The Wednesday after Sexagesima Sunday
Posted on February 26, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 10:2-16 (NKJV)
10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, 10 nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless 6as doves.”
Devotion
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
The Lord is sending out His Twelve, but not to all nations; not here. Here, He commands them to go exclusively to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Yet, while He calls them “sheep”, He warns the Twelve that they will be sheep in the midst of wolves! There are those who are simply lost, and then there are those who oppose Christ and exert effort—whether by way of false teaching or physical persecution, or both—to stifle and silence the Gospel message.
Jesus therefore admonishes them to be both “wise” and “harmless” or innocent. They, and we, are not to use coercion, manipulation, or subterfuge. The Word of God is living and active. The Church is sent to speak it. But Christian kindness, mercy, and innocence are ever vulnerable to manipulation and subversion, so we must at the same time be wise to the non-innocence of those who oppose the Gospel message. In this way, the good news may continue to be announced that the Kingdom of God has come; the sin of the world has been atoned for.
Collect: O Lord God, Who seest that we put not our trust in anything that we do: Mercifully grant that by Thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
