Matthew 10:23

Persecute you. See on ch. 5:10-12.

Flee ye. Under certain circumstances flight reflects cowardice; at other times it reveals prudence (cf. on v. 16). The determining factor is the net result for the kingdom of heaven, not personal convenience or what people will think. When labor proves futile in one place, ambassadors of the kingdom may well hasten on to the next place, in the hope of there finding someone willing to listen.

There is no virtue in suffering persecution for its own sake, as if it were a means of earning merit in the books of heaven. In His own ministry Christ repeatedly demonstrated the principle He here recommended to the Twelve, and thereby provided illustrations of circumstances under which we may apply it. When rejected by the Sanhedrin after healing the paralytic at Bethesda He retired to Galilee (see on ch. 4:12), and upon later occasions He similarly moved from Nazareth to Capernaum (see on Luke 4:30, 31), from Galilee to Phoenicia (see on Matt. 15:21), from Magdala to Caesarea Philippi (ch. 16:1—13), and from Judea to Ephraim (John 11:53, 54). When the Christians of Jerusalem were persecuted, following the stoning of Stephen, they scattered in all directions — “preaching the word” (see Acts 8:1-4).