I Am Sending You Out Like Sheep Among Wolves - Matthew 10:16-23
16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, 20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Reflection: Yesterday Jesus instructed his disciples as to the nature of their journey to advance the kingdom, and gave them a basic strategy of how to present themselves to those they met along the way. Specifically he advocated the strategy of finding a person of peace, who God had prepared in advance to not only welcome them but provide for their needs. Today he prepares them for the people who will not be people of peace, and will in fact hate them and persecute them. Why? Because as we seek to advance the kingdom, there is another kingdom which is dead set against it, the kingdom of darkness.
So given this state of affairs they will be moving into, Jesus gives them a couple of different principles to remember. First, he says "be wise as serpents and innocent as doves". I think he means use their brains as they engage the enemy, but also don't lower themselves to use the enemy's tactics. Christians are to be in the world but not of the world. For instance, there are principles in business that can be adapted to help the church to run more efficiently, but yet the church is not like a business in the sense of the goal is to make a profit. The church's mission is to make disciples who make disciples.
Secondly, Jesus tells them that they will likely be accused of things they didn't do. They will be brought before ruling authorities, who are charged with bringing justice but not always be fair Even in the synagogue, where rulers were supposed to govern in a godly way. But we know these same rulers were the ones who rejected Jesus and sentenced him to be crucified. But in the midst of such persecution, Jesus promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit (which they had not yet received) who would help them to give an answer to these rulers. This is the Spirit of God within them.
Then, Jesus says something curious at the end when he says you will not finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes. This could mean a couple of things, but is probably either a reference to Jesus' second coming, or when he comes to take the disciples to heaven when they die. I'm not sure it really matters because the idea is that they will probably not finish the work they set out to do, until Jesus finishes it. In the same way none of us will finish the Great Commission in our lifetime.
So what can this challenging passage mean for us today? First, as we seek to truly live as an agent of the kingdom coming through us, there will be resistance. If the world persecuted Jesus, his disciples, and his followers throughout history (you can read of the horrible persecution of Christians throughout the 1st and 2nd centuries) we will be persecuted as well.
Secondly, resistance can come from unexpected places, even our own families. But we too need to hold on to the promise of the Holy Spirit, who will not only give us what to say, but keep our faith firm until the end. We are reminded here of a couple of verses from St. Paul. First from Philippians 1:6 he states, "He (Jesus) who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it." And also from 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you that is common to man, but God is faithful and will not let you be tempted/tested beyond what you can bear. He will provide the way out so you can stand up under it." Paul certainly knew these truths from his own experience of persecution and standing firm in these promises.
We too are being sent out like sheep among wolves, but our Good Shepherd has given us everything we need to be faithful just as He was.
Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who leads us and guides us and gives us the words of the Gather when we need it the most. Help us to rely on this same Holy Spirit as we seek to bring Your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
Reflection: Yesterday Jesus instructed his disciples as to the nature of their journey to advance the kingdom, and gave them a basic strategy of how to present themselves to those they met along the way. Specifically he advocated the strategy of finding a person of peace, who God had prepared in advance to not only welcome them but provide for their needs. Today he prepares them for the people who will not be people of peace, and will in fact hate them and persecute them. Why? Because as we seek to advance the kingdom, there is another kingdom which is dead set against it, the kingdom of darkness.
So given this state of affairs they will be moving into, Jesus gives them a couple of different principles to remember. First, he says "be wise as serpents and innocent as doves". I think he means use their brains as they engage the enemy, but also don't lower themselves to use the enemy's tactics. Christians are to be in the world but not of the world. For instance, there are principles in business that can be adapted to help the church to run more efficiently, but yet the church is not like a business in the sense of the goal is to make a profit. The church's mission is to make disciples who make disciples.
Secondly, Jesus tells them that they will likely be accused of things they didn't do. They will be brought before ruling authorities, who are charged with bringing justice but not always be fair Even in the synagogue, where rulers were supposed to govern in a godly way. But we know these same rulers were the ones who rejected Jesus and sentenced him to be crucified. But in the midst of such persecution, Jesus promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit (which they had not yet received) who would help them to give an answer to these rulers. This is the Spirit of God within them.
Then, Jesus says something curious at the end when he says you will not finish going through the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes. This could mean a couple of things, but is probably either a reference to Jesus' second coming, or when he comes to take the disciples to heaven when they die. I'm not sure it really matters because the idea is that they will probably not finish the work they set out to do, until Jesus finishes it. In the same way none of us will finish the Great Commission in our lifetime.
So what can this challenging passage mean for us today? First, as we seek to truly live as an agent of the kingdom coming through us, there will be resistance. If the world persecuted Jesus, his disciples, and his followers throughout history (you can read of the horrible persecution of Christians throughout the 1st and 2nd centuries) we will be persecuted as well.
Secondly, resistance can come from unexpected places, even our own families. But we too need to hold on to the promise of the Holy Spirit, who will not only give us what to say, but keep our faith firm until the end. We are reminded here of a couple of verses from St. Paul. First from Philippians 1:6 he states, "He (Jesus) who began a good work in you, will be faithful to complete it." And also from 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you that is common to man, but God is faithful and will not let you be tempted/tested beyond what you can bear. He will provide the way out so you can stand up under it." Paul certainly knew these truths from his own experience of persecution and standing firm in these promises.
We too are being sent out like sheep among wolves, but our Good Shepherd has given us everything we need to be faithful just as He was.
Jesus, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who leads us and guides us and gives us the words of the Gather when we need it the most. Help us to rely on this same Holy Spirit as we seek to bring Your kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
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