Matthew 10:26-33

Matthew 10:26-33 Fearless Proclamation

(Luke 12:1-9)

²⁶ “So have no fear of them.

There is nothing that has been hidden that will not be revealed,

and nothing secret that will not be known.

²⁷ What I tell you in darkness, tell it in broad daylight;

and what you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops

²⁸ Do not fear those who can kill the body but are unable to kill the soul.

Rather fear the one who can destroy soul and body in Gehenna.

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?

Yet not one of them falls to the earth without your Father.

30 All the hairs of your head are numbered.

³¹ So do not be fearful. You are worth more than a lot of sparrows.

Once more, the presumed context became that of the Church in the world. Jesus was not speaking of the spontaneous reaction of fear in the face of perceived danger. Not to feel that fear would be abnormal. He was referring to the fear that controls a person’s deliberate response in the face of such danger. At times, it can be responsible to avoid danger. At other times, perils need to be faced and endured for the sake of a greater good. Jesus was insisting that discipleship – and the hope of eternal life – would be dangerous, but that this danger was to be faced and borne courageously.

Without knowing the original context in which Jesus made the comments, it would seem that Matthew used them to make three points:

The message of the Kingdom, and the impact of Matthew’s community on the social and political structures of Antioch, might seem insignificant and pass unnoticed, but the eventual blossoming of the Kingdom would occur, and, in the interim, Kingdom values would be all that matter.
Physical death would not be the ultimate evil.
The practical loving actions of disciples would not be carried on in a vacuum – work for the Kingdom would be a task shared with God, who is present, involved and interested, inspiring, trusting and empowering every disciple. The apostle is not a faceless operative, but is precious to God.

The Jewish mind and language regularly clarified points by means of doublets – emphasising a message by way of confirmation, or by way of contrast. Jesus’ apparent warning to fear the one who can destroy soul and body in Gehenna may simply be Matthew’s way to emphasise, by way of contrast, that physical death was not an ultimate evil, since risen life continues after death. On the other hand, it may be a solemn reminder, not that God punishes lack of faith by the external sanction of hell, but that God accepts, even if reluctantly, the choice of the person who freely adopts a stance against the Kingdom values of justice, mercy and forgiveness. Hell would then be the self-chosen, but eternally unsatisfying, experience of total self-absorption and unrelenting loneliness of injustice, harshness and unforgiveness. In its profound respect for human dignity, God’s love holds to accountability.

³² “All who declare themselves for me before others,

I shall declare myself for them before my Father in the heavens.

³³ All who deny me before others,

I shall deny before my Father in the heavens.

This may be another instance of Matthew’s use of the literary doublet. Here the contrast was declare for/deny. Jesus was not making two different points – he was essentially making only one, that Jesus’ person and message embodied the mind and heart of his Father. The text need not be interpreted literally as threatening that Jesus would deny the one who denied him. That would undermine all he had said previously about unconditional love and openness to forgiveness [5:43-8], and of his post-resurrection response to Peter and the other disciples.

It is uncertain whether Matthew was actually quoting the words of Jesus, or making his own gloss for the sake of emphasis. In either case, he was relentless, nevertheless, in his insistence that people put into practice what they professed and believed. Love and forgiveness do not exclude accountability.

Next >> Matthew 10:34-42