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Matthew 10:16–23
16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to councils, and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear testimony before them and the Gentiles. 19 When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; 20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21 Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel, before the Son of man comes.
Catholic Exegesis:
The Second Vatican Council teaches that if we are to derive the true meaning from the sacred texts, attention must be devoted “not only to their content but to the unity of the whole of Scripture, the living tradition of the entire Church, and the analogy of faith. […] Everything to do with the interpretation of Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church, which exercises the divinely conferred communion and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Dei Verbum, 12).
St. John Paul II, when he promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church, explained that the Catechism "is a statement of the Church's faith and of catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the Apostolic Tradition and the Church's Magisterium." He went on to "declare it to be a sure norm for teaching the faith and thus a valid and legitimate instrument for ecclesial communion" (Fidei Depositum).
Cited in the Catechism:
Commentary
Jesus’ instructions to the apostles
10:16–23. The instructions and warnings Jesus gives here apply right through the history of the Church. It is difficult for the world to understand the way of God. Sometimes there will be persecutions, sometimes indifference to the Gospel or failure to understand it. Genuine commitment to Jesus always involves effort—which is not surprising, because Jesus himself was a sign of contradiction; indeed, if that were not the experience of a Christian, he would have to ask himself whether he was not in fact a worldly person. There are certain worldly things a Christian cannot compromise about, no matter how much they are in fashion. Therefore, Christian life inevitably involves nonconformity with anything that goes against faith and morals (cf. Rom 12:2). It is not surprising that a Christian’s life often involves choosing between heroism and treachery. Difficulties of this sort should not make us afraid: we are not alone, we can count on the powerful help of our Father God to give us strength and daring.
10:20. Here Jesus teaches the completely supernatural character of the witness he asks his disciples to bear. The documented accounts of a host of Christian martyrs prove that he has kept this promise: they bear eloquent witness to the serenity and wisdom of often uneducated people, some of them scarcely more than children. The teaching contained in this verse provides the basis for the fortitude and confidence a Christian should have whenever he has to profess his faith in difficult situations. He will not be alone, for the Holy Spirit will give him words of divine wisdom.
10:23. In interpreting this text, the first thing is to reject the view of rationalists who argue that Jesus was convinced that soon he would come in glory and the world would come to an end. That interpretation is clearly at odds with many passages of the Gospel and the New Testament. Clearly, Jesus refers to himself when he speaks of the “Son of man”, whose glory will be manifested in this way. The most cogent interpretation is that Jesus is referring here, primarily, to the historical event of the first Jewish war against Rome, which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple in the year 70, and which led to the scattering of the Jewish people. But this event, which would occur a few years after Jesus’ death, is an image or a prophetic symbol of the end of the world (cf. the note on Mt 24:1).
[NOTE on Mt 24:1 –
Announcement of the destruction of the temple
24:1. In this discourse in which our Lord tells us about the last things, three prophecies seem to be interwoven—the destruction of Jerusalem (by the armies of the Emperor Titus in the year 70); the end of the world; and the last coming of Christ. Our Lord invites us to be watchful and pray, as we await these three events.
The headings and side headings added into the Gospel text may be of some help in working out what Jesus is referring to at different stages in the discourse. It is quite easy to confuse the signs and times of the destruction of Jerusalem and those of the end of the world and the last coming—which is not all that surprising, given that the destruction of Jerusalem itself symbolizes the end of the world. Our Lord is speaking here very much in the style and language used by the prophets, who announced future events without specifying the order in which they would happen and who used a profusion of images and symbols. Every prophecy about the future seems quite obscure at first but as the events unfold everything fits into place. The Old Testament prophecies were not well understood until they were fulfilled during Christ’s first coming; and the New Testament prophecies will not become clear until his second coming. The notes which follow should be read against this background.
The coming of Christ in glory will happen at a time which God has not revealed. Uncertainty about the end of the world helps Christians and the Church to be ever-vigilant.
Source: The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries. Biblical text from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.
"Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." St Jerome
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