From: Matthew 10:16-23

Jesus’ Instructions to the Apostles

(Jesus said to His disciples,) [16] “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst
of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. [17] Beware of men; for
they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, [18] and you
will be dragged before governors and kings for My sake, to bear testimony before
them and the Gentiles. [19] 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; [20] for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking
through you. [21] Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child,
and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; [22] and you will
be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
[23] 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.”

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Commentary:

16-23. The instructions and warnings Jesus gives here apply right through the
history of the Church. It is difficult for the world to understand the way of God.
Sometimes there will be persecutions, sometimes indifference to the Gospel or
failure to understand. Genuine commitment to Jesus always involves effort —
which is not surprising, because Jesus Himself was a sign of contradiction; in-
deed, if that were not the experience of a Christian, he would have to ask him-
self whether he was not in fact a worldly person. There are certain worldly things
a Christian cannot compromise about, no matter how much they are in fashion.
Therefore, Christian life inevitably involves nonconformity with anything that goes
against faith and morals (cf. Romans 12:2). It is not surprising that a Christian’s
life often involves choosing between heroism and treachery. Difficulties of this
sort should not make us afraid: we are not alone, we can count on the powerful
help of our Father God to give us strength and daring.

20. Here Jesus teaches the completely supernatural character of the witness
He asks His disciples to bear. The documented accounts of a host of Christian
martyrs prove that He has kept this promise: they bear eloquent witness to the
serenity and wisdom of often uneducated people, some of them scarcely more
than children.

The teaching contained in this verse provides the basis for the fortitude and con-
fidence a Christian should have whenever he has to profess his faith in difficult
situations. He will not be alone, for the Holy Spirit will give him words of divine
wisdom.

23. In interpreting this text, the first thing is to reject the view of certain rationa-
lists who argue that Jesus was convinced that soon He would come in glory and
the world would come to an end. That interpretation is clearly at odds with many
passages of the Gospel and the New Testament. Clearly, Jesus refers to Him-
self when He speaks of the “Son of Man”, whose glory will be manifested in this
way. The most cogent interpretation is that Jesus is referring here, primarily, to
the historical event of the first Jewish war against Rome, which ended with the
destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in the year 70, and which led to the
scattering of the Jewish people. But this event, which would occur a few years
after Jesus’ death, is an image or a prophetic symbol of the end of the world (cf.
note on Matthew 24:1).

The coming of Christ in glory will happen at a time which God has not revealed.
Uncertainty about the end of the world helps Christians and the Church to be
ever-vigilant.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading
Genesis 46:1-7,28-30 ©

Israel left Canaan with his possessions, and reached Beersheba. There he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in a vision at night, ‘Jacob, Jacob’, he said. ‘I am here’, he replied. ‘I am God, the God of your father’, he continued. ‘Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. I myself will go down to Egypt with you. I myself will bring you back again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.’ Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons conveyed their father Jacob, their little children and their wives in the waggons Pharaoh had sent to fetch him.

Taking their livestock and all that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, they went to Egypt, Jacob and all his family with him: his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his grand-daughters, in a word, all his children he took with him to Egypt.

Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph, so that the latter might present himself to him in Goshen. When they arrived in the land of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. As soon as he appeared he threw his arms round his neck and for a long time wept on his shoulder. Israel said to Joseph, ‘Now I can die, now that I have seen you again, and seen you still alive.’

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 36(37):3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40 ©