NOTES for Мф 10:16-22
For most of us the grim picture Christ describes is something remote. Some may remember that persecution did indeed soon descend upon the Christians and that everything happened exactly as the Lord had foretold: Christians—people who bear the name of Christ (see Matt. 10:22)—were persecuted, tortured, and executed. They also very often encountered incomprehension among those close to them... Some may remember the martyrs of the twentieth century, who passed through the same grief and pain. But few of us have personally experienced anything similar. And this is something to regret. For the Lord addresses these words of warning not only to the Twelve, but to all of us. He calls us the light of the world (see Matt. 5:14), yet this “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). Christians are people who stand on the boundary between this world and eternity. Our position is very dangerous: the world did not know our Teacher (see John 1:10), and it does not love us either. Yet we have gradually grown accustomed to coexisting with the world and have learned to compromise. We will have to answer for this “lukewarmness” of ours (see Rev. 3:14-16)... Therefore it might perhaps be better for us if we were threatened by some danger, persecution, or oppression, because it is in extreme situations that the steadfastness of convictions and relationships is tested—the strength of faith and of our bond with God.