Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops

Christ the Teacher/Pantocrator, with Gospel open to John 11:25, Greek

 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!  Therefore do not fear them.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."

- Matthew 10:24-33

Yesterday we read the continuation of Jesus' teaching to the Twelve, as He sent them out on their first mission:   "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a  father his child; and the children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end will be saved.  When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

 "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master.  If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!  Therefore do not fear them.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known."  Jesus continues to warn the disciples about the persecution and hatred that is to come.  He refers back to something we read in chapter 9, that the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons by the power of demons (9:34).  My study bible notes that in today's passage, the phrase do not fear is repeated three times all together, in order to embolden the witness of the gospel in the face of adversity and difficulty.  It adds that Christian believers, both then and today as well, must neither be intimated by persecution nor fail in their mission to preach.

"Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."  My study bible says that, as Jesus tells us there is no need to fear the killing of the soul, we are to understand that souls are immortal, and ours by grace.  Fear Him is a command to fear God (Proverbs 9:10; Luke 1:50, 23:40; Acts 10:2; Colossians 3:22; 1 Peter 2:17), as God alone has the power to judge the soul.  We are instructed, by contrast, to resist the devil (James 4:7) and not to fear him.  The word for hell is literally "Gehenna."  In Jewish history, Gehenna was the valley of Hinnom; it became a place of forbidden religious practices (2 Chronicles 28:3, Jeremiah 32:35).    King Josiah stopped these practices (2 Kings 23:10).  By the time of Christ, my study bible explains, this valley had become a garbage dump that smoldered continually.  Because of such associations, Gehenna took on the connotation of eternal punishment in the afterlife.  Nevertheless, Christ's warnings regarding judgment are quite real.

In today's reading, Jesus says, " For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known," and also, "Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops."  These are sentences which express the idea of revelation, of openly showing something to the world that was previously hidden or secret, possibly known to only a few.  It tells us about the growth of the gospel, and what is coming into the world.  It also gives us a sense that the spread of the gospel is similar to the Incarnation itself.  Christ was born at night, without fanfare except for the shepherds in the hills (Luke 2:8-20), who only know because the glory and rejoicing of heaven is uncontained and made known by the angels.  Similarly, the Magi of the East, the "wise men" (Matthew 2:1-2) know because they can read the stars (also associated with angels in Scripture; see Revelation 1:20).  These things of great portent happen in ways unknown to the world, and yet they unfold to become magnificent, brilliant, a light to the world.  We might think of revelation as limited to particular things or messages, such as prophesy or the specific ways that God is revealed in Scripture.  But the truth is that through Christ's words, we should understand that the action of revelation goes on all the time, and even that we are to be a part of it.  At the end of today's passage, He says, "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven."   This is a continuation of the action of revealing what is covered, and coming to know what is hidden.  It follows upon His command that what He tells in the dark, we should speak in the light -- and that what we hear in the ear we are to preach on the housetops.  To confess, in the sense of the way the Greek word is used here,  is to express a belief, to agree.   Therefore Jesus isn't speaking specifically about witnessing; instead He's speaking about proclaiming His truth, preaching the word He has given, sharing the gospel.  He reveals that gospel to us, and we in turn may give it to others.  Our choice to either confess or deny what He offers is linked to what we choose to reveal or to help suppress; in turn His own action will be reciprocal to ours as we choose to live our lives.  Do we deny His truth?  Or do we share it?  Jesus does not present other "in between" alternatives.  In a sense, to fail to profess is similar to denial -- because we remains hidden through silence, a lack of expression in the world.  In what ways do you live the gospel and so reveal it to others?  How do we follow His commands and act on them?  What are the things you learn from your faith and then pass on to others?  Let us not keep it hidden, but profess it so that its beauty may be given to all.