Friday, 13th of July 2018

Matthew 10:16-23

Jesus said to his disciples, «Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be clever as snakes and innocent as doves. Be on your guard with respect to people, for they will hand you over to their courts and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, and so you may witness to them and the pagans. But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak; but it will be the Spirit of your Father in you.

»Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For sure, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes».

Source: http://evangeli.net/gospel/

Analysis

Today's passage seems to be a new one, the old repeat ones were somewhat making me sick. This passage is incredibly significant, as it gives a message for us who wishes to aid Jesus in His mission by seeking and spreading the truth. It is also a good word of encouragement if we feel down or we feel that we failed. The passage opens with Jesus telling His disciples to be clever as a snake and innocent as a dove. He then tells His disciples to be on guard with everyone, as there will be people who would surrender the disciples to the religious courts and be flogged in the synagogues. 

The disciples would also be surrendered to the kings because of Jesus, so they be witness for the kings and the disbelievers. And they should not worry of what they will speak, as God will be the one speaking and not themselves. Then Jesus speaks of the conflict resulted by His coming, brother will fight brothers, fathers will fight their children, and children will fight against parents to the death. But Jesus tells that if we stand firm, we will be saved, and He warned that all will hate us because of our servitude to Jesus, and then instructs the disciples to run to the next town if we're being persecuted in one town.

What does it mean to be clever as a snake and innocent as a dove? It means simple, we must be clever in our mission, and be innocent, that is keeping a low profile, all to maximize our potential in the mission and not be caught easily. After all, if we die, we can't really continue our mission. About us being surrendered to the authorities and hated or persecuted for what we do, serving the truth, this is natural actually. In the truth context, a materialist system will always work against truth bearers and those who follow it, thus it is only natural that by the time the truth bearers are exposed, we will be fought against and the materialist system will put up a very fierce resistance. However, if we are to speak, we shouldn't worry, as in the end, the truth that we speak of is a truth of divine nature, and not earthly nature, thus it is God who speaks, the supreme consciousness, and not us.

When the truth is finally exposed, all of it, there is sure to be conflict. The sufferings, wars, and ailments described Jesus before the final judgement is the conflict resulted from the exposure of the truth. The persecution we will face is also the result of the truth. When we, the truth bearers try to spread the divine word of God, there would be many people who does not see the truth, for they are blind with materialism, and they will think that we are lunatics or maniacs. Sometimes they'd call us radicals and fanatics simply because of our dedication and commitment to the truth. However, Jesus encourages us, as if we stand firm and keep doing what we are supposed to do with our maximum potential and unwavering commitment, we will receive the fruits of our labor in the end. That is all I have to say for today, have a nice day and see you tomorrow.