The Lord goes on to tell His disciples what they must expect in preaching the gospel of the kingdom among their own people. “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.” They might go forth in love, yet they would meet with “wolves.” They would need heavenly wisdom also: “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
“But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils.” The Jews despised the Gentiles, but they would not hesitate to bring the power of their Gentile masters against the servants of the Lord. “Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.” This is quite a different way of bringing the gospel before those in high places. The means usually employed to reach such persons is through compromising the truth and in conformity to the world.
Furthermore the Lord prepares them as to what to expect from their nearest kin in rendering this testimony to Him as the Messiah. “The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child. ... And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.” In 2 Timothy 3:12 we are told that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” However, the Lord gives the disciples a hope that this special period of trial would be for a limited time and that he that should endure to the end would be delivered.
Then the Lord says, “Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come.” The mission of the disciples to Israel came to an end with the death of Christ and in a final way with the destruction of Jerusalem. After the mission came the calling of the church. The preaching of the gospel of the grace of God to all men everywhere has been going forth since. But after the church is called home to glory, the testimony to the coming kingdom of the Messiah will again go forth until the Messiah comes as Son of Man in His glory. Daniel the prophet spoke of Him coming with the clouds of heaven. This would be in judgment on the ungodly, but it would mean deliverance for the faithful remnant then.
Care in Every Detail
“Fear not them which kill the body,” that is, their persecutors; they cannot touch the soul. Nothing can happen to a child of God but what the Father allows. The only thing one ought to dread is grieving and sinning against God. “Fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” — such would be the portion of the enemies of the Lord.
Then He speaks of the Father’s care for them in the very smallest details. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
After this He presses on them the need of confessing and not denying Him before men. “Him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.”
“He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.” The cross here represents those trials in life which Satan uses to keep people from coming to the Lord. If we would follow the Lord, we must make up our minds to experience trials, suffering and reproach. Yet if we take these things from Him, He will turn them for our blessing. He makes all things work together for good to those that love Him.
Further Meditation
1. What other examples are there in Scripture of prisoners being used to reach prominent leaders with God’s Word?
2. What does the Bible say about the godly and persecution?
3. Outline of Prophetic Events by B. Anstey gives an excellent overview of prophecy.