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

 

 "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 

 

In our current reading, Jesus is preparing the Twelve for their first apostolic mission, before He sends them out (see this reading).  Yesterday, Jesus taught them, "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 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 is teaching His disciples not to fear those who will persecute them (see yesterday's reading, above, for His warnings about persecutions to come).  

 

 "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."   In today's reading, Jesus repeats the messages do not fear three times altogether.  My study Bible says that He does so in order to embolden the witness of the gospel in the face of adversity.  Christian believers, then and today, it says, must neither be intimidated by persecution nor fail in their mission to preach.  Moreover, that there is no need to fear the killing of the soul shows the immortality of the human soul, which is 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).  Only God has the power to judge the soul, a power invoked here as Jesus speaks of His own confession "before My Father."  My study Bible comments that Christians are instructed to resist the devil (James 4:7), but not to fear him.  Hell is literally "Gehenna."  In Jewish history, my study Bible explains, Gehenna (the Valley of Hinnom) became a place of forbidden religious practices (2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 32:35).  King Josiah put an end to those practices (2 Kings 23:10).  By the time of Christ, the valley had become a garbage dump that smoldered constantly.  Because of these associations, it notes, Gehenna acquired the connotation of eternal punishment in the afterlife.

Jesus teaches His disciples to fear God more than they would fear those who will be hostile to them.  This remains true now for us as much as it was then, and it would seem to be just as difficult for us to be mindful of such priorities.  But Christ is not inviting His disciples to court danger nor even to become involved with those who will seek to persecute them for His name's sake.  What He is emphasizing here, on the contrary, is a question of what priority they will serve in life.  Far more important to remember God, to keep in mind the essential value of the soul, than to consider temporal or worldly fears outweigh that in importance.  If we might put the question another way, it seems that we can ask ourselves what ranks in order of importance as to where our loyalty lies.  Do we respect, honor, and fear the people who would reject Christ and persecute His followers, or is it God who commands our respect, honor, and even fear -- fear in the sense that it is God who is the stronger, better power, and fear in the sense that it is God who is the Creator of all.  For that invites us to ask the question, what do we lose if we lose our relationship with God?  What do we lose if we are not in good order, or right relatedness to the One who lays the foundations of existence?  In that case, we have to fear not only the loss of our own priceless soul, but to fear an existence which is out of order with the cosmos itself, and far away and detached from God who is love and the root of love.  What would the qualities of our lives be like then, should we honor instead those who seek to persecute the ones who love Christ?  To what would we be bowing?  What would the qualities of our lives be like then?  It is an important question to answer, for to honor that fear of those who would persecute Christ is to honor a spirit of anti-Christ in some sense.  It is to give ourselves up to the fortune of the moment, the ire of those who hate, the worldly power of those whose practice is a kind of rage.  For us as Christians, it is important to draw this line -- an understanding that our worldly fears are not to be placed in significance above our love of God and Christ, for to do so is to dishonor the latter.  Christ asks His disciples to be exceptionally prudent:  to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  We are not to entertain danger nor to approach the realities of persecution with anything but awareness, shrewdness, and peace on our part.  Nonetheless, in whatever tribulation comes, we are prepared with devotion and an understanding of the sanctity of the soul and its precious value.  For in that understanding comes our highest loyalty. We must understand "fear" in this context as a kind of respect for enormous and unknown, unlimited power; in this sense, to fear God is wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).  To fear the persecutors pales in comparison, for to God our worth is also precious.  Let us weigh what is more precious to us, and where our values ultimately are to be found.