for acceptance, showing that this will incomparably bring both glory and benefit to them? Continuing the same instruction, he says: “And when you enter a house, greet it, saying: Peace to this house; and if the house is worthy, then your peace will come upon it; if you are not worthy, then your peace will return to you” (Matthew 10:12, 13). Look at the detail He goes into in His instructions—and not without reason. He prepared them to be devotees of piety and preachers of the universe; and therefore, teaching moderation and making you worthy of love, he says: “And if anyone does not accept you and does not listen to your words, then, when leaving that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet; Truly I say to you, it will be more bearable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city” (Matthew 10:14, 15). Do not expect, he says, to be greeted by others, because you are teachers, but first give honor to others. In addition, showing that their greeting is not a simple word, but a blessing, he says: if the house is worthy, your peace will come upon it, and if they insult you, then the first punishment will be that the house will lose peace, and the second that it will suffer the same fate as Sodom. But they will say: what benefit do we have in executing them? Such that there will be worthy homes for you. What does the expression “shake the dust from your feet” mean? This shows either that the apostles did not borrow anything from them, or it serves as evidence of the long journey that the apostles undertook for them. But note that the Lord does not yet give all the gifts to the apostles. Thus, he does not yet give them foreknowledge so that they can find out who is worthy and who is unworthy, but orders them to find out and wait for what experience will show. Why did He Himself stay with the publican? Because the publican, having changed, became worthy. Notice also that He, having deprived the apostles of everything, gave them everything when He allowed them to live in those houses where they received their instructions, having nothing with them, to enter these houses. Thus, they themselves were freed from worries, and those who received them confirmed that they had come to them solely to save them, both by the fact that they did not bring anything with them, and by the fact that, except for what was necessary, they did not demand anything from them, finally, and by the fact that they did not enter everyone indiscriminately. The Lord wanted the apostles to be famous not only for miracles, but more than miracles - for their virtues. Truly, nothing distinguishes wisdom so much as not having anything superfluous and being content with as little as possible. The false apostles knew this too. That is why Paul says; “so that in what they boast, they may be the same as we are” (2 Cor. 11:12). If on a foreign side, going to strangers, one should not covet anything more than daily food, then isn’t it much more so when being at home (6)? There is nothing more useless than a teacher who speaks only in words. This is not characteristic of a teacher, but of a hypocrite. Therefore the apostles first taught by life, and then by words; Yes, they didn’t even need words, because their deeds spoke loudly (10). You might be interested in: