MATTHEW 10:23

“But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.

Whenever they persecute you in one city, flee. Jesus does not expect you to die for the cause. He died so that you might live, and sometimes that means running for your life.

In Lystra, Paul was dragged outside the city, stoned, and left for dead (Acts 14:19). The next day he quit the town and went to Derbe. Imagine what might’ve happened if Paul had remained in Lystra.

In Thessalonica and Berea it was the same story. As soon as trouble started brewing Paul left before it got out of hand (Acts 17). Paul stayed two years in Ephesus, then left after a riot (Acts 20:1). When faced with mortal persecution, Paul walked away – he endured and stayed alive.

Jesus knew that if the world persecuted him it would persecute us as well (John 15:20). But while Jesus had to go to the cross and die, we don’t have to. His is a finished work. Our deaths add nothing to it. Far better to follow Paul’s example and live to preach another day than die at the hand of a madman or an unjust state.

(b) Until the Son of Man comes. Jesus sent the disciples to the towns of Israel before he died, and he sent them again after he rose (Acts 1:8). Their travels, as recorded in the early chapters of Acts, had not finished before Jesus ascended to heaven and came into his kingdom (see entry for Matt. 16:28).