“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.” Mt 10:16.
The discipleship command given to the Apostles and to us as His disciples, seems difficult to understand. Has anyone ever met sheep that are as shrewd as serpents?
We have an idiom that describes a person who is lying or speaking in a false manner, illustrated as “speaking with a forked tongue.” The origin of this idiom has its source in a serpent’s Y-shaped tongue. Yet we are not called to mislead but to be shrewd and also simple. So what does this all mean?
Context of the command
We note several realities in the Gospel passage: Some will be persecuted for sharing the Gospel by men, by government authorities and even by family members and others. Some of us will be handed over to death.
All this would generally appear a rather remote possibility, were it not for the biblical accounts immediately following in the Acts of the Apostles. St Luke documents that Jesus’ closest disciples suffered persecution, scourging and even martyrdom.
Again it would continue to strike us modernly as unlikely, but for the fact that statistics suggest that more Christians were martyred in the 20th Century, than the number martyred in all previous 19 centuries added together. The Gospel of love has been perennially met with hate by those who wish to be their own god.
Martyrdom speaks most clearly when a martyr remains silent, trusting God’s wisdom especially when nonbelievers plead desperately for their lives. We know that we are not abandoned in opting to share the Gospel, for Jesus promises the verbal aid of the Holy Spirit. Thus as disciples we can be strong in the Lord, putting on the armor of God to standup against the schemes of the devil and powers of our dark world. (cf. Eph 6:10-13).
Serpents and doves
We are called to navigate in the world with a wisdom grounded in faith and a simplicity rooted in Christ’s teachings. As disciples, we are called not to wield power or authority as the world does, but to embody the exemplary innocence and sincerity of Christ’s love. It is in this blend of wisdom and innocence that our witness as Christians becomes most compelling and transformative for ourselves and to others.
The shrewdness of a snake then, is simply the wisdom and courage not to protect oneself from the world, but to stand for the true Gospel when the world is seeking to pervert it under a mantel that confuses a false tolerance for sin with love of neighbor.
This passage prepares us for the reality of rejection in the world’s marketplace of ideas, but with the accompanying assurance that our steadfast perseverance in the truth of the Gospel will save us.
Are we prepared to stand firm in our faith, even when it means encountering hostility or ridicule?
Can we trust in God’s providence and protection, believing that our resoluteness will lead to everlasting communion with God?
Grace provides the necessary wisdom and courage to answer in the affirmative and the self-control required to live as doves, precisely when the enemy tests our resolve. What we add to this equation is an act of the will that is oriented to the obedience of faith. (Rom 1:5).
In this regard, the Holy Spirit was sent to help us, and so we pray “May the Divine Assistance remain always with us. Amen.”
[Readings for Friday Week 14: Hosea 14:2-10; Psalm 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 AND 17; Matthew 10:16-23]
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