Matthew 10:16-20
“Behold, I send you as sheep into the midst of wolves. Therefore become as insightful as serpents
and as pure as doves. And be on your
guard against mankind. For they will
hand you all over to the Sanhedrin and they will beat you all with whips in
their synagogues. And you all will be
led upon governors and even kings in witness to them and to the Gentiles for my
sake. And when they should hand you all
over, do not have anxious concern regarding how or what you all should
say. For that which you all should say
will be given to you all in that hour.
For you all are not the one who speaks but rather it is the Spirit of
your Father who speaks in you.
Thoughts for Today
First Thought:
Jesus is not very encouraging in the opening verses of this
passage. He basically says that if you
follow Him, you will be looked upon as a sheep is looked upon by a pack of
wolves. In case you don’t realize it,
that’s not a good thing! Following Jesus
is submission to the idea that we will be devoured by the world – much like the
world devoured Jesus! But God can
overcome the world. The world may devour
us, but God will have the final say. The
truth is we will know persecution. But
our focus should not be on what happens to us in this world. Thus, while this is not a particularly
encouraging opening, it is an honest opening.
Because Jesus’ focus is upon the Father and life eternal, He can be
honest in this passage.
How well does the idea of the world devouring you sit with
you? Why can that idea cause us to pause
in our response to God’s calling? Are
you able to overcome any concern you
might have about how the world will treat you?
Second Thought:
However, I have not yet done justice to the warning that
Jesus offers. Jesus doesn’t actually
leave it at the persecution of the world.
Jesus tells them that they will be dragged before the Sanhedrin and they
will be flogged in the synagogues. Jesus
tells the disciples that their own kind will turn on them. The people who should understand the call of
Christ will instead turn on them.
Unfortunately, this is all too often the reality in churches as
well. We should be united in the mission
of Christ under the banner of our heavenly Father. But instead we wrestle for power and control
and the assertion of our own agendas. So
we argue with one another, we fight one another, and we treat one another with
contempt. This happens frequently within
even our own synagogues and churches.
Why do you think we can be just as ugly within the church as
the world can be to us? What is the end
result of ugliness within the church?
Why do you think Jesus would warn His disciples of this threat
especially?
Third Thought:
Jesus tells us that we must be as insightful as serpents and
as innocent as doves. What is Jesus
telling us in this analogy? I think that
there are many layers to this analogy.
- First of all, remember that Genesis makes the case that the serpent was the craftiest being in the Garden of Eden. Jesus is telling us that we must be thoughtful. He’s not telling us to use that craftiness for sin as the serpent did – for He also tells us to be pure. But He is absolutely telling us that we will need to think and look for insight as to how to have our faith survive in this world.
- Second, remember that the Law lifts up the dove as an animal that is pleasing in sacrifice. We are to be pure as doves. This means that we are to consider ourselves as suitable material for sacrifice on behalf of another. In a world that desires to attack us and beat us down, we need to live with a posture of sacrificial love. If my sacrifice helps another person find relationship with God, is it not worth it?
Do you live a life of insightfulness? Where does insight come for you? Do you live a life of sacrificial love? How do you sacrifice yourself for the sake of
others?
Fourth Thought:
In the end, I find this to be one of the most comforting
passages in the Bible. There are so many
people in the world who are paralyzed in fear about what to say. They are afraid to open their mouth because
they either believe that they will say the wrong thing or they won’t have
anything to say. Jesus tells us that
such a fear is not from God. If we are
put in a situation where God wants us to speak, words will be given to us to
speak. The words aren’t supposed to come
from me anyways! In spiritual moments,
any significant words that I could possibly say will by definition come from
God. If what I say is to be meaningful,
then God must be the source. So why be
worried or even paralyzed with fear about what to say?
Do you take these verses seriously regarding Jesus’ promise? How often do you speak words when they aren’t
from God just because you feel that you have to say something? How often do you not speak God’s words
because you are afraid that they are wrong?
Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 10:21-23
No comments:
Post a Comment