We don’t know exactly when the Gospel were written. For many centuries, scholars thought Matthew was the oldest of the Gospels, which is why it comes first in the New Testament. However, now it is widely accepted that Mark is the oldest of the four Gospels. Scholars estimate that Matthew’s Gospel was written approximately 30 to 50 years after Christ’s death and resurrection, which means that the Gospel was both written and first heard in the context of the experiences of the Early Church, in the context of the persecutions and struggles that the early Christians were going through. In our Gospel reading today, Jesus states that he is sending out the disciples like sheep amongst wolves. He knew that those who opposed his Gospel message were shrewd and cunning. He knew that his disciples would face great challenges in proclaiming the Gospel to the world. The disciples in the Early Church were people of peace and reconciliation, renouncing violence and retribution, which is why they were like lambs amongst wolves. There were some to whom the Gospel was proclaimed who wanted to destroy the disciples, seeing them as a threat to their own activities and ambitions.
I have a coffee cup from the pilgrimage of the Camino of St James that states the following: Cold, heart, rain, wind — these shall pass away. Pain, tiredness, hunger, thirst — these, too, shall pass away. They are only things of the temporary world. The glory of the kingdom — that will endure forever. The pilgrim willing endures these hardships and inconveniences on the pilgrimage journey, knowing that they are part of reality of life, that these things can be endured in order to experience the blessings of the pilgrimage. Jesus disciples had faith in the message they were bringing to the world. They had faith in the calling they had as disciples of Christ. May we too be willing to accept the hardships that will meet us on our journey as disciples of Christ.
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