Matthew 10:17 Commentary and Bible Study

The cost of discipleship is high, but it is no higher than Christ has warned his disciples from the beginning. During his life on earth he protected them to a great extent from the more severe trials, but after his ascension they began to be targeted more directly by the authorities. So it soon happened that they were arrested (Acts 4:1-4; 5:26-27) and beaten (Acts 5:40), and that James was arrested by Herod and killed (Acts 12:2). The sufferings of the apostle Paul were extensive.‘But beware of men’, not in the sense that this can be avoided, which would be the normal reason for issuing a warning like this, but beware by being prepared for this, not being surprised by it. Beware also in knowing that this is what they are capable of. This suffering which Christ speaks of cannot be avoided; that is not why he tells his disciples about this. ‘They will deliver you up … they will scourge you’ – this is not in doubt. If God wills that we go through a period of suffering, then we will have to go through that period of suffering (Revelation 2:10). We should beware in the sense that we do not take offence at the gospel; we are not surprised and we do not count it more than we are prepared to suffer for the Lord. We are to be on our guard. The world will be against the church, sometimes by physical and sometimes by intellectual persecution. In those days they were hauled before the courts. The courts flogged believers and the rest sang a psalm. Don’t be naïve about the opposition coming from an unbelieving world. Be careful what gifts you accept from an unbelieving world, for there may be conditions attached. The Reformers were divided on the subject of the sacral society. What is the church? Is it all baptized people, or is it a regenerate church? Some great men have gone wrong on this. Poor Calvin! He was trying to get the whole city of Geneva to be ruled as if it were a church, and it never worked. God appoints authorities and powers to govern men, but the church is not responsible for how society at large behaves. It is a vain project to attempt to get unregenerate men and women to live as believers, according to the standards that Christ sets for his own disciples. This is the downside of Calvin’s life. You cannot have a territorial church. We must not be naïve about human nature.