In Matthew 10:16–20, Jesus is essentially giving His disciples His manual of spiritual warfare for the mission of God.
Jesus used four metaphors to prepare their minds for opposition. He said, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” One of the metaphors relates to the malicious men and women of the unbelieving world. The other three regard some aspect of the lives and ministries of the disciples.
In his commentary on Matthew, John Calvin explained the meaning behind each of Christ’s animal metaphors. Calvin first explained what Jesus meant when He likened His disciples to sheep:
“He does not refer to the sweetness and mildness of their manners, or to the gentleness of their mind, but only means, that they will have no greater strength or fitness for repelling the violence of enemies than sheep have against the rage of wolves. Christ requires, no doubt, from his disciples that they shall resemble sheep in their dispositions, by their patience in contending against the malice of wicked men, and by the meekness with which they endure injuries: but the simple meaning of this passage is, that many powerful and cruel enemies are arrayed against the apostles, while they, on their part, are furnished with no means of defense.”
Regarding Jesus’ allusion to wolves, Calvin wrote,
“The Lord, by calling the enemies of the gospel wolves, expressed their power rather than their desire to do injury; yet, as no man is known to be a wolf but by his rage against the gospel, Christ has joined these two things together, the fierce cruelty which impels them to shed blood, and the power with which they are armed.”2
After explaining the opposition that the disciples should anticipate when going out into the world with the gospel under the figure of sheep and wolves, Jesus employed two further animal metaphors in order to instruct His disciples about their strategy and demeanor when engaged in the mission of God. He said, “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Calvin explained what our Lord was intimating when he wrote,
“Serpents, being aware that they are hated, carefully avoid and shrink from everything that is hostile to them. In this manner, he enjoins believers to take care of their life, so as not to rush heedlessly into danger, or lay themselves open to any kind of injury. Doves, on the other hand, though naturally timid, and liable to innumerable attacks, fly in their simplicity, imagine themselves safe till they are struck, and in most cases place themselves within the reach of the fowler’s snares. To such simplicity, Christ exhorts his disciples, that no excess of terror may hinder them from pursuing their course. There are some who carry their ingenious reasonings still farther as to the nature of the serpent and of the dove, but this is the utmost extent of the resemblance.”
No one knows how intense the opposition to biblical Christianity will get in our country in the days, weeks, months, or years to come. Nevertheless, we should have great confidence that Christ sends His people out in the midst of persecuting wolves to bring the everlasting gospel to bear on a lost and perishing world. Christ does not call us to retreat, to compromise in the name of caution, or to devise other methods and strategies that will counter the preaching of the gospel. He does not call us to worldly sophistication or political maneuvering. Rather, He calls us to learn about our enemies and about ourselves–and to spread the aroma of Christ through the world by the ministry of the word for the salvation of the elect. To this end, He bids us understand that we are like sheep in the midst of wolves so that we will seek to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.
Nick Batzig