One ploy that parents of young children use is to send the message to their children that things aren’t as bad as they perceive. “It’s not that bad,” can become a line you go to again and again in order to give your children courage to do something they simply don’t want to do. Whether a dental visit, a shot at the doctor, or an accident they’ve had that makes your living room look like a crime scene, the response is often the same: “It’s not that bad.”
And this response doesn’t come from a cruel and hard heart but from an understanding that the child needs the dental visit, needs to get that shot from the doctor, or simply needs to calm down in handling his or her injury. That is, you see there’s something good the child needs to do, know the child is hesitant to do it, and you try to paint the situation in its best light. It’s parenting 101, isn’t it? I’ve been on the receiving (as a child) and giving (as a parent) end of that message, and I trust that you have as well.
So, what would you expect Jesus to say to his disciples when he gives them a mission that is going to involve them overcoming their fearfulness and cowardice and taking Christ’s gospel to their neighbors and all the nations? Taking our cues from our parental wisdom, we might expect him to say, “It’s not going to be that bad. A lot of people will actually be thankful you’ve come to them with this good news. People will write biographies about some of you.” I mean, that’s what we would expect, right? After all, it’s difficult for us, by nature, to overcome our fears and obey the Great Commission.
But instead Jesus’ first words after he gives the twelve instructions about their first missionary journey and looks ahead to them laboring in obedience to the commission he’s going to give them in Matthew 28:18-20 is, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (v. 16). Now, for those of us who haven’t experienced many days with sheep, this is a gruesome image. Sheep are prey animals. That is, they don’t have some kind of fighting defense. A lion will kill a giraffe, but he better be careful because a giraffe can kick a lion and kill it. Sheep use their legs as well in defense, but in a different way. They run. A sheep’s defense is to flee, not fight.
To send sheep out in the midst of wolves is to send a sheep to its death. Wolves are predators with regard to sheep. They’re not docile. When sheep encounter wolves, the sheep flee or they die. So why does Jesus say this to a people who need courage to go do something that by nature they could be fearfully opposed to doing? I think this answer is because the reality of persecution in the Christian mission needs to inform our practice as we seek to carry out the Great Commission. Jesus doesn’t want his followers to encounter persecution, think something must be wrong, and turn back. He doesn’t want us to be surprised. He wants the reality of the persecution we’re going to face to inform us, help us, and strengthen us in the task that Christ has given his church.
More specifically, I think this text is here to teach us that because persecution in the Christian mission is certain, we must carry out this task with certain things in mind, while never being afraid to obey Christ. So, what I want to do this morning is flesh this statement out a bit by considering each part of it, showing you how this is reflected in Matthew 10:16-42. First, this text explicitly teaches us that:
By this statement I don’t mean that every time that you set out to witness to your neighbor or friend you’re going to be persecuted. Certainly every situation in which you find yourself trying to obey Christ’s mission will not result in persecution. Nor am I saying that situations in which individuals are persecuted will end with the severest forms of persecution. But what I am saying is that as we as the church set out and obey Christ in seeking to make disciples of our neighbors and the nations, we will certainly encounter persecution. Jesus makes that quite clear.
Besides his opening line that he sends out his followers as sheep in the midst of wolves, Jesus says in verses 17-18, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake,” which speaks of persecution from the hands of both Jews and Gentiles.
And we know this happened even right in the first century. From about AD 33-64, as Rome ruled over the Jews, they basically said, “If you all have a problem with something or someone, handle it.” And they did. You can read of the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, of the persecution of the church in Acts 8, and specifically of the pre-converted Paul “ravaging the church,” entering house after house and dragging off men and women to prison (Acts 8:3). James, the brother of the Lord, we are told by Josephus was thrown down from the temple and stoned at the direction of Ananus, the high priest. Then, it was likely under Nero’s persecution of Christians that Peter and Paul were martyred. And we could go on with stories of Christians being put on seats that were heated up until the believer was roasted, of being set on fire, being thrown to beasts, having boiling oil poured down their throats, and on and on. This is clearly part of what Jesus was speaking of when he said that he was sending his followers out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
Jesus continues, noting, that sometimes family members will be the very ones persecuting you (vv. 21, 35-36), that “you will be hated by all for [his] name’s sake” (v. 22), and that if they called him Beelzebul, we should expect much more to be done to his followers (v. 25).
Jesus doesn’t want us to have some misconception of the cost of following him. He didn’t come in order to create peaceful relationships all around. In fact, he states explicitly, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (v. 34). That is not to say that Jesus’ aim is to tear families apart but, rather, that when the gospel comes into a family and one believes while another remains unrepentant, this can be thing that creates animosity, hatred, and persecution among family members.
In my home town in western Kentucky, there was a pastor who shares that when he became a believer, his family abandoned him with such hatred that when his daughter died as a child the only people to attend her funeral was the man, his wife, and two young sons. And you know that we could speak of persecution of believers through the centuries over the next hour and barely scratch the surface. But I think we can clearly acknowledge that for the church, persecution in the Christian mission is certain. Second:
Let me note why I mention each of these terms and what I mean by them. First, discernment. Jesus’ first exhortation after mentioning that he is sending his followers out as sheep in the midst of wolves is: “So be wise as serpents” (v. 16). Now, serpents were thought of in the ancient world as being wise, shrewd, or cunning. That is, you shouldn’t think it easy to come and take a serpent by surprise. In fact, he’s wise enough that he might take you by surprise. The idea, I think, is that we should be discerning enough to avoid outright persecution where possible.
I think this is the point both because this fits the metaphor of being “wise as a serpent” and also because Jesus opens v. 17 by saying, “Beware of men,” and to beware does not mean to run blindly into danger but the opposite. That is, Jesus is saying that we should use wisdom and discernment as we go forth with the mission of making disciples of the nations.
In other words, it’s not wise but foolish to run toward a crowd holding spears because they’re seeking to kill Christians. We read in Acts 14:1-7 that when Paul and Barnabas were at Iconium and found out the unbelievers wanted to “mistreat them and to stone them,” they fled to Lystra and Derbe. And I want to suggest that they did that in obedience to this command of Christ.
Jesus even says explicitly in v. 23, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next.” Our Lord not only is okay with us using wisdom and discernment so that we might flee from attacks, he commands it. He does not command his followers to seek out persecution.
At the same time, however, he instructs us to be as innocent as doves. Now, unlike a serpent, the dove is understood as a creature that can be easily snared. So, as much as we, on the one hand, are instructed to flee from persecution, we are instructed not to fight back when suffering for the faith. Like our Lord, we are like sheep to the slaughter. That is, simply make your obedience to Christ your main goal when being threatened and persecuted.
Also, Jesus reminds us that we must trust him as we find ourselves in these situations. If you’re preaching to a people and all of the sudden captured and imprisoned, you don’t need to spend time second-guessing whether you should have gone to the town over instead of the one in which you were arrested. Rather, trust his sovereignty. He points out, for example, in verse 18 that when you’re dragged before kings and governors, it will be so that you might “bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”
And we trust him with the results. In verse 23 Jesus says what is one of the most confusing verses in the NT. He says, “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Now, the reason that’s confusing is because the phrase “before the Son of Man comes” leads us to think of the second coming, and that has obviously not yet happened. So, what do we do with that?
Well, instead of giving you all the options that I don’t think work, let me simply tell you what I think it means. Just as Jesus can proclaim his kingdom has come, and he means that it’s come in part but not fully, so I think the same thing is true of this statement about the Son of Man coming. And when Jesus says it here, I (and multiple other commentators) believe he’s referring to the Son coming with judgment on Israel in AD 70 with the destruction of the temple. That was a foretaste of the judgment that will be when the Son of Man comes fully and finally at the resurrection. And Jesus is saying that before they spread the gospel throughout all of Israel, this foretaste of judgment will fall against them, as it did take place at the hands of the Romans in AD 70.
The point being, of course, that when you’re persecuted and flee to the next town, just trust in God’s sovereignty. It may well be that the next town needs to hear before judgment comes. So, we labor and trust the Lord with his judgment, and trust the Lord to bless those who care for us as we labor, even as he promises in vv. 40-42.
Finally, we not only use wisdom, walk in holiness, and trust in his sovereignty, but we endurance. We don’t stop believing and obeying. Jesus makes clear in v. 22 that the one who endures in faith is the one who will be saved. Even when threatened or told to recant our profession, we endure in faith.
Persecution is certain. Therefore, we obey Christ in wisdom, holiness, trust, and endurance. But all of this might lead us to great fear, so I want to close our time this morning with a conclusion that Jesus provides that we need to hear, namely:
In this section that begins with Jesus providing this horrifying scene of sending sheep to the wolves, he tells us multiple times not to be anxious or afraid. We see it in vv. 19, 26, 28, and 31. Perhaps the most surprising and clearest exhortation not to fear is in verse 26 where, after Jesus said they’ll do much more to us than they did to him, he adds, “So have no fear of them.” That’s not the conclusion we’d likely come to in light of the stark reality of persecution that comes to the church. But Jesus gives many reasons why we shouldn’t fear but should persevere in obedient faith. Let me list them:
1. If you’re ever put in a position where you must speak on his behalf in a circumstance of persecution, the Spirit will give you words to say.
Jesus says, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (v. 19). This certainly isn’t a promise for me if one is lazy in sermon preparation, but it is a promise if you’re ever persecuted for Christ’s sake and are put in a place where you must speak.
When brought before the Proconsul and threatened with fire if he did not renounce Christ, Polycarp answered, “You threaten fire that burns for an hour and in a little while is quenched; for you do not know the fire of the judgment to come and the fire of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you delay? Bring what you will.” I have to think that powerful response was the fulfillment of this promise that is true for you and me as well should, God forbid, we find ourselves in such a circumstance.
2. Our Lord will take note of every injustice that is done toward you.
Jesus says in verse 26, “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” The persecution of believers isn’t just. The martyrdom of any of our brothers or sisters today who are killed simply because of their allegiance to Christ is no example of justice. However, even if they are murdered behind closed doors, based on false testimony, and thrown in an unmarked grave unknown, the specifics of which are unknown to any and all who love them, the Lord sees and he knows. The Lord sees all the injustices done against you. So, do not fear.
3. The gospel simply must be proclaimed.
Another reason why we shouldn’t fear is because the gospel simply must be proclaimed. Jesus says, “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” (v. 27). That is, when we proclaim the gospel (even if it costs us our lives), we are doing exactly what the Lord commands us to do. And when you’re doing exactly what God commands, there is no reason to fear.
4. The wrath of God is far greater than the wrath of any man.
Jesus continues, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (v. 28). Yes, you may bear the wrath of man as you bear witness of Christ, but you will be spared the wrath of the Lamb. And you should fear the Lord much more than man. Again, therefore, obey the Lord and do not fear man who can only take your life and usher you into the next.
5. Your Father sees, knows, and values you more than you can imagine.
Now, you might get the idea that the Lord sits in heavens and says, “Well, another of my children have but martyred. Oh well. It’s part of my plan,” as if he doesn’t value your life. But the reality is that our Father values us as his children far more than we can imagine. Here’s how Jesus explains it. He says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the number of hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (vv. 29-31).
Your Father cares so much about you, pays so much attention to you, and values your life so much that he knows the number of hairs on your head. Not one of his children suffers while he sits in indifference toward them. Not even sparrows die without the Lord seeing, noting, and valuing them, and they’re about the most worthless creature in existence. How much more his children? He knows you, loves you, is intimately aware of every detail of your life, and cares about every second of your life. I wish I could state this more strongly, but I trust that the Lord’s words are sufficient. Therefore, if our Father loves and values us to that degree, let us not fear.
6. If we acknowledge Christ as our Lord, he’ll acknowledge us on the day of judgment, and we will have eternal life.
When Polycarp stood, awaiting a death by fire if he did not renounce Christ as Lord, one reason he could not shrink back but instead boldly acknowledge Christ as his own is that he knew that Christ would acknowledge him as well in judgment. He knew that laying down his life for the sake of Christ now only meant that he would soon know eternal life.
Jesus makes this clear in verses 32-33 and 39, saying, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” and “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus prepares us for our commissioned task of making disciples of the nations by telling us that he sends us out as sheep in the midst of wolves. But this is not at all so that we will fear and shrink back. Rather, it is so that we might walk in wisdom, holiness, trust, endurance, and without fear. And should we be tempted to fear, we can remember that the one who knows us, values us so much that he knows the number of hairs on our heads, and loves us enough that his sent his Son to live, died, and be raised so that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life is keeping track of every second, noticing every injustice, seeing every second of obedience, and preparing us for the day when he will say, “Welcome into my kingdom, you faithful servant and precious child.” May that day come quickly. Amen.