What does Jesus mean by this?

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Another members post contained this passage and I became curious about it…any ideas???

Matthew, Chapter 10:16 “"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”

When Jesus says, “shrewd as serpents”, what is He asking them to do here?
 
I’m no theologian, but I think you have to take both metaphors together - one loses meaning without the other. For instance, I think that if Jesus had said only “be shrewd as serpents,” then that could mean “you’re going to have to be sneaky and wicked.”

Only the doves part could mean “don’t be flamboyant and egoistic.”

The two metaphors preceded by the warning about sheep in the midst of wolves seems to me to be saying something like:

“Be aware and listen and watch for signs that the authorities are after you. Don’t be naive about peoples’ motives and when you sense a spy among you, don’t let them know that you see their perfidy. Tell your truth quietly when your senses tell you that it is safe to do so. Be simple and quiet in your teaching and dress and manner, so as not to draw unnecessary attention to yourselves.”

But, come to think of it… surely there is authoritative interpretation of this passage in Catholic writings - this would seem to be a very important bit of Jesus’ teaching to his disciples? I’ll try to find something on it.

Good luck!
Elizabeth
 
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Primitive:
When Jesus says, “shrewd as serpents”, what is He asking them to do here?
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Here’s a pretty good article addressing that very verse:

On Being Shrewd as a Serpent
(to be published in the April 2005 edition of Catholic Insight Magazine and the Canadian Messenger of the Sacred Heart)
 
That was a fabulous article! Thank you!

I don’t know if this explains what Jesus means or not, but after reading the article I want to share some thoughts. Many people confuse innocence with naiveté. They are not the same. Our God is omnipotent—He knows everything. Jesus was innocent, but He wasn’t naive. As I’ve grown older and more experienced I’ve learned some things that I preferred not knowing. The article discussed evil, and we as Christians should never be ignorant of the fact that evil exists and that it is truly evil, but often it disguises itself as good. Evil will strike when we are most vulnerable, and it will sometimes come through people we trust… The article mentioned the word translated as shrewd also implied being wise. We need to be wise to the ways that evil works, or we will be eaten by the wolves.
 
Dear friends

I see this passage of Sacred Scripture to mean that we are, like other posters have said, not to be naive about the world and in dealings with people, that their intentions are not always honourable and so in being ‘wise as serpants’ we are to discern who we are dealing with, but in being ‘gentle as doves’ we are not to have any fault ourselves when dealing with people.

The previous poster is very truthful when they said that usually evil comes from those we sometimes trust, this doesn’t mean we should cease to trust, that would be unchristain to withdraw from trust, but we should be prudent in our dealings with people and realise that it is wise to protect ourselves from any possible harm or deception be it verbal, spiritual or physical.

We should be open to perceiving through the Holy Spirit to give us right judgement of situations. Christ Jesus perceived those around Him and what they intended and we can by the power of the Holy Spirit, discern, though this should never make us harsh judges of people, we remain gentle as doves.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
Shrewd:
This adjective mean having or showing keen awareness, sound judgment, and often resourcefulness, especially in practical matters. Shrewd suggests a sharp intelligence, hardheadness, and often an intuitive grasp of practical considerations.

Seems to me to be the hallmark of an active Christian!!
 
I find an interesting parallel between Jesus’ exortation to be shrewed as serpents along with his parable about the steward that wa caught stealing and how he reacted. First, both of these are in the context of Jesus explaining what he expectes of his followers in there life response to the Presence of the Kingdom of God. The demand of Jesus is action, an active response that is not distracted, in anyway from its goal The Serpant we know from Genesis and the evil Steward, if they can act totally focus on an evil end, how much more are we called to act without distraction for the Kingdom of God?
 
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Primitive:
Another members post contained this passage and I became curious about it…any ideas???

Matthew, Chapter 10:16 “"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.”

=QUOTE]
behold I am assigning you to teach 9th grade CCD
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Very informative reading, especially the article.

2 of my 3 grown childern were here when I finished reading the article. I covered up the article except for the first part, called them over and read it to them. I asked if they could come up with the motive for the woman killing her sister.

They stood there thinking, after a while, my son having no clue, wanted to know the motive, when my daughter started waving her hands excitedly saying “I know, I know”. Well let me tell you, I felt some what surprised and distressed that she had apparently figured out the motive. My daughter was still saying “I know, I got it, auh”, then blurted, " you need to think like the woman". My son and I, by this time were just staring as she was holding her head trying to think like the woman, when she blurted again, “in class we were told to think like them”. Both of us were still staring and waiting, while my daughter is going from waving her hands to holding her head, trying to think like the woman and come up with the motive.

Finally she gave up, I let them read the rest. She said “you see, you need to think like them”. She remembered this from a psychology class several years ago. In all, I thank the Lord my son couldn’t come up with the motive from the get go, and my daughter couldn’t figure it out even when she tried to think like a psychopath.

Now, maybe I’ll call my oldest and invite him over for a visit.

Walking_Home
Connie
 
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