“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.” Matthew 10:16-18 (ESV)
Jesus, after identifying the twelve and commissioning them as apostles, prepares to send them out on a mission trip. He gave them authority over demons, disease, and sickness. He instructs them where and to whom they are to go and what they are to preach. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons,” were His instruction. After additional instructions Jesus gives them a warning. They would encounter sever resistance as they preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Jesus is sending them into the middle of wolves. He predicts that they would be arrested, charged, and punished in the synagogues. In verse five He had said to not go to Gentiles or Samaritans but only to the Jews. But we see in his warning in verse eighteen that his prophecy of resistance reached beyond this one mission trip. It would cover any and all such missions for Christ and the Kingdom. Preach the gospel and you will be hated and hunted. Gentiles would become part of the resistance to the gospel. These predictions are promises for us as well. We should expect and not avoid resistance when preaching and teaching the Word of God.
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