Anchor My Faith

Wolves Inflict Pain Need Gospel

Scripture: Matthew 10:17-20; Luke 12:11-12

In the previous lesson we learned of our value before God and saw the seriousness of denying Jesus. In this lesson we will learn that being a disciple of Jesus invites persecution.

^{Mt 10:17} “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts ^{Lk 12:11} bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, ^{Mt 12:17} and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.”

In verse 16, Jesus said, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” These wolves are people who have a hate for Jesus and thus for anyone who is a disciple of his. These people are on the lookout for followers of Jesus Christ, like Paul was, and when they find them, in the early days of the church, they would be brought into various places described here as the courts, usually with false charges; before synagogues, usually to be punished with flogging; before rulers and authorities and before governors and kings who can determine their punishment.

Jesus said I am sending you to them, so understand their tactics to avoid them for as long as possible while you continue to share the gospel among them, but when caught don’t deny me but “bear witness before them and the Gentiles.” I know of some who cry when being released from being imprisoned for their faith because they have to then leave the small group of believers they have been ministering to while in prison. This kind of ministry was seen in the recently released film “Tortured for Christ.”

Jesus was sent by his Father into a cruel sinful depraved world to share the gospel and like the prophets before him, he was persecuted and finally nailed to a cross where he died in our place and purchased our salvation. Jesus tells us to pick up our cross and follow him amongst the wolves and possibly with the sheading of our blood the church will be enlarged. We are sent to these wolves to witness before them because some of them are actually lost sheep waiting to be found and it is our job to find them.

^{Lk 12:11} “[They will] bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, ^{Mt 10:19} [and] deliver you over. ^{Lk 12:11} Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. ^{Mt 10:20} For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

When we are brought before those who can inflict harm and imprison us or even issue a death sentence, we are “not to be anxious about how [we] should defend yourself or what [we] should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach [us] in that very hour what [we] ought to say.” Jesus says not to be anxious when that time comes, but how is that possible? Paul explains how in Philippians 4:6 – 7 ESV: ⁶ “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus is not saying that we should not prepare for that time of witness. To be an effective witness we need practice in what to say and then when we stand before them the Holy Spirit will override our fear and bring to mind those words we have practiced in proper form for the occasion. There are times when it is proper to remain silent, as Jesus did, and we need to learn what those times are. As we stand before them, we must remember that we were sent there by Jesus to allow the Spirit of our Father to speak through us to them. We are his voice before them as together we search for lost sheep.

Conclusion

I don’t think the western church gives must attention to being sent out amongst wolves to find lost sheep. Most believers in the western church fail to search for lost sheep among those they rub shoulders with so why would it be expected that they would be willing to take risk of being hurt and go out amongst wolves? How much pain can your faith endure before you will turn from following Jesus to the cross?