Today's Gospel

You Will Be Hated For This

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. The gospel is full of promises. Some of them we're attracted to, some of them we are not. Today, we come up against some of the promises that we're probably not that attracted to. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew 10:16-23. "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you up, do not be anxious, how you are to speak, or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you. Brother will deliver up brother to death, and father his child, and children will rise up against their parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

What jumps out at you today? Which of these promises are you interested in? Probably none. Probably don't want to be flogged. Probably don't want to be brought before councils and questioned. Probably don't want to be brought before kings and questioned. Probably don't want to be delivered up from your brother or by your father or by your mother or by your children or put to death or hated. "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." It's interesting. It's easy to just take the first bit of that one and leave the second bit of that one. I'm sure there's been some people in my life who hated me, but it wasn't for Jesus' name's sake, right? It was just because of my weak and stupid humanity, right? And what Jesus is talking about is very different to that. Saying, "You will be hated for my name's sake." And what I really find interesting today has never struck me before, but Jesus says, "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. For truly I say to you, you will have not gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes." That's a question about the Second Coming, right? What does it mean? Did nobody get through all the towns of Israel?

Again, we're not fundamentalists, right? So you're not going to be delivered up to be flogged in synagogues. The flogging could be metaphorical. You're probably not going to be delivered up before governors and kings, but you're going to be delivered up before people who have power and authority. You're going to be put in situations with people who have power and authority. It could be the tiniest piece of authority. It could be the tiniest piece of power. We see that all the time, right? We see people with the tiniest bit of power and just abusing it, just using it to torment people. And so we're not fundamentalists. We don't read the script in that way. Not going to be flogged in synagogues, but the flogging might not be physical. It could be emotional. It could be spiritual. It could be intellectual. The questioning, it might not come from other people. It might come from your heart. It might not come from a king. It might come from your best friend. And as for making our way through the towns of Israel, probably the great challenge is for us to make our way through our own town. And to continue to share the gospel in a bold and dynamic way in our own town before the Son of Man comes.

So God, Jesus, is constantly making promises through the scriptures. Some of them we're very attracted to. Ask and you will receive. It's a very attractive promise, right? You will be brought before councils and flogged in your synagogues. Not so attractive. We can't take one without the other. The life of a disciple is not the path to pleasure and happiness. The life of a disciple is a life of sacrifice, but it is a life of glory. And it is the best way to live, in the way we're all being called to live. Have a great day. And remember, don't just be yourself. Be the-very-best-version-of-yourself, all that God created you to be.