Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 10:16

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." — Matthew 10:16 (ASV)

Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

"Be harmless because you are like sheep, but be wise as serpents because you have to dwell with wolves." You, too, beloved, ought to be very wise because of the wisdom which has been imparted to you by the Master who has sent you forth, and you ought to use your best wits in his service, yet never use that wisdom with any ill intent, for the Christ who sends you does no harm to people, but only good.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

It is a strange errand that you are sent upon – not as dogs to fight with the wolves. Yet you are to fight with them, but you are to go as lambs in the midst of wolves. Expect, therefore, that they will tear you apart. Bear much, for in that way you will always conquer. If they kill you, you will be honoured in your death.

As I have often said, the fight looks very unequal between sheep and wolves, yet at the present moment there are vastly more sheep in the world than wolves, the sheep having outlived the wolves.

In this country at any rate, the last wolf is gone, and the sheep, with all their weaknesses, continue to multiply. "That is due," you say, "to the shepherd." And to him your safety and your victory will be due. He will take care of you.

I send you forth as sheep among wolves. But do not, therefore, provoke the wolves. Be wise as serpents. Have a holy prudence. Be as harmless as doves, but not as silly as doves.

Behold. Our Lord calls for special attention and then sets before His sent ones, both then and now, what would be the future of their crusade. What He was doing was very wonderful; therefore, the Behold.

It would be foolhardy to go if Jesus did not say, I send you. When Jesus sends sheep, they may go fearlessly into the very midst of wolves. He sends them not to fight with wolves, nor to drive them out of their haunts, but to transform them. The disciples were sent to fierce men to convince them, and therefore they must be wise—to convert them, and therefore they must be gentle.

The weapons of Christians are that they are weaponless. They are to be prudent, discreet, wise as serpents, but they are to be loving, peaceful, harmless as doves. The Christian missionary will need to be wary to avoid receiving harm, but he must have a guileless mind so that he does no harm.

We are called to be martyrs, not maniacs. We are to be simple-hearted, but we are not to be simpletons.

After all, the mission of sheep to wolves is a hopeful one, since we see in the natural world that the sheep, though so feeble, by far outnumber the wolves who are so fierce. The day will come when persecutors will be as scarce as wolves, and saints as numerous as sheep.

Lord, in my work for You, teach me so that I may display the wonderful blend of serpent and dove, which You here commend to Your ministers. Never allow me to become like a wolf to others, but may I conquer by the meekness of a lamb!

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves:

Behold, I send you forth. What power there is in the word of the King of kings! I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.

You are like sheep, helpless and defenseless; yet I send you forth, and therefore it is right for you to go even into the midst of wolves.

We might have imagined that the wolves would have devoured the sheep, yet at the present time, there are a great many more sheep in the world than there are wolves.

Sheep have always been weak and helpless, yet they have multiplied. Wolves have always been strong and savage, yet they have diminished until there is not one of them left in this land, and in many other countries the same thing has happened.

So, the weak, the helpless, who come under the care of our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, shall be preserved from all the wolves that would devour them, and even from the devil, who as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.