Matthew 10:17-42…
Imagine what these disciples must have been thinking and feeling. There was certainly an air of anticipation, but there surely was also an air of apprehension. They were now going to be “out front” as it were, “without” Jesus in the way they were used to. How often it is that we fear leaving the comfortable confines of church and community, and striking out into the situations of other lives on behalf of Jesus.
This is especially so when we are reminded that many will not receive our message. Some will be excited, but some will be enraged (2 Thessalonians 3:2). Even some people who seem close to us might “throw us under the bus”. People will rise up against you because they are victims of the Enemy (2 Timothy 2:26), and the enemy wishes to cause them to rise against Jesus, who is the victor over you (2 Corinthians 5:14-19). Still, the Lord is with us (2 Thessalonians 3:3).
He tells them to prepare for the worst. Yet even when it seems like all is despair, there are still moments of deliverance (2 Corinthians 1:8-10). Even when faced with death, there is still final deliverance; and our final answer (1 Peter 3:15) will be made right (Daniel 3:16-18 / 2 Timothy 4:18). This is all part of being conformed to the image of our Master (Philippians 3:10).
Jesus has got us covered. His eye is on the sparrow, He knows our every move, our gains and losses. He is most intimately involved with those who are His. And we are the most precious thing to Him. Jesus came to deliver us from the fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), and our whole Christian lives are journeys where we are being delivered from fear and into faith. Jesus comforted them and He comforts us with these same truths (Hebrews 13:5-6).
There will be reward for those who lose their former lives for the sake of Jesus, and those who hear Him will be granted the ability to speak for Him, and to hear Him all the more. It is a glorious thing to know, that we would be able to declare the eternal truth about our eternal God and to be a member of the eternal family in our coming eternal home. This is the antidote to the terror of the temporary.
I tell you the truth.
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