Matthew 10:16-23 (NASB)
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as wary as serpents, and as innocent as doves. 17 But be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour. 20 For it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.
21 “Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
Last week, we looked at Mark 6’s account of the time when Jesus sent the 12 out to preach repentance. If you remember, Mark didn’t record all that Jesus said to them, so I included what Matthew 10:1-15 said about how the disciples were to only go to the Jews. Today we are looking at all the rest of what Matthew 10 records Jesus as saying to the disciples before He sent them. It’s pretty long, so I’ve broken it up into three different sections and we will look at them one at a time.
Here, in this first section, the NASB has given it the heading, “A Hard Road Ahead of Them,” and it is certainly an accurate description. While the disciples’ first short outing doesn’t seem to have been full of the things Jesus is warning them against here in these verses, for sure as time went on, the disciples and other followers of Jesus experienced and still experience today, all of these challenges detailed here in following Him.
Right away in this passage, Jesus offers incredible advice. I like how the ESV translates it as, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” What is Jesus saying here? First of all, a sheep in the middle of some wolves is going to be devoured. The only sheep who is going to make it out of that situation is either going to be rescued by its shepherd or it’s going to have to be pretty ingenious.
As I’ve mentioned before, my family and I live in the desert. In our yard, we regularly find snakes and doves. Just the other day, two large rattlesnakes were in our grass. We called the fire department like we are supposed to do, and they came right away to remove them and release them further out into the desert. Unfortunately for us, as soon as the firemen opened the gate to approach the snakes, they took off like rockets into the bushes to hide. The larger snake was so large that they could catch it, but the other one is still unaccounted for. It was sneaky and smart and could be anywhere by now. We also have doves all around our yard, and many other different birds. There are quail who fight one another and chase off different birds. Hawks, who, of course, love to catch smaller birds for dinner. There are roadrunners who hunt lizards and small animals. I’ve seen a lot of wild animal behavior, but I’ve never seen a dove attack anything. The most a dove will do is flap its wings in an attempt to scare someone off. If there was ever an animal trial to determine which bird was guilty of some crime, I guarantee it was not the dove who would be guilty. (My money would be on the roadrunner, actually.)
Jesus is saying that he is sending the disciples out into hostile territory. They need to be on guard. Like a crafty snake, they need to be on the lookout for snares and traps. They need to evade danger and trouble. Yet at the same time, they should not attack other people or use unethical means to preach the gospel, but should be without fault. They should be innocent like a dove.
Now, being innocent like a dove does not mean being naïve. It means blameless. This is an important point to make, for when Jesus says to be wise as a serpent, He is making it clear we are not to be naïve. And being wise as a serpent does not mean we are to be deceitful. It means shrewd, which means intelligent, perceptive and discerning.
Then He tells them to, “be on guard against people, for they will hand you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings on My account, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. “
This is frightening stuff, yet He assures them they do not need to worry about what to say. He says, “But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who are speaking, but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.”
Just like I mentioned last week, if we are being led by the Holy Spirit, then He will tell us what to say. He will speak to our minds and give us wisdom and discernment. This is why it is so vital that we know the word of God and that we practice listening and obeying the Holy Spirit whenever He speaks to us. We should not wait for a crisis before we start relying on Him to lead us. We should walk by the Spirit every day in every situation. Then, when troubles arise, we will have faith to trust Him to help us and guide us.
This next verse, which says, “Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death” might seem like a totally different thought at first, but it actually goes right along with what He’s been saying. For how might someone end up in front of a hostile court? Their own family might be who turns them in. It makes me think of different times in history that this happened to people. Think of the Soviet Union at the height of communism. Children would be manipulated in their schools to tell on the activities of their parents. Or during Hitler’s rise to power, again, children would betray their family member who was hiding Jewish people.
This has also happened to Christians who live in countries where it is illegal to be a Christian. Family members will regularly turn on their son or daughter who gets saved. They will not only kick them out of their family, but will report them to authorities. In the U.S., we don’t have to fear arrest for being a Christian, but I think there is an element of societal banishment that is dished out to Christians. Many times I have been excluded and avoided by people once they discover I am a Christian. For example, my family and I moved to a new neighborhood and were getting to know our neighbors. We were enjoying their company and finding out our shared interests and whatnot, when one day I happened to be wearing shorts and my neighbor noticed my Christian symbol tattoo. She abruptly interrupted the conversation to tell me she had “escaped from Christianity” and wanted nothing to do with Christians. After that moment, she and her family, and all of their neighborhood friends, would literally cross the street to avoid talking to any of us. On the scale of persecution that ranks at the bottom. But it shows that it happens on all levels: from simply ending a friendship, to the extreme hate of calling for the execution of Christians, persecution exists all over the world.
But Jesus warned the disciples then, and the warning still stands for us today, when He said, “And you will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”
His solution to this problem of hate is: “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.”
In other words, leave them behind. Move on. Don’t engage in argument or fighting. As He said earlier in verse 14, “And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet.”
Those words of Jesus might seem contradictory to other words of Jesus, don’t they? Doesn’t He tell us to love our enemies, love our neighbors, turn the other cheek, give to those who ask us for something? Do those directives fit in with shaking the dust off our feet? I think they do, and I think this is a great example of why it is so important to keep all of Scripture in mind when we consider any particular verse. We have to consider verses within the context of all of the Bible. So when we hear Jesus say, shake the dust off your feet and move on, we should keep in mind that we are not to move on in anger, hurling insults over our shoulder. And when we hear Jesus say, love your enemies, we should keep in mind that loving someone doesn’t mean we have to have a relationship with them still.
Jesus was telling the disciples to literally move-on from that town that rejected the gospel. I think it is also right to apply this directive to mean that sometimes we need to move-on from the people who we have witnessed to and who have rejected the gospel. For as much as we want everyone to get saved, sometimes people who have slammed the door to Christianity will become more of an influence on our walk with God than we could be an influence on them becoming a Christian. In those instances, it is better for us to move-on from those friendships. We might find that if we move-on, God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, might bring other people into their lives who will be able to crack that door open in a way that for whatever reason we could not do.
Let’s look at the next section, which the NASB aptly titled, “The Meaning of Discipleship.” Jesus says, 24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he may become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they insult the members of his household!
Later on, after Jesus washes the disciples’ feet in John 15:18 (NIV), He tells them this same thing but worded differently: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” The reason why the world wants to persecute Christians is because the world hates Jesus. It is He, in us, whom they hate. But we don’t need to fear them, even if they hate us.
Jesus says, 26 “So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are two sparrows not sold for an assarion? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all counted. 31 So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.”
The disciples did not need to fear if they were to be killed, and we do not need to fear death, either. First off all, we don’t need to fear, for the Lord is watching over us. If He values sparrows which sell for pennies, doesn’t He value us far more than a sparrow? He knows how many hairs are on our head at any given moment! In other words, He knows every single thing about us and what we need. He loves us. He will take care of us. Even if we are physically killed, our soul cannot be killed. For the Christian, our soul departs to be with the Lord. And as Paul said in Philippians 1:21&23, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain […] But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better.”
Even though we know what awaits us is far better than this earthly life, it is hard not to fear. The Lord knows that at different times in history, and depending upon where someone lives in this world even today, a public confession of faith can mean a death sentence. I think that is why Jesus tells the disciples, 32 “Therefore, everyone who confesses Me before people, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before people, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
At different times in my life, I have worried over those words of Jesus. What if I denied Him? What if faced with death I lied and didn’t confess my faith? What if me remaining silent when someone ridicules Christianity is the same thing as denying Him? While those are important questions to wrestle with, I have peace that the Lord will help me. I also have hope that if I fail, I might find forgiveness the same way that Peter was able to repent and seek forgiveness after he denied Jesus three times in a row. I am thankful that Peter failed in this and it was recorded for us in Scripture, for it shows us the incredible mercy of our Savior, who offers the repentant forgiveness of even this. We know that after Jesus rose from the dead, Peter was a changed man and no longer denied his faith in His risen Savior, but was a bold witness for Christ. If we have failed to confess Jesus before men, we too can seek forgiveness and pray for boldness to confess Him.
Working through these questions, or being afraid to confess our faith in Christ, is only an issue because Christians face persecution. All around the world, Christians are persecuted for their faith on a daily basis. Though the media largely ignores it, Christians are the most persecuted group of people in the world. An article published by Forbes reported that in 2020, “309 million Christians were living in countries where they might suffer very high or extreme levels of persecution” (https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewelinaochab/2021/01/13/one-in-eight-christians-worldwide-live-in-countries-where-they-would-be-persecuted/?sh=75317ce95016).
Ephesians 6:12 tells us Christians are persecuted because our battle is not against flesh and blood “but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
I think that is why Jesus makes this next, often overlooked statement: 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a person’s enemies will be the members of his household.”
Even though Jesus is called the Prince of Peace, if we follow Him, we find that the closer we follow Him, the more division it causes us with the world and unbelievers. Following Him doesn’t mean we will have peace with all people. Quite the opposite, in fact. He tells the disciples that they might have to make a choice between following Him and preserving relationships with family and friends. Jesus says, 37 “The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And the one who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 The one who has found his life will lose it, and the one who has lost his life on My account will find it.
Jesus is telling the disciples, and all believers, that He will not compete with others for the number one place in our hearts. He wants us to make Him Lord of our lives and hearts. No thing or person should have priority or influence over us more than Jesus. We have to be willing to follow Him even when it ruins or strains our relationships with other people. Again, I want to emphasize this strain happens because those who are not following Jesus won’t understand the choices we make. They also sometimes find themselves repelled by us, not because we are not kind to them, but because their spirit, which is unrepentant, hates the fact that we love Jesus. A lot of times, the only thing left for us to do is pray for that person to come to faith and try not to take it personally, and remember that it is Jesus who they hate, not us.
This final section of verses is given the heading, “The Reward for Service.” Jesus says, 40 “The one who receives you receives Me, and the one who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41 The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person shall receive a righteous person’s reward.42 And whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”
This is how Matthew ends Jesus’ words to the disciples before He sent them out. He is telling them that even the smallest act of kindness, done in His name, will earn them a reward. If giving a cup of water gives someone a reward, how much greater would the reward be for someone who gives their life? As the above section stated, if we lose our life on Christ’s account, either physically or by giving up our autonomy, we will truly find life with Him.
I don’t think it’s an easy thing to live this life with a proper eternal perspective. It can be difficult to remember that this world is really just a blip on the timeline of our lives and that eternity lasts forever. As short as our lives are, we need to remember that everything we do here matters for all eternity. In this world of infinite distractions, we must make a consistent effort to keep our minds focused on what really matters. It’s easy to get discouraged and feel afraid and overwhelmed when we face persecution, so I am thankful that we have the Holy Spirit who can help us and give us courage. Above all, let us remember and rejoice that our Savior endured the worst persecution and rejection, but He did so willingly so He could purchase our salvation. What is any hardship compared to what Jesus did for us? That is why we owe Him our loyalty and lives. That is why, by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, we can face any trouble that comes. After all, the power of the resurrected Christ lives in us and has conquered the world. Let us remember and place our hope in what Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us Jesus who died in our place. We thank You that His resurrection power now lives in us, giving us faith and courage to face the troubles of this life. Please help us to trust in You no matter what comes at us. Help us to be bold witnesses, sharing Your message of love and grace to this world. Please forgive us when we have remained silent. We need You to help us be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. We need You to help us be brave. We love You and praise You. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
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