Hope And Encouragement In Times Of Persecution

Matthew 10:16-33

A life of ease and popularity, or a difficult life with opposition - which one would you choose?  Most of us would probably choose the first one, as no one wants others fighting against them, along with a lot of struggles.  This, though, is exactly what Jesus has said His followers would encounter as a result of being His disciples.  Some preachers today have promised a life of ease and wealth.  “Turn to Jesus and all your problems will disappear.”, they say.  Nowhere in Scripture is that ever said.  In our passage today we see what Jesus said His followers could expect for faithfully proclaiming His message.

As believers, we have been given a commission to go out and spread the Gospel message.  Jesus warns us in verse 16 that this could, and would often, be dangerous.  Wolves was a term that was used to describe those who would oppose His followers, whether political leaders or false religious leaders who would persecute true believers and destroy the true Church.  Paul and the apostles in the early church certainly experienced that, and it continues today.  There are plenty across the world in both the political and religious realms who persecute those who stand for Jesus and the truth of the Bible.  We can even expect opposition from our own families (vs 21).  We are God’s sheep, but when we are out among the wolves, Jesus tells us to not be like ignorant sheep, but be wise, sensible, and prudent, not gullible or naive.  We are under His protection and have been given His wisdom and power.

The Jews in Jesus’s day, and many people today believe that suffering is God’s punishment.  Why would one suffer for being obedient to God?  Jesus, the Son of God and 2nd Person of the Trinity suffered, and He was certainly obedient to God.  Just because we act good, holy, and decent doesn’t mean that people will like us or treat us well (vs. 25).  The Jewish leaders called Jesus “Beelzebub”, which is the name of the Prince of Demons.  Literally translated it is “Lord of the Flies”.  As His followers, we can expect similar accusations or names.  The unbelievers did not like Jesus, and they will not like us.  If we are faithfully following Him, we should not expect the world to sing our praises.

If this was all that Jesus told us in this passage it might be a bit discouraging, but He didn’t just tell us to go out and face persecution.  He gave us some encouraging words as well, to equip us for the opposition we will face.  One promise Jesus made was that if we are ever brought before court for our faith, if we rely on Him, He will give us the words to speak in response to their opposition (vs. 18-20).  Trusting in Jesus we don’t have to rely on our own abilities.

In addition, God reassures us, His beloved children, that we are infinitely precious to Him.  He watches over all of His creation.  Nothing is beyond His notice, including the death of even the smallest of sparrows.  If the almighty God is concerned about something as small and seemingly insignificant as a sparrow, don’t you think He is all the more concerned about His Blood-bought children?  We are so important to God that He has even counted the very numbers of our hair (vs. 29-31).  When someone deeply loves another, they like to know every detail of them.  The fact that God would keep track of something as unimportant as how many hairs we have shows just how much He loves us.  We can trust Him that He is sovereign and has all of our life under His control.

Jesus wasn’t afraid of Pilate or the Jewish religious leaders.  We do not need to fear any of our enemies.  What is the worst they can do?  Kill our bodies?  They can’t harm our souls.  God has that in His hands, and if we are saved, we have nothing to worry about there (vs. 28).  Our job is to continue on as His witnesses, never being ashamed of Jesus or His Word (vs. 33).

We can and should trust that God has a plan for all of the trials and sufferings we go through.  He has a plan, and will give us His comfort.  We need to keep our eyes on the goal, on the day when our trials are over and we will be rewarded.