Matthew 10:16-33--Persecution Will Come, But Have No Fear

​Matthew 10:16-33 English Standard Version (ESV)
Listen:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.10.16-Matt.10.33
Persecution Will Come
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. 19 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. 20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23 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.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Have No Fear
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 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. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

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Remember that Jesus is still in the middle of giving instructions to the 12 apostles as He's sending them out with authority and power at the beginning of His ministry.  He has already told them that they will face rejection in some places, but now He tells them that they are for sure going to face persecution in some places as well as some people will be so upset by the message that they will punish or try to kill the messenger or silence the messenger by way for torture or imprisonment.  While these things may or may not have happened right then and there in this time that Jesus sent out the twelve apostles for the first time, this mission He called them out for was a lifetime mission just as the Great Commission is for all of us, so Jesus is probably looking not just at the present, but far into the future and telling them what the cost of being an apostle for Him was really going to be.

Jesus promises that when they get dragged int tribunals before kings and governors or into other court systems not to worry because God the Holy Spirit will be with them to tell them what to say and He will put words in their mouths.  The time would be coming when all of them would be betrayed by friends and family and that it would not be safe for them to stay in one place for very long and that they would have to run from one town to the next.  We see all of this take place (especially in the life of Paul) as we read the book of of the Acts of the Apostles.

I'm sure that when the disciples heard this, they would naturally be afraid and some might be questioning what they signed up for and if it was safe to go out on this journey that that they were told to go on that day given the future that Jesus saw and told them was coming.  Jesus assured them that they need not fear man because the God who is the judge of the universe was with them and is the one who is giving them to command to share this truth and it is those who reject the message that should be afraid of Him, but also there is an implication that those who are called but refuse to go have something to be afraid of too.

God watches over all of His creation, even the things of which we think have little or no value, but since we were made in His image and He has a special relationship with us, doesn't it make sense that He pays special attention to us and that not even one hair falls from our head without God knowing about it?  Our fear and worry can do nothing to change our circumstances or make us live longer--if God has ordained that it's time for us die as a martyr, that's what's going to happen and there is no "he died too young."  The only question will be if you died in a way consistent with the faith that you claimed to have (see Hebrews 11 and 12).  When that day comes, will we have lived in such a way where we have acknowledge God's existence, power and dominion (the fact that He is King and we are not) in our lives or are they simply words with nothing to back them up?  Will we try to back up our faith with good deeds that bring glory to ourselves like the people we talked about in the Sermon on the Mount or will we remember that the only ground we have to stand on when we stand in judgement before God is that "Jesus paid it all.....all to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

Jesus gives a warning here that those who reject Jesus before men should not expect Jesus to acknowledge them before the Father (to tell them they are His and they should be allowed into heaven), but all those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord (proclaim it loudly and proudly to all men) and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead--those are the people who will be saved because you can't live that way or have that kind of faith unless God has already transformed you from a caterpillar into a butterfly.  It is not these acts that save you but they are evidence of the work of God in your life that has saved you and those who reject Jesus before men show evidence that they have not been born again and are not part of the one true Body of Christ, not part of the Lord's army, not His ambassadors, and not His servants who desire to do nothing other than to obediently serve their Master and bring Him glory to Him and His kingdom.