Verse 16

Jesus illustrated the situation he was sending them into. What was the illustration?

• He spoke of them as sheep in the middle of wolves.
• He saw them as defenseless.
• Acts 20.29

What did Jesus imply when he said “I am sending you…”?

• In the Greek, he used the verb form of “apostolos” ( apostle)
• Later these same men would be his apostles, the ones sent forth.

What did Jesus tell them to do in order to survive?

• Be wise as a serpent & be innocent as a dove
  • Wise in how to deal with situations.
  • Innocent as to anything evil, wrong, sinful, destructive.
• Romans 16:18-19  For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.  (19)  For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
• Philippians 2:15  that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
• 1 Corinthians 14:20  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
• Ephesians 5:15-16  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,  (16)  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Verse 17

What were the disciples warned about?

• Men

Why?

• What they will do to you.
  • Courts
    • Local courts in every Jewish town
    • This group went after Jesus
      • John 11:47  So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs.
      • Matthew 26:59  Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death,
    • Flog in synagogue
      • Synagogues arose during the Babylonian exile.
        • Robertson: “Here not merely as the place of assembly for worship, but as an assembly of justice exercising discipline as when the man born blind was cast out of the synagogue”
      • Less than 40 strips (Deut 25.2-3)
        • Acts 26:11  And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
        • Acts 22:19  And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.
      • Governors
        • Provincial rulers
        • Felix
        • Festus
        • Paul was before Governors
          • Acts 23:33-34  When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him.  (34)  On reading the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he learned that he was from Cilicia,
        • Kings
          • Paul appeared before Kings and Caesar
          • Herod: Acts 25:13  Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus.
          • Caesar (Nero): 2 Timothy 4:16-17  At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!  (17)  But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.

What would be the outcome when they were placed in this difficult situation?

• You will “bear witness before them AND the Gentiles.”
  • Paul’s mission was to go before Gentiles, kings, and Jews.
    • Acts 9:15  But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
  • Paul reasoned with Felix about riehgteousness, self-control and the judgment.
    • Acts 24:25  And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon you.”

Verse 19-20

What were the chances they would escape being delivered to authorities?

• 0, “zero”, “nada”, “goose-egg”
• See verses 17 (“for they will…”) and 18 (“you will be…)
• “WHEN they deliver you over….”
  • No “IF they….”
• This fits what Jesus always teaches His disciples.
  • Mathhew 5:11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
  • Luke 21:12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
  • John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
  • Matthew 20:18-19 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death  (19)  and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
    • Mark 10.33
  • Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
    • Mark 13:9, 11-12

What were they NOT to be concerned about?

• What they would say as a defense.

Why should they NOT be concerned?

• They would be given what they should say at that time.

Where would this information come from?

• Not from themselves.
• The Holy Spirit
  • HE would speak through you.
  • It would be God speaking using the words of the disciples vocabulary.

Verse 21-22

What kind of family life should a disciple expect?

• Family members turning against the disciple.

What could they expect to happen?

• Put to death
• Hated by all
• See verses 34-36
• It was prophesied
  • Micah 4:5-6  For all the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.  (6)  In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted;
  • Zechariah 13:3  And if anyone again prophesies, his father and mother who bore him will say to him, ‘You shall not live, for you speak lies in the name of the LORD.’ And his father and mother who bore him shall pierce him through when he prophesies.
• This became a high honor, a mark of their devotion.
  • Philippians 1:29  For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,
  • Acts 9:16  For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
  • Acts 21:13  Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Why were they being treated so badly?

• Because of their association with the name of Jesus.
  • Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.
  • Mark 13:13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
  • Luke 21:12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
  • Luke 21:17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
  • John 15:21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.
  • Acts 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

What is their reward for loyalty to God?

• They will be saved (heaven).
• AND their lives had rewards too.
  • Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
  • Luke 9:48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”
  • Luke 21:19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
  • John 14:13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  (14)  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
  • John 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
  • John 16:23-26 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  (24)  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  (25)  “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father.  (26)  In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf;
  • Revelation 3:5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
  • Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,  (4)  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,  (5)  and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,  (4)  but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,  (5)  beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;  (6)  by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love;  (7)  by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;  (8)  through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;  (9)  as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed;  (10)  as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
  • Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.

Ver 23

What were they to do when they were persecuted in a particular town?

• Go on to the next town

When would they finish their work?

• They would not finish their work.

Ver 24-25

What does the word “above” mean?

• Over, Greater, beyond, or superior.
  • Strong: “ὑπέρ huper (hoop-er’) “A primary preposition; “over”, that is, (with the genitive case) of place, above, beyond, across, or causal, for the sake of, instead, regarding; with the accusative case superior to, more than. In compounds it retains many of the listed applications: – (+ exceeding abundantly) above, in (on) behalf of, beyond, by, + very chiefest, concerning, exceeding (above, -ly), for, + very highly, more (than), of, over, on the part of, for sake of, in stead, than, to (-ward), very. In compounds it retains many of the above applications.”
  • Thayer: “ὑπέρ huper
    • 1) in behalf of, for the sake of;
    • 2) over, beyond, more than
    • 3) more, beyond, over

What is the best possible position a disciple can achieve?

• To be equal to, or “like” the teacher or master

What will they be calling Jesus shortly?

• Beelzebul
  • Robertson: “A term of reproach.”
  • Matthew 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
  • Matthew 12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.

If Jesus were called Beelzebul, what will they call his disciples?

• Not stated
• The thought is left to our imagination knowing it will be worse than their master.