for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will
be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, so that you may witness to them
and the pagans. But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how
you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it will not
be you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father, speaking through you. Brother will hand over
his brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against their parents and have
them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me, but whoever stands firm to the end
will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, you
will not have passed through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Reflect
“Use our God-given intelligence.” In our faith journey, there are times when our good intentions
are not carried out because we lack the necessary skills to do so. There are times when we
have the best of ideas and the purest of intentions and yet we fail because we do not strategize.
Intelligence is a gift from God. It must be used not for one’s selfish interest but for the
good of others and for making our world a better place to live in. This is part of our mission
as Jesus’ followers. Matthew’s Gospel is designed according to five discourses. The teachings
found in the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Mt. 5–7) constitute the first discourse. The second
discourse, found in Matthew 10, is the so-called missionary discourse. In this second
discourse, Jesus’ missionary instructions are found. Today’s Gospel is situated within the
second discourse. We are challenged to continue our faith journey while strengthening our
missionary spirit. In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructed his disciples to be as clever as
serpents and as innocent as doves because they are sent like sheep among wolves. There
always will be serious difficulties. We have to use our God-given intelligence to face such
difficulties while we participate in God’s mission.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2024
