Preparing for persecution (part 2)

In part 1 we looked at the warnings and instructions Jesus gave his disciples in Matthew 10:16-23 concerning the persecution they could expect once they began preaching the gospel as his apostles. Jesus continues to prepare his disciples with warnings, advice, and encouragement throughout the rest of the chapter. Even though there is very little persecution of Christians in America at present, the thoughts Jesus conveyed to his disciples on this occasion still stand to benefit us if we will take them to heart.

In verses 24-25 Jesus says that a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master, but rather that the goal of a disciple is to become “like his teacher” and the slave “like his master.” He then went on to tell them what he meant by a disciple becoming “like his teacher” saying, “If they have called the head of the house ‘Beelzebul’, How much more the members of his household?” The point Jesus makes here is that whatever treatment Jesus received, his disciples should expect the same or worse!

Then, in verse 16, Jesus immediately counteracted this bad news with a word of encouragement – telling them not to fear their persecutors, “for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.” Jesus was basically telling them that God would “bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5) – including whatever evil plans their persecutors might form against them. This very thing happened several times in the ministry of Paul (See Acts 9:23-25 and 23:12-24)

Jesus also informed his disciples that whatever he told them “in the darkness” they were to speak “In the light” and whatever he whispered in their ear, they were to “proclaim upon the housetops.” The Old Testament is filled with stories where God revealed things “hidden in the darkness” to his prophets, which they in turn spoke “in the light” to those God sent them. This same thing is seen clearly in the New Testament as well. For example, in 1^st Corinthians 14:25 Paul says that, as result of a prophetic word bringing “into the light” things that were hidden “in the darkness” of a man’s heart, the man would, “fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’ ”

Jesus continued to encourage his disciples in verses 28-31, telling them not to fear men, who could at worst only kill their body, but rather to fear God, who “is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” He assured them that everyone who is willing to confess him openly before others, in spite of the threat of persecution, Jesus would honor by confessing them before His father. On the other hand, those who denied him before men, for fear of being persecuted, He would deny before His father. He then told them that since not a single sparrow dies without God both knowing about it and allowing it, and that every hair on their head was numbered, they had no reason to be afraid. Basically Jesus was trying to assure them that God is in control of every last detail of their lives, and that no one could persecute them in any way unless it was part of his plan.

We can all learn a lesson from this simple admonition. When we pray, as Jesus taught us to, that God’s kingdom would come and his will would be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” then we can rest assured that everything that happens in our life will be part of that process of his kingdom coming and his will being done in our lives. If God is in such control over the universe that he knows when every sparrow dies, and how many hairs are on our heads, then we can certainly trust him to keep us in whatever persecution we may face for his name’s sake.