Sheep Among Wolves – 1-19-25

The oldest written account outside of Scripture that we have of a Christian martyrdom is called “The Martyrdom of Polycarp.”

Polycarp was born in 69 A.D., was discipled by the Apostle John, became the Bishop of Smyrna, and around 110 he wrote a letter to the Christians at Philippi.

In section 8, there is a beautiful paragraph. And it illustrates both his view of suffering as well as it illustrates how teeming with Scripture these apostolic fathers’ writings are that already very early Christian leaders viewed the apostles’ writings as sacred Scripture, and they quoted them freely. Let me give you an example. This is Section 8 in the letter to the Philippians.

“Let us, therefore, hold steadfastly and unceasingly to our hope and the guarantee of our righteousness, which is Christ Jesus, ‘who bore our sins in his own body upon the tree,’ ‘who committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;’”

Here Polycarp is quoting first Peter 2:22.

“Instead, for our sakes he endured all things, in order that we might live in him. Let us, therefore, become imitators of his patient endurance, and if we should suffer for the sake of his name, let us glorify him. For this is the example he set for us in his own person, and this is what we have believed.”

About 40 years later, Polycarp would have his final opportunity to actually live out his own words. He was 86. He had been warned that the authorities, Roman authorities, were hunting him. He had evaded them a couple of times, but then eventually he just stopped moving. When he was arrested, the Proconsul tried to convince him to “have respect for your age.”

“Swear the oath, and I will release you; revile Christ.”

Polycarp replied,

“For 86 years I have been his servant, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?”

When Polycarp said this, the Proconsul sent a herald into the stadium to announce three times, “Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.” And the crowd began roaring in anger. They demanded that he be burned alive and then stabbed with the dagger. This is part of his final prayer recorded in “The Martyrdom of Polycarp:”

“Oh Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you…. I bless you because you have considered me worthy of this day…. You who are the undeceiving and true God. For this reason, indeed for all things, I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom to you with him and the Holy Spirit be glory both now and for the ages to come. Amen.”

Shockingly, Polycarp’s prayer, Trinitarian prayer and praise, is not that unusual. Many Christian martyrs died glorifying Christ that they got to follow him in suffering and death.

So where does that come from? If we go back to Jesus’s first commission in Matthew 10, where he begins training his disciples and sending them out on mission, we will begin to understand where this came from. To say it plainly,

To follow Jesus is to face danger.

To follow Jesus is to face danger, risk, uncertainty, malignment, maybe even martyrdom. We might be able to follow a political version of Jesus and evade danger. We might be able to follow a therapeutic or ecclesiastical version of Jesus, but following the true Jesus will lead toward, at times, uncertainty, hostility, maybe even death. Why? Well, look where we pick up in chapter 10:16 from last week.

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.”

Wow. Now, I’ve never been a literal sheep, but I can only imagine that being a sheep surrounded by hungry wolves, teeth baring, growling, howling wolves does not sound safe. So what kind of dangers is Jesus alluding to? Well, there are a number in this paragraph.

1. Legal danger –

verse 17, “for they will deliver you over to courts”

That is, local, judicial “councils”

2. Physical danger –

“and flog you in their synagogues” verse 17b.

Flogging was a whipping, lashing, common Jewish punishment.

3. Political danger –

” you will be dragged before governors and kings,” verse 18.

Here the scope of risk is ramped up from local Jewish councils to more national governors, kings, Gentiles.

4. Relational danger –

Verse 21, “brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.”

So at times, Jesus is saying the conflict won’t just be out there somewhere, but could actually come into our most intimate relationships – sibling, parent, child relationships – people turning on a brother or sister who has trusted Christ.

5. Personal danger –

“and you will be hated by all,” verse 22.

The “all” doesn’t mean every single person. Otherwise, you couldn’t have any Christians, but all kinds of people without distinction. And even people who normally hate each other will unite together in opposition to Christ followers. Authorities, government authorities, will unite with religious authorities, often in order to oppose followers of Jesus. The climax is in verse 25.

“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, [Prince Baal, which is Hebrew slang for Satan, as well as a false idol, but] how much more will they malign those of his household.”

So to follow Jesus is to face danger, misunderstanding, malignment. So how do we respond? Is it a time for panic? Or taking on a victim mindset? Or should we seek suffering? No. No. No. Look at Jesus’s response. He says,

“I’m sending you as sheep in the midst of wolves.”

In light of that, don’t panic, don’t seek suffering, but verse 16,

“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

What does that mean? Wise as serpents = prudent, shrewd, cunning, sensible, use your brain.

Now this kind of cunning can turn cagey, or duplicitous, so Jesus quickly adds “and innocent as doves.” Pure, unmixed, blameless, simple. Be sensible and simple. Sensible and simple.

Jesus is teaching us how to engage with a culture that at times might be hostile. And he is saying that our relationship with our culture will include a snake-like sanity — we are street smart, sensible, not naive, not foolish — and a dove-like simplicity — we’re homespun. Simple, but not simple in the sense of dumb, but wholesome, pure.

Now, still feels a bit theoretical. So what Jesus does in this paragraph we’re looking at today, is he brings that down. And I want to walk through three examples where Jesus is illustrating the tension between snake-like and dove-like. And that will help us understand how to respond, how to engage with a culture that at times might applaud and at other times might oppose, even violently. Three examples from this paragraph.

1. We are cautious but not anxious.

We are cautious but not anxious. So we are snake-like in being cautious. Look at verse 17,

“beware of men.”

Beware means to pay attention, give heed, be cautious. Christians should understand a bit of situational awareness. We should pick up on social cues. We don’t just stumble through life accidentally. There is an intentionality here that Jesus is calling us to. Snake-like, cautious. Also dove-like, not anxious. Cautious, not anxious. Where do you see that? Verse 19,

“When they deliver you over, do not be anxious”

And we talked about this verb anxious (merimnao) a lot last summer when we were in Matthew 6. It means to worry, but it also carries this idea of being distracted at the root. It has this idea of pulled in multiple directions, and it is the opposite of simple, of dove-like simplicity.

We’re not anxious like Martha, when Jesus said in Luke 10:41,

“Martha, Martha, [you are merimnao] you are anxious, [you’re being pulled in multiple directions], you’re troubled about many things.”

Jesus is saying, be dove-like in simplicity, undivided, cautious. Not anxious.

Let’s look at another example. Again, we’re trying to understand this tension between snake-like, dove-like and how we engage the culture. Here’s another one.

2. Strategic but not triumphalistic.

I know. I tried to find a smaller word. Don’t tune me out. I couldn’t find one. Closest I could find may be euphoric. Still doesn’t help, right? So let’s look into these.

First of all, what does it mean, what do we mean, snake-like strategic?

Verse 18, “you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness”

I love that. So Jesus is saying right at the moment you feel most helpless, life feels most random, you had plans and now you’re being dragged before governors and kings, be strategic. Bear witness. You are there for a reason. Paul illustrates this beautifully in Philippians 1:12-14.

“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

That’s snake-like strategic. Do you see it? The greatest evangelist on the planet is being taken to Rome and imprisoned. And you might conclude the wheels are coming off. And Paul concludes, I’m here for a reason. And nobody in the imperial guard is not going to know why. They’re going to know why I’m here. They’re going to know who Jesus is. That is strategic.

And I think you can do the same thing if you put that verse back up there and look at where he says,

“to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

You can replace what you’re going through right now. Replace the word imprisonment to all the rest. That my injury is for Christ, my job loss for Christ, my cancer for Christ, difficult marriage season for Christ, a lonely period of singleness for Christ. That’s snake-like.

Interview a snake. They’re up to something. You can see it in their eyes. Snake-like strategic while simultaneously dove-like, not triumphalistic. What do we mean by that?

Triumphalism, as I’m using it here, is when Christians become enamored with coercive power and short-term success.

And what happens when we become enamored with that, we begin to lose sight of the upside-down, inside-out power of gospel transformation, and we look for short-term, immediate success at any cost. And Jesus is saying, if you follow me, you will have periods of time where you will think everything is failing. Where do you see that? It’s through this whole paragraph. Look at some examples.

Verse 17, “They will deliver you over”

Verse 19, “They will deliver you over”

Verse 23, “When they persecute you”

Do you see what Jesus is doing to the expectations of his followers? Bringing them down. It’s going to get way worse before it gets better. You’re not home yet. I’m going to go to a cross and die and you’re going to follow this pattern in your ministry. Don’t be triumphalistic in your expectations.

I remember when this first occurred to me as a new Christian, as one who had opposed and wanted nothing to do with the gospel, didn’t grow up Christian, in a Christian family, and then hearing the gospel and being transformed, I began to share Christ with everyone, obnoxiously.

I went through my whole neighborhood and I remember coming to very affluent, highly-educated homes — hello — and a young teenager, and sharing Christ and assuming this was really good news for me, so it’s going to be good news for them, right? No. Doors slammed, mocking, “Kid, come back after college and you won’t believe any of this.”

See in America, generally, persecution doesn’t take on the drag to jail, but the demeaning — if you have half a brain, you’ll walk away.

And it’s such a healthy thing what Jesus is doing for his disciples. Can we follow Jesus with expectations that have been shaped by Jesus, not on our own? That doesn’t mean we’re pessimistic. We’re strategic. Just like Paul, we’re looking for every opportunity to bear witness, but we’re not triumphalistic in the sense that we think it’s all going to work out immediately, now. No. We may be called to go through difficult times and when the king and his kingdom comes near, there are many who will welcome it and there are many who will reject it, and some even violently. Be strategic, not triumphalistic.

Number 3  — again, we’re looking for clues as to this tension between snake-like, dove-like. One more example.

3. We are active but not alone.

We’re not autonomous. So what do we mean active? Snake-like active? Look at verse 23.

“When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next,”

Isn’t that interesting? There are times where you will suffer and there are times where you will call an Uber, and you’re out of town, and you’re moving on. Jesus is saying, we’re active, we’re assertive, we’re not fatalistic or passive.

“For truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

Now, some skeptics say this means Jesus and his followers were clueless about the timing of the coming, thinking it was all going to be immediate. But that’s hard to take in when you continue reading through Matthew and you come to a passage like Matthew 24:14, where we will see, one day, that Jesus says that the gospel will be preached to all the nations before the end.

So Jesus is clearly talking about two different events. 24:14 is talking about his second coming. Here he’s talking about a local coming in judgment, A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was judged. And Jesus here is saying, you don’t have to worry about running out of towns before Israel is judged, before I come in judgment. If they reject you in one town, flee to the next. Be active. Keep bearing witness. And don’t, there’s so much tension here, don’t assume you’re going to be a martyr.

The apostolic fathers like Polycarp, the apostolic fathers were the church leaders who knew the apostles, came right after the apostles. And some of them addressed a problem in the church that was growing, where there were Christians who would read passages like this and assume it’s best to be a martyr and actually offer themselves up as a martyr.

And they condemned that. There’s a time to suffer, but there’s a time to flee, to move on. Active, snake-like active. But then dove-like. Not alone. We’re not autonomous. Where do we see that? Look at verse 16,

“I am sending you”

I’m sending you with my authority, as we learned last week, and with my presence.

Verse 18, when you’re dragged before governors and kings, you’re not doing this for yourselves. It’s

“for my sake.”

Verse 22, and you’re hated by all

“for my name’s sake”

Verse 20, when you stand before governors and kings,

“the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.”

We’re not in this alone. The idea of being sent as sheep in the midst of wolves can feel like we’re just out there running around trying to survive with no hope.

And Jesus makes it clear, no, I’m the Good Shepherd. I’m sending you. Sustaining you. I’m with you. I will empower you. I will give you everything you need to speak. I give you my authority. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. We are active but not alone.

So I’m sending you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Simultaneously be snake-like and dove-like.

What are our takeaways? What are the implications of what we’ve just learned? There are many. Some of them we’re going to cover over the next few weeks. Let me limit it to two for today.

1. Our relationship with culture is multifaceted.

It’s multidimensional. We’re called to be ambidextrous. We cannot be faithful to Christ if we have a singular relationship with culture. Either snake-like or dove-like.

Why? To answer that question, I want to step back a bit and talk for a moment about a Christian’s relationship with culture. I think we did this a few years ago. I think we need to come back to this regularly. A Christian’s relationship with culture. Generally, you can boil it down, there are more, but to three options.

Option #1 – Fight

We are to engage culture combatively. The goal is domination. It has kind of a military or political feel. Churches that put the accent on this have worship services that at times feel like a political rally. That’s option one.

Option #2 – Flight

Flight. Engage culture protectively, passively. The goal is separation. Has a bit of a monastery feel. The emphasis is on holiness and integrity. Some fundamental churches can put the accent on this. Have that feel, if it’s old and if it’s odd, it’s good. Option two.

Option #3 – Fit in

Engage culture warmly. The goal is accommodation. Has a family kind of mutuality. We’re all in this, saved and unsaved, we’re all in this together.

Many contemporary churches put the accent on this one. Not if it’s old and odd, it’s good, but if it’s new and cool, it’s good. Option number three.

Question – which is biblical?

Most of you feel set up because you are. I would say all three. All three depending on how and when, the issue and the time, biblically.

To illustrate that, think of the way Jesus lived. When he cleansed the temple, which option was he most like? Option one. He engaged the culture combatively. It felt very much like this needs to change right now. Right now. This is wrong.

When he went on an extended period of prayer, retreating to the desert, which option is he reflecting? Option 2, engage in culture passively. Or protectively. And he did that often. I need to be alone with my Father.

When he ate with sinners, which option? Yeah, #3. We’re going to see next chapter some of the religious leaders would make fun of him as a friend of tax collectors and sinners. You option #3 guy. Just like those contemporary churches.

But the point is that if we say, my life is just going to be one of these at all times, we cannot follow Jesus faithfully. There are times when we engage very warmly. Build relationships. There are times when we come apart and say, I can’t do that. I can’t be a part of that. It’s wrong. There are times where we confront injustice and evil quite combatively. So how do we know what to do when?

“Be wise as snakes, innocent as doves.”

Jesus is laying out very clearly that I’m calling you to engage with our culture in a multi-faceted way. You won’t be able to be faithful by simply doing one thing. It’s going to take wisdom.

At about the same time when Polycarp was martyred, a Christian wrote a letter called the “Epistle of Diognetus,” and he was explaining how the church engages with culture. So this is fascinating to me that this document is almost 2000 years old, and is so relevant for us today. Let me give you a bit of it. Here it is.

“For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or custom…. But while they live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one’s lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life, at the same time”

Don’t miss that. That’s what I mean by multi-faceted, multi-dimensional, ambidextrous relationship with culture.

“At the same time, they demonstrate the remarkable and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship.”

And then he gives some examples.

“They live in their own countries, but only as aliens; they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners…. They marry like everyone else, and have children, but they do not expose their offspring.”

What does that mean? They’re against abortion and infanticide. So they’re just like everyone else, but there are times when they’re very different. Here’s another one. This is my favorite.

“They share their food, but not their wives.”

Do you feel the tension there? They’re ridiculously generous, but they have a super narrow definition of marriage. They don’t sleep around, and they don’t have multiple wives, and they understand how God designed marriage and family. Not perfect. But do you feel the tension there? They’re ready to share everything. They’ll give you the clothes off their backs. They’re generous. But they’re also committed to holiness.

“They are ‘in the flesh’ but they do not live ‘according to the flesh.’ They live on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven…. They love everyone, and by everyone they are persecuted…. They are cursed, yet they bless; they are insulted, yet they offer respect. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when they are punished, they rejoice as though brought to life.”

That’s the early church on how to engage the culture.

1. Our relationship with culture is multi-faceted.

Wise as serpents,  innocent as doves.

2. Our relationship with culture is dangerous.

In the book “Iran’s Great Awakening,” Dr. Hormaz Shariat describes his own conversion to Christ from Islam and the wave of Muslims who are coming to faith in Jesus in Iran through his and other’s television and radio ministries.

And in that book, he tells a story of a young woman in her 20s who emigrated from Iran to the United States and was helping him field phone calls from Iranians seeking Jesus. But he noticed at one point she did not seem happy, so he asked her why she does not seem happy. And she explained,

“I am thankful that I am here. Life is easier here. There are good Christians around me and the church is good. But there is something different here.”

Dr. Shariat asks, What is different?

She said, “It looks like there is a spirit of lethargy and drowsiness among American Christians. It is as if Satan himself is singing lullabies to them, trying to put them to sleep. Most Christians seem to be half asleep spiritually. They are sleepwalking through life. I know if I stay here long enough, I will become like that. And I don’t want that.”

A couple months later, this young woman came in to Dr. Shariat’s office and announced,

“I have decided to go back to Iran and serve the underground church. I know it is dangerous, and I may get arrested. I know life will be hard, but I prefer to be there and have a sweet and intimate relationship with Jesus than being comfortable and secure here: struggling to stay alert and not fall asleep spiritually.”

The young woman returned to Iran and currently serves the underground church facing the kinds of dangers Jesus is describing in Matthew 10 every day.

So what do you think of that? Is she crazy? Are we crazy? Somebody’s crazy. Or maybe we can learn something from her.

Obviously God is not calling every Christian in the world to move to Iran. But she said something that’s really interesting. She’s saying, I know it’s dangerous there, but there’s something better, more valuable, even the opposite. There’s something more dangerous than the danger there. What might that be?

What she’s talking about is the fact that Jesus warned us of multiple kinds of danger. Matthew 10, he’s listing courts and arrests and even death, persecution.

But in other places like Mark 4, he lists a different kind of danger, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the lusts of other things that enter in and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.

What this Iranian young woman is saying is, I’m weighing these two dangers. I’ll take that danger over this danger. Now, obviously not all Christians again can move to Iran, but all Christians can learn from her and see whether God calls us into a season of prosperity or a season of adversity, there are dangers in both.

We are called to be cautious, not anxious. Don’t worry about it, but keep your head on.

Be strategic, not triumphalistic. Be active, but don’t pretend you’re in this alone.

Be snake-like with wisdom and dove-like, with purity, simplicity, in whatever context.

That’s why Paul could say, I’ve learned to both be abased, I’ve been in jail, and to abound, I’ve stayed in a palace. I can do either one because I’m locked in on Jesus. Focused on him seeing the danger and the danger. Not being anxious, but being alert. And the key again is verse 25,

“It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher.”

Most of Jesus’s life was quite comfortable. Most of his ministry was not. Again, God will call us in to seasons of comfort and seasons of suffering. But it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher. Let’s pray.

Father, we can learn from this young woman that if I allow my relationship with you to shrivel up, that is way more dangerous than going to jail. That if I compromise my convictions at work, it is way more dangerous than losing my job. If I grow too ashamed to share my faith, that’s way more dangerous than being misunderstood or maligned.

Thank you, Jesus, for being so clear about the challenges we may face and making it evident that there’s no way we can prepare specifically for every possible scenario.

You are calling us to yourself, to be with you. To become like you. Cautious but not anxious. Strategic but not triumphalistic. Active but not alone.

Thank you that you are the one sending us this week into whatever you have for us to be in. You will never leave us. You will never forsake us, but you will faithfully and patiently and by your death, burial, and resurrection transform us into your likeness. That’s what we want, Jesus. We thank you. In Jesus’s name, amen.