Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
The Apostles would need two apparently contradictory characteristics to carry out the mission on which Jesus sent them. They would need to be shrewd; clever, alert, or canny. But they would also need to be simple; straightforward, uncomplicated, and plain. People who emphasized shrewdness too much tended to become complicated and not simple. They lost the singlemindedness Jesus envisioned for his disciples. People who instead overemphasized simplicity tended to become overly naïve and even ignorant, unable to engage with the realities of the world. So Jesus called his disciples to that which we might recognize as the typical Catholic both/and. But it was not a yes to strategy or simplicity at any cost, but rather both elements creating a harmonious whole.
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.
They were called to shrewdness so that they didn't spend themselves fruitlessly against the hostility of the world. They were called to simplicity so that they would consistently refuse to compromise with the world in order to avoid persecution.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
Ultimately their strategy would not protect them, was not meant to protect them, but it would help to ensure that they were positioned to be effective witnesses. Their cleverness could not supersede the need for divine assistance. Only the simplicity of being able to listen to and trust the Spirit of the Father would truly allow them to accomplish what Jesus intended.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
Most of us have not been much hated for the name of Jesus, though we know of those in the media and in other cultures who have been. We shall not be so simple as to run headlong into persecution. But let us not be so shrewd as to avoid it at any cost when Jesus desires for us to be his witnesses. Let our hearts be simply his so that he can use us as he himself desires. Let us leave no room in this simplicity for desire of the praise of men, which is fleeting at best, empty at worst. But let us ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of courage, for we too are called to go out in the midst of wolves. For these wolves are among those who most need the treasure entrusted to us by our Lord.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.
The strategy seems to be one of indirect engagement by which they exhaust themselves in our pursuit. This is a canny strategy that can be employed even by the very simple. So let them come. We have words from the Spirit ready for them when they are at last ready to hear. The hopes that they thought were too good to be true can in fact by realized, just as was the hope of Jacob.
And Israel said to Joseph, "At last I can die,
now that I have seen for myself that Joseph is still alive."
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