OUR FATHER WHO REWARDS THOSE WHO RECIEVE HIS PEOPLE 

Reaching the end of Matthew chapter 10, we examine verses 40 - 42 that describes an  economy of renumeration that operates in the kingdom of God.

40 “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”

The Lord Jesus tells His disciples that if a person recieves them and in accepting them,  provides hospitality for them, that person's response is registered as a direct gesture of acceptance towards the Lord Jesus and towards the Father.

An example of this economy of direct action towards God being achieved by actions towards His disciples can  be found in the book of Acts chapter 9 verse 4 where the Lord confronts Saul;

Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

In this case, Saul's harsh actions towards the Lord's followers were transmitting directly to Jesus such that He asked Saul why he was persecuting Him.

Verse 41 enigmatically describes a system of gradation of renumeration that is predicated on the ranking of the person to whom a gesture of a acceptance is made.

If a person hospitably receives a prophet having been identified himself as a prophet, the person shall receive a prophet's reward and likewise for a righteous man.

The nature of the rewards for prophets and righteous men is not explained in the context but, inferring from other biblical contexts, coming alongside a prophet or a righteous man to aid them and facilitate they work results in their mantles being conferred upon the host in the way that Elija's mantle was conferred upon Elisha and Moses' mantle conferred upon Joshua.

Verse 42, in buttressing the principles of verse 41, asserts that even a tiny gesture like a person offering a cup of cold water to one of Jesus'  followers  who identifies himself as a disciple, that person shall never lose the commensurate reward.

This affirms the granularity of the kingdom of God's tracking system. In a realm where every hair on a person's head is numbered, each miniscule act of favour upon the Lord's servants is transmitted all the way to God and will not be forgotten at the time that rewards are issued.

Amen.

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