Matthew 10:16-25
The King sends His servants as sheep among wolves, promising Spirit-given witness and calling them to endure like their Master.
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will scourge you.
18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
19 But when they deliver you up, don’t be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.
20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21 “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man has come.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord.
25 It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
The King sends his servants as sheep among wolves, promising Spirit-given witness and calling them to endure like their Master.
Matthew records Jesus warning the Twelve that kingdom mission will bring hostility, betrayal, legal opposition, Spirit-enabled witness, hatred, and the need for enduring, wise, and innocent discipleship.
Jesus is instructing the Twelve before sending them in the mission discourse.
The Mission of the Twelve, Costly Witness, and Allegiance to Christ
Jesus sends authorized workers into the harvest with kingdom authority, warning them that faithful witness will require dependence, discernment, courage, endurance, and supreme allegiance to him.