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I n Matthew 10:16-23, Jesus
predicted the severe persecution
of His disciples. He said they would
be ‘handed over to the local councils,’
‘flogged in the synagogues’, ‘brought
before governors and kings,’ ‘arrested,’
‘betrayed,’ ‘hated’ and ‘put to death’.
But then He told them to flee – a
surprising command from someone
who claimed that He had conquered
the world. We may wonder how we
could apply that and still be victorious
in our faith.
First of all, we need to understand that
when, in Acts 1:8, Jesus commanded
His disciples to be His witnesses
all over the world, He meant just
that. They were to be His faithful
witnesses who would proclaim His
death and resurrection. It was not a
call to martyrdom. He wanted them
to value their lives as His messengers,
use wisdom, and move around in a
strategic manner. They should be bold
and ready to give everything for the
gospel, but at the same time, do their
best to stay alive to preach it. Fleeing
was an option they should consider,
not as a compromise but as a strategic
manoeuvre. Experienced generals
know that no army can always push
forward. At times, you need tactically
to retreat in order to regroup.
Therefore, fleeing in this context is not
a surrender to the enemy or a lack of
faith, but wisdom in action.
Our Lord and His apostles also fled
to avoid intensifying persecution and
even premature death. When Jesus
was a baby, the angel told Joseph,
‘Get up, take the child and his mother,
and escape to Egypt’ (Matthew 2:13).
When Jews ‘picked up stones to stone
THE WORD
When flight is right
Fleeing persecution is not surrender
or a lack of faith, writes Maciek of our
sister ministry, Voice of Persecuted
Christians, Poland
in the 1960s. Afterwards, he started
a worldwide ministry to help
persecuted Christians. Had he stayed
in Romania, he would most probably
have been imprisoned again and
killed.
We are not to look for martyrdom;
however, we should be ready for it at
any moment, if our time comes. Jesus
did not flee from Gethsemane but
handed Himself over to be crucified.
Paul and Peter also finished their
course as martyrs. Sometimes, as
with Paul in the Roman prison, the
Holy Spirit may reveal to us that
our ‘departure is near’ (2 Timothy
4:6). At other times, as in the life of
Stephen, we may face martyrdom
suddenly, without any previous
notice (Acts 7). The point is that,
regardless of our circumstances,
whether in martyrdom, flight, or
daily Christian routine, we need to
keep in mind that our primary calling
is to be faithful witnesses of Jesus
Christ.
‘Not all of us are called to die
a martyr’s death, but all of us
are called to have the same
spirit of self-sacrifice and
love to the very end as these
martyrs had’
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned for 14 years in communist Romania in the
1950s and 1960s. In 1968 he inspired the founding of Release International, which today
continues his ministry to serve persecuted Christians around the world in the name of Jesus.
INSPIRING FAITH
him,’ Jesus ‘hid himself, slipping away
from the temple grounds’ (John 8:59).
When the apostle Paul was in
Damascus and ‘there was a conspiracy
among the Jews to kill him... his
followers took him by night and
lowered him in a basket through
an opening in the wall’ (Acts 9:23).
When Peter was in prison awaiting
execution, an angel of the Lord
rescued him, and then Peter ‘left for
another place’ (Acts 12:7-17).
The Bible makes it very clear that
all of these flights were crucial to
completing the work of salvation and
to laying the foundation of the church.
We are not to look for
martyrdom; however, we
should be ready for it at
any moment
In a similar manner, pastor Richard
Wurmbrand, who inspired the
founding of Release International, was
ransomed from communist Romania