“I send you out as sheep among
wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Beware of people:
for they will deliver you up to councils, and in their synagogues they will
scourge you. You will even be brought before governors and kings for my sake,
for a testimony to them and to the nations; the good news must be preached to
all nations. When they deliver you up, don’t be anxious about what to say, for
it will be given you; it won’t be you who speaks, but the Spirit of your Father
who speaks in you.
“Do you think I
have come to bring peace on earth? Not peace, but rather division. For from now
on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two. They will be
divided, parents against children and children against parents.”
“Those who come to me, and don’t disregard
father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and their own lives
also, can’t be my disciples. Those who don’t bear their own crosses, and come
after me, can’t be my disciples.
“Brother will deliver up brother to death, and
the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to
be put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake, but those who
endure to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one city, flee to
the next; you will not have gone through the cities of Israel, before the Son
of Man comes.
“Disciples are not above their teacher,
nor servants above their lord. It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher,
and the servant like the lord. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebul, how much more his disciples!
There is nothing covered up that will
not be revealed, nothing hidden that will not be known. Whatever you have said
in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have whispered indoors
will be proclaimed from the housetops.
“Everyone who
confesses me before others, the Son of Man will also confess before the angels
of God; but those who deny me in the presence of others will be denied in the
presence of the angels.
“Don’t
be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that can do no more. This is whom
you should fear: the one who after you are dead has power to cast into hell.
Yes, fear him.
“Aren’t five sparrows sold for two
pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. The very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Don’t be afraid: you are of more value than many sparrows.
Jesus was loved by some and hated by others; he made it clear
those who followed him should not expect anything less. How important is it to
you to be respected by others? Are you willing to stand for what you believe is
right even if your perspective upsets others?
Prayer: Keep me strong, Lord, when following you upsets my
family and friends.
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