Bear with me this morning…

I came across the verse “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16), and have been pondering its meaning.  So I am processing as I type.  And if I’m way off base, please, somebody for the love of Pete, correct me!

Jesus was telling His disciples (and us) to be as wise as serpents when they went out into the world to share the Good News of Jesus’ salvation.  It made me think of another serpent referenced in scripture.  In Genesis, in the Garden of Eden at the very beginning of time.  Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) Satan, posing as a serpent, enticing, tempting, lying to Adam and Eve.  They weren’t as wise as this serpent and he took full advantage and offered them a taste of sin and they bit in deeply.

Jesus also asked His disciples (and us) to be as innocent as doves.  And that brought me back to when Jesus was being baptized by John and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. “After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.” (Matthew 3:16) The picture of purity and innocence.  An outward picture of what Jesus was on the inside.

The stark contrast between evil and good.  Jesus was saying that He wanted them (and us) to be wise towards Satan’s tricks, but as innocent as Jesus in how we live. Aware of evil but not involved in it.  Not a gullible innocence, but a deliberate and informed innocence.  He knew it was the only way we could survive the broken world we live in.

I also think it’s interesting  how He phrases the beginning of the verse – “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves…”  We are His sheep and He is our shepherd.  But He came to this earth as the LAMB of God.  He came as a lamb into a world of wolves.  Before He asked His disciples (and us) to go out and face the world, He served as their (our) example.  He didn’t ask us to do anything that He didn’t do Himself.  He did the tending and the training of His “sheep” and now it was time for them to go out with the innocence of a dove (the presence of the Holy Spirit in their/our lives) and live wisely.

Thanks for your patience.  I hope this made any sense at all when it came out through my fingers.  In my head and heart the analogy that Jesus gave became ever clearer and more meaningful.

And now, another day to be both wise and innocent…:-)