Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. 17 But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. 19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. 20 For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. 24 No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
Jesus begins with a harsh picture. He is sending His disciples out “like sheep in the midst of wolves.” He does not pretend the world will always welcome the Gospel. At the same time, He does not tell them to become wolves in return. Their posture is a surprising pairing: “shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Shrewdness here is practical wisdom. It is alertness to danger, an ability to see what is happening, and a refusal to be naïve. Simplicity is moral clarity. It is a clean conscience, a refusal to deceive, and a way of acting that remains transparent and peaceful even under pressure.
Jesus then names the kinds of pressures His disciples will face. Some opposition will come from “people,” including formal settings like courts and religious settings like synagogues. They will be brought before governors and kings. Matthew is showing that the witness of Jesus will cross boundaries: local and imperial, religious and civic, Jewish and Gentile. In Mark’s parallel teaching, Jesus speaks the same way about disciples being handed over and brought before authorities, “as a witness” (Mk. 13:9-13). The point is not that disciples go looking for trouble, but that faithfulness can place them in situations where the truth about Jesus must be spoken plainly.
That is why Jesus immediately addresses fear about speech. “Do not worry” does not mean words do not matter. It means their witness is not finally carried by their cleverness. In the moment of trial, “the Spirit of your Father” will speak through them. Luke preserves the same assurance: when believers are brought before synagogues and officials, “the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say” (Lk. 12:11-12). Matthew’s wording is especially intimate. The Spirit is not only called “holy.” He is “the Spirit of your Father.” Disciples speak as children whose Father does not abandon them.
Jesus then moves even closer to the heart. Persecution is not only external. It can cut through the most basic human bonds. Brother against brother. Father against child. Children against parents. In the first Christian communities, this was not theoretical. To confess Jesus as Lord could divide a household when some believed and others did not. Matthew’s language is severe because the reality can be severe. When Jesus says they will be “hated by all because of my name,” He is describing the moral shock that the Gospel can create in a world that does not want to hear it. John records the same logic in direct form: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first,” and “no slave is greater than his master” (Jn. 15:18, 20). Hatred is not presented as a virtue or a goal. It is presented as a cost that may come with fidelity to Jesus and His Gospel.
The line “whoever endures to the end will be saved” gathers all of this into a single sentence. “Endures” means more than stubbornness. It means persevering in trust and obedience when pressure is sustained and when the path is not quickly resolved. In Matthew’s wider context, “the end” can point to the Lord’s final coming, but it can also mean the end of one’s earthly life. Either way, the emphasis is steady fidelity, not panic and not collapse.
Jesus’ instruction about flight can sound surprising at first: “When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.” This is not cowardice. It is part of being “shrewd.” God sometimes protects His saving work through prudent flight. Joseph did not stay in Bethlehem to prove courage; he obeyed the warning and fled to Egypt to protect the child Jesus (Mt. 2:13-15). Jesus is not asking for reckless self-destruction. He is commanding a mission that continues. There are times when staying would simply silence the Gospel. Flight can be a way of keeping the witness alive, moving it forward, and refusing to let opponents set the terms.
Then comes one of the most difficult lines in this section: “You will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Matthew likely does not mean the final end-of-the-age coming here, even though the nascent Church lived with a strong sense of expectancy and spoke of the Lord’s return with real urgency (cf. 1 Thess. 4:15-17; Jas. 5:8). Instead, the phrase can point to a nearer “coming” of the Son of Man in vindication and judgment within history—God’s decisive action that confirms Jesus’ authority and exposes unbelief. Some understand this horizon in connection with the judgment that fell upon Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70, while others connect it to the resurrection as the first great stage of Christ’s victory. However it is heard, the line has the same practical force in the discourse: the mission is urgent, and the disciples should not imagine they have endless, comfortable time.
Jesus closes this passage by anchoring discipleship in likeness to Himself. “No disciple is above his teacher.” “It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher.” The goal is not simply to learn Jesus’ ideas. The goal is to share His path. If the master of the house is slandered as “Beelzebul” (a name used for the devil), His household should not be surprised when the same accusation and contempt are turned on them. Matthew is preparing the Church for a hard truth: following Jesus includes being misunderstood. It also includes being upheld by God in the very places where misunderstanding becomes public.
Lord Jesus, keep us wise and clear-hearted when we face resistance. Give us steady faith that endures, and teach us to trust the Spirit of our Father when we must speak. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011), including NABRE notes on Mt. 10:16-25.
- The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, commentary on Mt. 10:16-28 (p. 24).
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: St. Matthew, commentary on Mt. 10:16-42 (pp. 81-82).
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), commentary on Mt. 10:16-39 (p. 929).
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), commentary on Mt. 10:17-25 (p. 651, par. 69).
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