Matthew 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

This is the beginning of my series exploring the animal analogies of Jesus. In this passage, we have four kinds of animals: sheep, wolves, serpents, and doves.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.”

Your character has been changed as a follower of Christ. You are not who you used to be. You may have been like a wolf before—predatory, taking advantage of people, someone others were supposed to be afraid of—but you have now been changed. You are now sheep.

You are now a follower of Christ. That means you have a Shepherd. You go where He wants you to go. You stay where He wants you to stay. You are a follower, a disciple. Your eyes are set on your Shepherd, who is Christ.

So He is now saying, “I am sending you out as sheep.”

Who are the wolves? These are people for whom life is about survival—the “survival of the fittest.” An eat‑or‑be‑eaten kind of attitude. You fend for yourself. That is not the sheep. The sheep does not fend for itself; the sheep has a dependent attitude. But the wolf is on guard and watchful: “When is my next meal going to be?”

Something came to mind about a message I heard some time ago, where a pastor said you should be bold enough to just ask people for things. “Just ask. Just be asking.” That is the wrong way to understand the passage “Ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7). Jesus is not saying everybody now becomes your ATM.

But I became that. I became, in a way, a wolf. People became walking ATMs. “Who am I going to ask this big amount of money from—in the name of faith?” That was unfortunate. I am trying to convey what Jesus is communicating here through this animal analogy: instead of giving a long speech, He uses an animal, and everyone listening to Him can get the message almost immediately.

Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing” (Psalm 23:1). When you see a sheep, you know the most important thing in the sheep's life is the shepherd. The Shepherd—Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd—laid down His life for the sheep and provides for them. The needs of the sheep are met by the Shepherd.

Not so with the wolves. The wolves are there to meet their own needs by themselves through all kinds of shenanigans and means of exploiting other people. That is what we are talking about. The wolf has an exploitative tendency. It is all about “How can I gain an advantage? How can I get the upper hand? How can I crush the other person?”

But that is not you. You are not like that.

Yet Jesus Christ said, “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves.” And he is going to tell you how you are going to survive there. He is going to tell you how you are going to handle the situation He is putting you in. It is almost like you are being put in a situation where you have a disadvantage. Do you see that? A sheep among wolves. The situation is tilted against you. The circumstances are against you. The situation is not favorable on its face.

But Jesus Christ has sent you out as sheep among wolves. And the next thing I am going to mention is: What does it mean to be “wise as serpents”? And what does it mean to be “innocent as doves”?

God bless you.