Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 9th July
Message from Fr Paul for Friday, 9th July 2021
Yesterday we continued reading the instructions given by Jesus to the Twelve Apostles, as they set out on their very first mission in his name. Today we continue reading those instructions as found in Matthew, (Mt 10: 16-23). Just before we read them, a few words about the arrangement of Matthew’s Gospel. You will have noticed that between the Infancy Narratives and the Passion Narrative, there are alternating blocks of teaching and miracles. One of those teaching blocks is the Sermon on the Mount, another being these instructions given to his Apostles. It’s quite possible that Matthew has joined together teaching from different moments in Jesus’ ministry and made a systematic whole of them. Secondly, it must be said that often the teaching in Matthew reflects that period in the life of the early Church following on immediately from the death and resurrection of Jesus. In other words the first Christians were already adapting the teaching of Jesus to new situations. The words are definitely those of Jesus, but they are made to respond to a new context. I find this very exciting. What do you make of it?
The discourse to the Apostles continues like this: “Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves. Beware of men: they will hand you over to Sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” Jesus begins with two short proverbs, well-known to us. Going out on mission like sheep among wolves, they will need to be cunning as serpents, yet harmless as doves. This is no small ask on the part of Jesus. What does he mean when he describes as wolves those among whom they are to preach the Gospel? What follows is a description of the behaviour of both Jews and Romans that we can read about in the Acts of the Apostles and in the letters of Paul. It is also prophetic of the experience of Christians in the early Church right up to the present day. Persecution was to be the bread and butter of the faithful disciples and apostles of Jesus.
However, strong in faith, they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, who showed them how to preach and how to overcome fear. In fact, we find another proverb here, “The man who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Perseverance is the key not only to a successful mission, but also to the gift of salvation. Jesus ends his words by assuring them of the Second Coming that the early Christians believed to be imminent. At times it’s difficult to know what to make of these unfulfilled prophecies of Jesus. One thing is sure; we are still waiting, but are our eyes focussed today on the Second Coming? That’s a question we need to ask ourselves.
