Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves
The Lord was well acquainted with the existence of wolves hungry to prey on unsuspecting sheep. He knew that to try to avoid them entirely would be to abandon the mission, for it was in the places where the wolves dwelled that those who needed to hear the Gospel were also to be found. Yet Jesus did not send his Apostles to the wolves. He sent them out in the midst of wolves. In other words, their mission was not to become wolf food. Danger would surround them, and they would therefore need to keep their wits about them. But even more, they would need to rely on God's protection.
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
They were not to recklessly throw themselves into danger. But neither were they to be so concerned with planning and mapping up a perfectly safe path as to lose their simplicity. They were to operate as those under the protection of the Most High who promised, "You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent" (see Psalm 91:13). But this, Jesus insisted, must not become an occasion for presumption or pride. It must make them rely more on the Lord, not putting him to the test by recklessly taking him for granted.
Wise, that they might escape snares; simple, that they might not do evil to others. The craft of the serpent is set before them as an example, for he hides his head with all the rest of his body, that he may protect the part in which life is. So ought we to expose our whole body, that we may guard our head which is Christ; that is, that we study to keep the faith whole and uncorrupt.- Saint Jerome
But beware of men,
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
The hardships that would befall the disciples served a higher purpose. They made of them witnesses in a way that words and even miracles could not accomplish. They proved definitively the certainty with which they held their beliefs, and demonstrated beyond doubt that they were not in it for personal gain. This was what Tertullian meant when he wrote, "We spring up in greater numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life". Yet it was not only by blood that their witness was given. It was every faithful response to Jesus, especially in the midst of wolves, in response to persecution.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
Jesus did say to be as shrewd as serpents. He didn't want his followers to be ignorant of the good news of the gospel, nor all that was written about him in all of Scriptures. He taught them, after all, implying that they could and should understand what he taught. But that fact did not imply that disciples would need to become masters of doctrine in order to be good witnesses. In fact, even those simple as doves could do it. It was, as Jesus said, to those who were like little children that the Kingdom belonged, and this was no less true in this case.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Rather than making their testimony a response of panic and fear the disciples were called to remain open to the voice of the Spirit who would speak through them even and especially in the most difficult of circumstances. Precisely the moment when disciples would be the most likely to close down in fear was the moment when openness and listening was the most necessary. It is likely that we have all experienced on a lesser scale how fear makes us plan and rehearse every line of a conversation we dread, to flowchart every possible response and counterargument. We too must learn to remain open to the guidance of the Spirit at such times, ready to set our own plans aside if God has something different to say through us.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
In our day, as the heritage of Christendom recedes further into history, it may again more often be the case that we will be hated for the name of Jesus. In in age obsessed with self-definition, allowing ourselves to be defined by God seems anathema. But we know that there is no other way to happiness than a life that fulfills the purpose for which we were made. We don't seek out the hatred of the crowds, but we shouldn't assume that something has gone wrong if we do encounter it. Even if we do, God can miraculously incorporate it into a larger plan. If we find many doors seemingly closed to the Gospel they may only be closed to drive us to the next open door, just as persecution in Jerusalem caused the early church to spread.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Persecution requires endurance. But we are not meant to attempt such endurance on our own strength. If our hearts are properly disposed, if we seek and long for the Son of Man, we will certainly receive his help.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.
All of this talk of wolves and persecution might paint a bleak picture for the world. But it is precisely to this world that the mission of the Church is directed. It is sinners who stand most eligible for mercy, mercy that God himself longs to give.
I will heal their defection, says the LORD,
I will love them freely;
for my wrath is turned away from them.
I will be like the dew for Israel:
he shall blossom like the lily;
He shall strike root like the Lebanon cedar,
and put forth his shoots.
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