Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Matthew 23-25
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 10:16-17
Jesus: Listen: I am sending you out to be sheep among wolves. You must be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves. You must be careful. You must be discerning. You must be on your guard. There will be men who try to hand you over to their town councils and have you flogged in their synagogues.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Guess what? Some things never change. There are men (and women) out there who try to hand real Christians over to criminal and civil courts to have you bankrupted, embarrassed, imprisoned, and beaten and killed if they could. Even in our churches. The world is against us. Guess which religion is persecuted more than any other around the world. Guess which religion has more martyrs than any other every day in our civilized, modern, politically correct world.
Jesus told His disciples both then and through the ages they would be like sheep among wolves. Have you ever seen the aftermath of a pack of wolves against a stray sheep or goat or even a cow? It’s not a very pretty sight. There’s not much left when they get through with it. And when they attack, they start with the softer parts of the sheep so it doesn’t die quickly. The battle isn’t long, but it’s not over nearly as quickly as the sheep would like it to be in that losing battle.
So, Jesus warns us. Watch out. Be careful. Be discerning. Be on your guard. Be shrewd in dealing with the people who hear the message. Many will hate you because you tell the truth. The message cuts to the heart of every person…without exception. Because God’s word is sharper than a two-edged sword. It exposes the sin people think they have hidden so deep inside them no one can see it. But when you share the message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, God’s word exposes sin. And people will hate you for it. They will try to destroy you because you carried the message that laid them bare.
Some of the terms Jesus used reminds us of those Roman soldiers that stood all around those disciples. The country stayed flooded with soldiers because this place always caused problems for the empire. They refused to honor the gods. They refused to bow to the emperor. They always talked about God as their King. Their loyalties were certainly focused on something other than the good of Rome. Other nations revolted, but none had such deep devotion to a single entity like this nation. So warriors were always present. Jesus used those terms to prepare His disciples for the onslaught they would face.
But in the middle of His description, He gives one little phrase we sometimes miss when we picture those valiant Roman warriors, “be…as innocent as doves.” Doves have held a place in many nations’ hearts as a symbol of peace and life and harmony and innocence for millenia. It was a dove that brought back the olive branch to Noah that marked the end of the flood and the beginning of a new covenant of peace between God and man, marked by His bow in the sky.
Doves were often used in sealing covenants as we remember with God and Abraham when God gave Abraham the task to bless all nations. When God gave Moses the instructions for sacrifices, doves often became the substitute for larger animals for those who couldn’t afford large animals. Blood still needed to be shed, but God also didn’t want to extend or exacerbate poverty and perhaps make a person’s situation worse by requiring sacrifices out of the reach of the most poverty stricken in the land. Doves were abundant and cheap. If that’s all you could afford, doves could be offered as sacrifices. Mary and Joseph brought doves to sacrifice for Jesus after His birth.
So as we share the message, acting as God’s soldiers in a battle between good and evil, obedience and disobedience, we must have those characteristics we like to emphasize: boldness; shrewdness; careful; discerning; on our guard. But we must also be innocent, peaceful, in harmony with God and His will. We must remember whose message we carry and He means it to do. The message, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But the message is one of love, mercy, grace, hope. The message comes to the lost to show them the way to everylasting life.
Jesus sent His disciples and He sends us to a world He knows will try to swallow us up because of the message we carry. But the people we reach need hope. And they only find that hope in one place. That one place isn’t a place at all, but a person, Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the living God, Incarnate. In our innocence, others will see Him instead of us. In our peace, others will find Him. In our reflection of His righteousness, others will find hope for their own cleansing. All we need to do is share the message. “Repent! The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
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