FOLLOW THE COST OF CHRIST
By Alberto Valdivia Cier
Text: Matthew 10:16-33
Look! I send you as sheep among wolves. Sean therefore wise as serpents, but also harmless as doves. Be careful, because they will deliver to the authorities, beaten in the synagogues and to present them before governors and kings for my sake, so may be my witnesses before them and the pagans. But when the surrender to the authorities, do not worry you for what they say or how to say it, because when the time comes to speak, God will give the words. Well is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
"The brothers surrendered to the death to their brothers and fathers to their children, and children will turn against his parents and kill them. All men will hate you because of me, but he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one city, flee to another, because I assure you that the Son of man shall come before you have gone through all the cities of Israel.
"No disciple is above his master, and no servant is greater than his master. The disciple must conform to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house call him Beelzebub, what will those of your family?
A man with his 10 year old son and his donkey out of his house to the nearest village, decide to sit the child on the donkey and he follow the path on foot, suddenly walks by a group of people and watch them begin to mormurar, "as it is possible that this child, who is almost as a young man as comfortable as your poor father has to walk all the way by pulling the donkey ", hearing those words man decides to make a change, he sits on the donkey and the boy is pulling the animal walk, along comes another group of people, and seeing them begin to say, "as it is possible that this father is so inconsiderate to leave his son, who is a boy, walk all the way as he is well seated on the donkey, on hearing this the father makes another change, the two up to donkey and continue their journey. Soon another group of people passing by, and watch them whisper saying "poor animal has to bear the weight of these two individuals, are a heartless!". Very annoying, the father has no choice but walk with your child and let the donkey free from any charge, at that moment passed another group of people and watch them say, "that people so stupid, having a donkey that can lead, are doing all the way on foot. " The man was very angry, then walk past a bridge and decided to launch the donkey to the river to escape that way forever from the murmurings of the people.
As Christians we are prone to be victims of the criticism, backbiting and opposition of the people, is part of the cost we must pay for being followers of Christ. If the Lord Himself had to go through this suffering, the more you pass us. Often this opposition is unfair and ill-intentioned and coming from the people closest to us. Before this can despair and angry as the man of history, but if we do not achieve anything, just ruin our lives. In this passage Jesus gives us some tips for dealing successfully opposed by the people.
1. us develop the right attitudes (v. 16-18). Jesus commands us to be like sheep and doves, meek, humble and gentle, yet tells us to be like snakes, cunning and shrewd. The cunning serpent shows its staying far away from his victim, waiting for the right moment to strike. Similarly, we should know to stay away from those people, who perceive they are not sincere and attitudes remain dark. Our craft can not lead us to plot strategies for "attacking" or "destroy" these people, but to stay away from them, so that we avoid doing too much damage. Often suffer in the hands of others because they are too vulnerable, easily expose us to evil. Do not trust or expect too much from people, learn to discover the wolves who seek us harm and to keep distance and caution.
Remember Jesus stayed away from the Pharisees and the political power of his day, Jesus knew who interact and who not to. If possible, we avoid placing them within reach of the enemies darts or hands of those who seek us harm. Of course, despite the care that we provided the possibility of being attacked by our faith is very high, but a crafty and alert attitude will always help us to reduce conflicts. Jesus got rid of many difficult situations using his cunning, for example when the Pharisees asked a question biased in order to cope with Rome's power, Jesus responds by saying, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's and give God what is God's" great shrewdness dating and intelligence put the trap that, of course, the opposition grew and final Jesus was condemned to die, but her alertness and cunning the book of many evils. Learn from our Lord, we maintain a humble attitude and gentle, but also keep ourselves alert to not easily fall into the hands of those who seek us harm.
2. responded with the power of the Spirit (v. 19,20). When we receive attacks and insults we face two possibilities, shut up and get all the evil in silence, or defend attacks. Some people respond immediately by saying that as Christians for us to be quiet and accept all the evil upon us, I believe this position is not what the gospel presents Jesus answered his accusers, and asks us in this text we also do. Remember that Jesus was beaten by a guard of the high priest and replied, "If I have spoken evil, tell me that I have spoken evil, and if I did not say anything bad Why do you strike me?", Also when he was arrested by the High Priest Jesus said the following, "As if I were a thief arrested me with swords and clubs, having been with you every day in the temple never seized me, but of course, this is the time for you, this is the power of darkness "and when you wanted to be stoned for saying he and the Father are one, very strongly told the following," For which of good works I've done I want to stone me? "in all these examples we see clearly that Jesus was not silent, it was argued, of course with dignity, love and purity, but he defended himself.
The problem is not resolved with silence but knowing how to respond, if they attack us and insult us respond but not in the flesh, not trying to repay evil for evil, but the power of the Spirit. Jesus tells us here that the Holy Spirit will give us the right words to respond to each accusation, slander and attack us to suffer. Away with anger and insults, that is not from God (James 1:20), seek, with God's help, the right words to bring peace and reason in each conflict (Proverbs 15:1) but we remain silent, except that the very Spirit to move us to shut up, we deal with love, mercy and power of God to demonstrate the error of others and to defend our truth.
3. Do not lose heart, trust in the care of God (v. 21-31). In these verses Jesus describes in all honesty the terrible sufferings which we will experience because of his followers. Jesus announces here that families can divided because of him, because those who do not believe in Jesus will attack those who believe and sometimes do not hesitate to betray or surrender them to the persecutors, this has happened many times in the history of Christianity, and still happening today , for example, Muslim or Buddhist countries, where having a son or relative Christian is greatest shame, and often do not hesitate to bring them to jail or even put to death. In the western world there is also this kind of opposition, in a different way but also painful, there are many believers who suffer ridicule, contempt, insults and attacks from their loved ones who do not believe in Jesus, and that causes a terrible pain.
Jesus shows us here that all this suffering he experienced so well that we who are his followers, we can not expect to get rid of this pain, on the contrary we must consider a privilege to suffer as he suffered.
Jesus encourages us not to be afraid, for he is our defender. God cares so much for us that has had every hair on our head, if he cares for the birds is logical to think that will take care of us.
Jesus tells us not to be afraid, even to death, or those who want to kill us because for us to die is gain because death is an encounter with Christ.
therefore, brethren, amid opposition attacks and we must learn to stand firm in Jesus and put our trust in Him who is our protector, since nothing can get away from his love. Neither life nor death, nor hunger, nor nakedness, nor even the devil can we get away from God.
4. Let us not deny God in spite of the opposition, and with our lips, nor with our actions (v. 32-33). The problem we have as Christians today is that we live trying to please others, directly or indirectly seek to be recognized by others. We care about not giving an image of intolerance, nor seem out of "time" in the eyes of society. En este mundo globalizado deseamos mostrar una cara moderna y actual de la fe, todo eso esta bien, pero el problema está que muchas veces para alcanzar este objetivo dejamos de lado nuestras convicciones cristianas y la verdad de Dios. Tratamos de evitar ser perseguidos y menospreciados por nuestra fe, entonces buscamos adaptarnos al mundo, para encontrar algún reconocimiento y aceptación, esto lo hacemos sin darnos cuenta, es casi imperceptible, pero las consecuencias son nefastas.
Esta es una manera de negar a Jesús, de dejar de lado sus enseñanzas y los valores del reino. Jesús nos dice en estos versículos que si lo negamos delante de los hombres él también nos negará delante del Padre, pero si lo reconocemos delante men, he also recognized us before the Father. Jesus not only refused to say with our lips when we do not believe in it, so we deny when our behavior does not represent Christ, we say we believe in Jesus but do not live according to Him and His Word then we are denying. "That is to say we believe in Jesus but practice bribery, deceit, abuse? This type of denial is the worst, not only because of our deeds deny Jesus but that we become hypocritical and false. At least those who deny their minds and lips of Jesus and are consistent with this belief, they are more honest and transparent, but the believer claims to love God and their acts deny that love, it becomes doubly guilty.
There is a beautiful promise for those who maintained their Christian convictions to the end, the Lord publicly acknowledge before my Father and all the heavenly creation. Speaking of which Jesus told a parable in which he presents the precise moment when the victorious believers enter God's presence and are recognized as children, tells the parable that the Lord will say in that day, "Well done, good servant and faithful, as You have been faithful, I will put you over many things, come share the joy of your Lord "(Matthew 25:21). Live so we can at the very end, receive this public recognition of God, we can gladden the heart of our Father and cheer our heart for all eternity.
faced opposition with courage and dignity, not claudiquemos, and never go back, God is our help and our refuge, find in it the forces that we lack and strive to end the good fight, and he will make us more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Amen
