The Scary Part

Remember how last week, we discussed Jesus sending out his disciples to preach and heal and treat people as equals? That was great. But right after he gives those instructions, he follows it up with what I'm calling "the scary part." Matthew 10:16-42 gives warnings about danger, harsh statements about the personal cost of obedience, and promises about those who remain faithful.

A quick overview:

Verses 16-25: Everyone's going to hate you and kill you.

Verses 26-33: But it's okay- the truth will win in the end, and God can't forget you.

Verses 34-39: Oh, and Jesus came to make your family your enemies.

Verses 40-42: But you'll definitely be rewarded for helping out other believers.

First of all, I want to know why this stuff is in this chapter. Jesus was just sending the disciples out in groups of 2 for a short mission trip- maybe a few weeks long? All these warnings about persecution and people betraying each other surely didn't play out over those few weeks. It sounds more like he's talking about the persecution the church would face over the hundreds of years since then.

So why is it here in Matthew 10, as if it's part of the instructions they need for their little short-term adventure?

I speculate that this passage, this whole section in red letters in Matthew 10, wasn't a single sermon that Jesus gave, but a summary of all his teachings on the subject, over the course of his entire ministry.

From what I've heard, authors and readers from that time period weren't so concerned about chronology when telling a story, but grouped together the events based on topic. So I speculate that Jesus didn't say ALL this stuff right before sending out the 12 disciples- instead, these are ideas he taught throughout his ministry. But Matthew thought they fit in here, so he put them here.

A couple verses I want to pull out, because they're interesting:

Verse 16: "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

I like this. "Shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves." I take the "shrewd" bit to mean we shouldn't be naive and sheltered and let people take advantage of that. Christians shouldn't cut themselves off from the rest of the world- no, we should learn how the systems work and how to best use them.

Example: I've heard of pastors who tell their church members not to use Facebook because it's apparently evil or something. Umm. Dude, Facebook is a tool that can be used for good or evil, and we should make use of it to whatever extent is beneficial.

Another example: If you are a missionary to a country that is hostile to Christianity, don't write "missionary" on your visa application. Get some kind of job in your target country, or go as a student, etc. Shrewd as snakes.

And then "innocent as doves" meaning don't do anything bad. Understand how the world works and use that to your advantage, but not to hurt people or anything like that.

Verse 28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

So... I never got whether that meant God or the devil. (And I always felt kinda dumb- the way it's worded is like the writer thinks it's OBVIOUS you know who "the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" is. And no, I'm not going to say "well obviously 'One' is capitalized, so it's God"- capitalization is part of the translation, not the original text.)

I mean, it couldn't be the devil, because Jesus is telling his followers NOT to be afraid of the people who can kill them- so not being afraid of the devil seems to follow along those same lines. (And seriously, Christians don't need to live in fear of the devil. God gives FREEDOM!)

But it can't be God either- then Jesus is saying you should be AFRAID of God because he'll send you to hell if you don't stand up for Jesus enough. Like, hey I know these people are trying to kill you, but if you give in to their demands, God will kill you even more.

And that's a HORRIBLE view of God. Geez. If someone is facing arrest and punishment for their faith, shouldn't God be comforting/helping them? Not judging whether they "stood up for Jesus" well enough, and sending them to hell if they didn't.

So I'm baffled here, y'all. Jesus commands his disciples to "be afraid" and that just makes no sense to me, and seems to run counter to, you know, the gospel and all that. And I don't know who "the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell" is supposed to be. (Though it's worth pointing out that "hell" here may or may not be the popular culture version of hell- eternal torture, fire, pitchforks...)

Maybe "hell" is actually waiting in line at the bank for all eternity. Image source.

But the main meat of this passage is that there will be danger and persecution when they bring Jesus' message/healing to the world. And dude, that's scary. Jesus warns his disciples that they will be flogged, arrested, put to death, handed in by family members.

And the WTF part is verse 34: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Hmm, too bad this is directly contradicted elsewhere in the bible. The angels singing "peace on earth" at Jesus' birth. Isaiah's prophecy about the "Prince of Peace."  Peace and racial reconciliation made possible through Jesus.

I would say that both are true- sometimes Jesus' message divides people, and sometimes it brings them together. (And I advise you to be highly suspicious of anyone who thinks peace is a bad thing because Jesus apparently didn't come to bring peace.)

But back to the bit on persecution. This totally has happened, throughout the many centuries that Christianity has existed. People have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed. It's seriously messed-up and terrifying, and it's what Jesus predicted in this passage. And wow, the courage of all these Christians that have gone through it is amazing.

The Crucifixion of Peter. Image source.

I mean, seriously, the predictions Jesus gives in this passage are legitimately scary. But he also includes some promises:

Verses 19-20: "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

Verse 22b: "But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Verse 31: "So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Verse 42: "And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward."

So basically, God will be with you. God will never forget you, and at the end of it all, you will be rewarded for your endurance.

But... perhaps I'm missing the point, but WHAT GOOD IS THAT? Yeah, God is with you- but he won't stop the violence and the killing and the injustice, not til the end of the world, when creation is redeemed and everything is finally made right.

It really seems overwhelming that this is what Jesus is sending his followers into. Seems like a bad idea.

But this kind of goes along with "the problem of evil" in general (which I don't expect to resolve in this blog post). God allows bad things to happen. And perhaps it's at least comforting to know that Jesus knew what they would be going through, and that God would never abandon them.

I refer to this passage as "the scary part", for obvious reasons. It's scary. These things really have happened. But it seems that Jesus' purpose is not to scare us, but to give us something to remember if we do face that persecution. As he says in verse 31, "So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

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This post is part of a series on the gospel of Matthew.

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