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July 2, 2017 |
| Sent Into The World | ||
In this lesson we are going to look at the tail end of what is called the Olivet Discourse. In this section Jesus speaks to the disciples about what they will face when they are sent into the world with his message. He also deals with the importance of delivering that message and not falling back from that mission.
These instructions and warnings are for us as well as we are also sent into the world to deliver that message.
16 "Behold, I am sending you as lambs among wolves; be therefore crafty as snakes and innocent as doves."
crafty - wise, sensible, prudent, cunning
innocent - harmless, simple, ingenuous (unsuspecting), guileless (without deception)
This verse specifies how we are to be in our relationship with the world. First he speaks of how the world will treat us. The world is going to tear into you with whatever teeth it can bring to bear. Next he says "therefore" and we might expect him to say "run and hide to protect yourself" or "arm up so you can fight back" but he does neither. The "therefore" leads to a clause that is unresponsive to the threat, be wise and unsuspecting.
When he says wise he isn't talking about anticipating what the world will do to you. It is wisdom in spreading the message. Other places in the Bible speak of this as well.
5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders and buy your opportunities. 6 And your words should always be with grace, as if seasoned with salt, and be aware how it is appropriate for you to answer each man. (Colossians 4:5-6)
See therefore that you walk honorably, not as the fools, but as the wise, 16 Who redeem their opportunities because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be stupid, but understanding what the will of God is. (Ephesians 5:15-16)
In both these verses Paul speaks about opportunities and he instructs us to "buy" or "redeem" them. His model is that of purchasing something in a street market - they didn't have H-E-B then. The buyer had to determine which was the right thing to buy, maybe none are right. The buyer also had to determine if the price was right and whether he had the right money to pay for it.
God has prepared works for you to do for your own benefit, but not every work is for you. Be wise in choosing; let the Holy Spirit guide you and not your own goals or fears.
When he says innocent, he doesn't mean not guilty. He means:
17 "But beware of the children of men, for they will deliver you to the courts and they will scourge you in their synagogues. 18 And they will bring you before Governors and Kings for their testimony and that of the Gentiles."
When he says "beware of" he doesn't mean be afraid. He means "be aware about" or "be forewarned about" mankind. They will do evil things to you.
In Paul's time the Christians were persecuted and murdered by the Jews. He lived to see Christianity become an illegal religion within the Roman Empire. That put the Gentiles against them as well, with the result being legal executions of Christians.
Jesus describes how we should deal with this - watch for opportunities to spread the message, to testify about Jesus.
19 "But when they arrest you, do not be anxious how or what you will speak; it will be given to you in that hour what you should say. 20 For it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you."
Having said to watch for those opportunities, Jesus now says how to handle them when they come. Don't be anxious but trust that the Spirit will give you the words to say when the time is right. Who among us wouldn't immediately want to start preparing.
21 "But brother will deliver his brother to death, and a father his son, and children will rise against their parents and will put them to death. 22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name, but whoever will endure until the end, he will be saved."
For the first 300 years of Christianity this was absolutely their experience. After that, government became less the persecutor while the individuals remained the persecutors, to greater and lesser degrees.
This is one of the changes from Judaism to Christianity. For Judaism, most people were born into it and raised within it. The family was all Jewish. Christianity was entirely spread through proselytizing. Therefore some members of a family would believe and the others would not, which put them at odds with each other.
This is another of the verses that say Salvation comes at the end. We are converted and justified when we trust in Jesus. That means we are made acceptable to God, through Jesus. Salvation comes at the end, when Jesus returns. Notice also that we must endure to the end. If we turn away before then, we have nothing.
23 "But when they persecute you in this city, flee to another, for truly I say to you, you will not have finished all the cities of the house of Israel until the Son of Man come."
Jesus says, if they won't hear your message in one city move on to the next. This message is directed mainly to apostles but we disciples can apply it to individuals. If they persecute you, move on.
There is also a prophecy in this verse. Jesus will not return until all the cities where Jews live have heard the gospel message. Mark's gospel also has these words from Jesus.
"But take heed to yourselves, for they will deliver you to Judges and you will be scourged in their synagogues and you will stand before Kings and Governors for my sake as a testimony to them. 10 But first my gospel is going to be preached in all the nations." (Mark 13:9-10)
The prophecy of brother against brother includes not only early Christianity. The context of Mark's account of these words of Jesus makes it clear this will continue until the end.
Notice the reference to synagogues. In our time we would say church buildings, places where the church meets. So the message is that true Christians will also be persecuted in churches by people claiming to be Christians. For 1400 years the main source of this was the Catholic Church, but there were many other lesser cases.
24 "No disciple is greater than his master, neither a servant than his lord. 25 It is enough for a disciple to be like his master and for a servant to be like his lord. If they have called the lord of the house Beelzebub, how much more the children of his household?
Jesus is saying something that would have been obvious to the listener but is lost in our day. Most of the schools were religious schools. Job training was always on-the-job, what we call apprenticeship training. If you wanted to learn carpentry you would go to someone who was a master of carpentry. He might agree to take you on as an apprentice. Over time he would teach you everything he knew.
Obviously he couldn't teach you what he didn't know and that's the point here. The apprentice cannot become greater than the master. Jesus is saying they cannot become greater than him but it is enough if they can become like him over time.
Then Jesus continues by saying the world will treat them as badly as they treated him, or worse. His reference to Beelzubub is interesting. That is the name of a god of the Philistines and others. The correct name is Ba'al Zebub. There are lots of other Baal gods named in the Bible because Ba'al means Lord, of something. Zebub refers to things that zip back and forth, like flies, bees, and mosquitoes. But it could also refer to chaotic things.
So when Jesus says they called him Beelzebub it meant he was the Lord of flies, essentially nothing, or the Lord (author) of chaos, or both. Chaos fits in here well because of the chaos within families mentioned here.
26 "Therefore you shall not be afraid of them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden, that will not be known. 27 Whatever I tell you in the darkness, say it in the light, and whatever you hear with your ears, preach on the rooftops. 28 And you shall not be afraid of those who kill the body that are not able to kill the soul; rather be afraid of him who can destroy soul and body in Gehenna."
Jesus point is that he has told us what to expect so there is nothing to fear from them. He'll return this right away.
Then he says they are to tell others all the things he has told them in private. Remember there were some things he told them to prepare them to be apostles, parables he explained to them but not to the people, and some things he said they were not to reveal until he was gone.
Returning to the message of not being afraid, he says they can only kill your body. We might not take that as comfort but we should. Instead, he says, be afraid of the one who can destroy both. It's much easier to be afraid of the world than of God because the world is so real to our sense and so immediate in our lives. The message here is not to fall into that thinking.
Jesus also mentions Gehenna as the place where both body and soul could be destroyed. Gehenna (or Gehinnom in Hebrew), is a small valley outside Jerusalem where garbage was burned and also the bodies of the dead who could not afford to be entombed. But Jesus isn't saying your soul could be destroyed by burning in this valley.
This is an allusion to the Lake of Fire, named in Revelation, as the ultimate destination for the unbelievers. Jesus is saying the world may kill you and throw your body in Gehenna, but God is able to destroy your body in Gehenna and your soul in "Gehenna".
29 "Are not two sparrows sold for an Assarius [Roman copper coin, penny], and not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father? 30 But your hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 You shall not be afraid, therefore; you are better than many sparrows."
His point is that God sees everything and knows the smallest thing about you. He will take care of you even if they kill your body. This is such an important thing for Christians to understand. In becoming a Christian you sacrificed your life to him, giving him complete control. All you need to do is obey him however your life might end.
32 "Everyone, therefore, who will confess me before children of men, I shall confess him also before my Father who is in Heaven. 33 But whoever will deny me before the children of men, I shall deny him also before my Father who is in Heaven.
34 Think not that I have come to bring peace in the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I have come to divide a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 36 And a man's enemies will be the members of his household.
Once again Jesus expresses the idea that he has come to bring division to the earth, even dividing families by his message. This is how the gospel is spread.
37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And everyone who does not take his cross and come after me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it; whoever will find his life will lose it.
If you won't do what God says because you are afraid of what your father, mother, son, or daughter will say or do to you, then you love the world. The world will treat you badly, even to the point of taking your life. If you are unable to accept that, you will not have eternal life.