Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
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Matthew 10:16-22
16“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 17Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. 18On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. 19But 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, 20for 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. 22You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Today’s reading is a part of the instructions Jesus gave his apostles as he was sending them out in ministry for the first time. Some of what he told them is pretty familiar to us. He told them to announce that the kingdom of God had come near, to heal the sick and cast out demons. He told them not to take a bunch of stuff with them, and to stay in the first home that welcomed them, and to shake off the dust of any town that wouldn’t receive their ministry.
That’s all fairly familiar to those who have spent any time with the gospels. But then Jesus goes on to the portion of the passage that’s our reading for today, which is less familiar.
He tells the apostles that he is sending them out like sheep among wolves. What’s more, Jesus says, they are to be “as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
It’s no mystery what Jesus meant about sending them like sheep among wolves – they were being sent out into a dangerous religious and cultural environment. The Romans controlled the region, but the Jewish authorities were the ones who were most bitterly opposed to Jesus and his followers.
Those religious authorities were determined to use all their power to enforce religious and cultural standards. And to them, the Jesus movement represented a threat. First of all, some elements of the Hebrew population seemed to see in Jesus an authority and authenticity that seemed to be missing in the religious leadership. So that would obviously be threatening to the leadership.
And then there was the problem of the Romans. They allowed the Jewish high council some control over their people, but expected them to maintain order. So a new sect that seemed to be outside the control of the council could weaken the Romans’ confidence in their Jewish underlings. In this kind of tense environment, the followers of Jesus could be vulnerable to oppression and even violence. That’s why they could be like sheep among wolves. And as he often did, Jesus candidly told his followers about the threats and challenges they would face.
The scholars tell us that what Jesus said about being “wise and snakes and innocent as doves” was actually a common saying among the Jews about living under Roman occupation. The point Jesus seems to have in mind is that his followers were meant to be move thoughtfully through Hebrew culture, performing their ministry without stirring up trouble and attracting attention to themselves. It seems that Jesus had in mind for them to spread the word about the kingdom in ways that allowed them to contribute to a sense of peace and order.
The part about being “innocent as doves” was apparently meant to direct the followers of Jesus to be focused in the ministry that had been assigned to them. The word that’s translated “innocent” literally meant something like “un-mixed.” The apostles had been given a distinctive teaching to share, and they were to avoid bringing in elements of patriotism, Jewish tradition or other kinds of teaching.
But in spite of their best efforts, Jesus warned that they would experience persecution by Jewish and other authorities. The church historians tell us that by the time the Gospel of Matthew was published – probably in the early seventies AD – just about every Christian would have experienced the kind of cultural oppression Jesus warned the apostles about. And some of that persecution would come from families, friends and neighbors who were worried about protecting their Hebrew heritage.
But Jesus also promised that as his followers faced persecution, they would be guided and directed by the Holy Spirit to know what to say and how to behave so that their words, their lives and even their deaths bore witness to the promises of God and the good news of what God had done in Jesus. As you might remember, this too came fully to pass. The word martyr literally means ‘witness,’ and the way many martyrs faced their deaths moved many people to join them in following Jesus.
A Roman official would later say, “Their blood is like seed – wherever we spill it, new Christians spring up.”
Most of us will never face anything like the persecution the first apostles experienced. But like them, we’re called to bear witness gracefully and peacefully in the culture around us. We are called to be faithful to the message Jesus gave us, not mixing in elements of our own political or social agendas or ideas about topics Jesus never addressed. And we’re promised that when we face pressure or exclusion for our faith, those occasions will include opportunities to make our faith known by the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
And we can be confident as well that our master will claim us gladly as his own if we minister faithfully in the mission field where he’s placed us.
Let’s pray. Lord, move in our hearts day by day to make us wise as snakes and innocent as doves, and give us the confidence in your promises that allows us to listen for the guidance of the Spirit whenever we feel threatened or pressured by the powers of this world. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
(The other readings for today are Psalms 41 and 42; Jeremiah 36:27 – 37:2; and I Corinthians 14:1-12. Our readings come from the NIV Bible, as posted on Biblica.com, the website of the International Bible Society.)
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