But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows

 

 "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 yesterday's reading, as Jesus was sending out the Twelve on their first apostolic mission, He 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 refers to those who would persecute the disciples.  Earlier, after His public preaching, healing, and casting out demons, the Pharisees claimed that "He casts out demons by the ruler of demons."   Thus Jesus says here that they have called the master of the house Beezebub, and suggesting if they have gone this far to claim such against Him, "how much more will they call those of his household!"  But Jesus' message is "do not fear them."  Over the next few verses He will repeat this message three times.  My study Bible says that this is to embolden the witness of the gospel in the face of adversity.  It adds that Christian believers, then and today, must neither be intimidated 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."   Jesus continues to encourage faithful witness, again repeating, "do not fear" the persecutors.  My study Bible notes that there is no need to fear the killing of the soul indicates the immortality of the human soul, which is ours by grace.  Fear Him, on the other hand, is a command to fear God (Proverbs 9:10; Luke 1:50, 23:40; Acts 10:2; Colossians 3:22, 1 Peter 2:17).  This is because only God has the power to judge the soul.  Christians are instructed to resist the devil (James 4:7), but not to fear him.  Hell is literally "Gehenna" (rendered γεέννῃ in Greek).  In Jewish history, as 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 these practices (2 Kings 23:10).  By Christ's time, this valley had become a garbage dump that smoldered ceaselessly.  Because of these associations, Gehenna acquired the connotation of eternal punishment in the afterlife.

"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."  Jesus assures the disciples, in the face of persecution to come, of their great, precious value in the eyes of God.

 

 "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."  Here is the choice.  It is a kind of question posed to us:  to whom does our loyalty belong?

In modern life, there has always seemed to be popular teachings against going along with the crowd.  When this writer was young, as children we were admonished with the question, "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?"  Nowadays because of the popularity of the internet and the experience of online bullying, children are taught that they should either stand up to bullying, or at the very least not go along with it.  They are encouraged to befriend the person who is alone, or unpopular, or picked on in school settings.  Here in today's reading, Jesus is not speaking to children, but to grown men, who've come from other professions that demanded toughness and strength (such as the fishermen) and even shrewd use of material power (Matthew the former tax collector and author of this Gospel).  But now they are sent out to bear the gospel message into the world, to preach that the kingdom of heaven at hand.  This is a mission unlike anything else they have ever done.  For this mission, they are sent out "as sheep in the midst of wolves" (see yesterday's reading, above).  They will face a persecution unlike anything they have experienced in their lives, because they enter into a spiritual battle as disciples of Christ.  This is a different kind of engagement with the world.  In this mission, Jesus has already told them, "You will be hated by all for My name's sake" (again, see yesterday's reading above).  So the admonition to remain loyal to the mission, and not to go along with or fear the persecuting crowds, becomes one of absolute importance and even absolute power:  one may kill the body but cannot kill the soul, the other is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Jesus poses this as a question of whom to fear, a notion that is perhaps unpleasant and unfamiliar to us as those who live without such persecutions to face or to experience.  But the absolute importance and grave nature of this choice remains, nevertheless, although we do not much encounter it on these terms.  Our lives are sustained by God; maybe even more significantly, our souls are sustained by God.  Whether we live in a time of great and open persecution, or a more simple personal life in which we find ourselves forced to make hard decisions based on our faith, the Cross asks us to consider such choices with the gravity Christ gives to them.  This reality still exists:  that we will have pressure from the world to go along with the crowds, and our loyalty to Christ will remain a question of what is most precious to us.  Let us understand that whether or not we wish to perceive it, the gravity of choice remains with us, as is the power of God's love and awareness of each sparrow and every hair on our head.

 

 

And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do

 

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.   

 

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

 

- Luke 11:53-12:12 

 

Yesterday we read that a certain Pharisee asked Jesus to dine with him.  So He went in and sat down to eat.  When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.  Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.  Foolish ones!  Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.  But woe to you Pharisees!  For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Woe to you Pharisees!  For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."   Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."  And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers!  For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.  Woe to you!  For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.  Therefore the wisdom of God also said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,' that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple.  Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.  Woe to you lawyers!  For you have taken away the key of knowledge.  You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."

 

And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.  This is the first time we are given an indication in the Gospel that the scribes and Pharisees begin to seek ways to catch Jesus in something He might say, so that they might accuse Him.  It's a clear indication of hostility and danger present.

 

In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known.  Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.  And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear:  Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  My study bible comments that whom you should fear refers to God (Proverbs 9:10).  Let us note that -- as commented in the paragraph above -- this is the first time in the Gospels we are distinctly told there is danger present to Jesus, in that the religious leaders now seek to find something for which they might bring an accusation against Him.  Therefore "whom you should fear" becomes a directive to His followers about where our real fear should be placed.  My study bible comments that the body will die eventually, one way or another.  It says that St. Ambrose even states that the death of the body is not itself a punishment, but rather it marks the end of earthly punishments.  The soul continues for all eternity.  Since God is the judge of the soul, our efforts even in this world are to please God alone.  Let us know also the tremendous assurance of God's love that Jesus gives here, that the very hairs of your head are all numbered."  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."   The five sparrows referred to by Christ indicate the sacrifice afforded to a poor person, and that not one of these least of all creatures which may be set apart for God is forgotten.

"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man will also confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.  And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."   To say a word against the Son of Man is explained by my study bible as meaning to reject Jesus as the Messiah.  To many, He seemed to be a mere man, before their conversion.  It says that the scandal caused by the Incarnation and Crucifixion of the Son of God (1 Corinthians 1:23) makes this sin more easily forgiven.  On the other hand, the Holy Spirit, which is without bodily form, invisibly works divine goodness.  According to St. John Chrysostom and many other patristic figures, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit would be forgivable if a person were to repent of it.  Jesus does not call this sin "unforgivable."  Rather, He makes this comment knowing that those who are blaspheming the Spirit are calling what is pure, divine goodness "evil," and that they are beyond repentance by their own choice.  

The image of the little sparrows sold for two copper coins is quite poignant for us.  Two copper coins is also the amount put into the treasury of the temple in the image spoken of by Jesus in the story of the poor widow (Mark 12:41-44).  Jesus magnifies what might seem small and broken to us into magnificent images of human dignity infused with God's power through faith.  We might consider the the power of five little sparrows given into the hands of God.  While we do not practice sacrifice as it was practiced in the temple, we nonetheless continue to understand the power of a life lived within the infusion of faith and God's power to give holiness, to sanctify.  What are the value of two copper coins, of five sparrows when given into the hands of God.  As illustrated in the story of the widow who put all she had in the treasury, God knows the extreme value of her gift.  When Jesus assures us both of the regard God has for the sparrows, and that even the very hairs of our head are numbered, He is speaking of the great value God places for each of us to be in communion with God.  If even those sparrows offered to God are precious, how much more precious are our lives in God's sight when we are willing to devote ourselves to God?  When we will to set ourselves apart -- even in a Christian sense of sacrament -- as devotion to God, then of what tremendous value can that gift be made through the power of God?  Today I heard of two young chaplains who died serving troops at the battlefront in a small Christian country defending itself against much bigger and more malicious aggressive foes.  Their lives were devoted to God, and they died in that service to God and to the world, their fellow human beings and brothers.  My study bible reminds us that each of us will die.  What does it mean that these young men passed while giving life and serving God for others, bringing the blessings of faith in battle?  How can we possibly estimate what our lives of service will do, or compare other ways to pass from this world?  Let us give careful thought what it means to serve and fear only God, for there is a place that each one of us must go to determine the great value of God placed upon our lives and what we choose -- for we are worth so much more than many sparrows.

 

 

 

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

 "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 yesterday's reading, Jesus continued speaking to the twelve, just as He was sending them out on their first apostolic 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 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.  Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops."  Jesus has just finished telling them that they must conduct themselves in a wise way, and be prudent and humble.  He has warned them about persecution that will come.  (See yesterday's reading, above.  But His conclusion regarding the persecution that they will face, just as He has faced it:   "Therefore do not fear them."  In the following verses, do not fear is repeated three times.  They are prepared for bold witness in the face of adversity.  Prudence and wisdom do not come from fear, but faith.  My study bible says that Christian believers, both then and today, must neither be intimidated by persecution nor fail in their mission to preach.  The entire gospel of Christ is a revelation of the reality of the  Kingdom.  The very nature of what they do is to reveal truth.

"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 the fact that there is no need to fear the killing of the soul shows the immortality of the human soul, which is our be grace.  Fear Him is a command to fear God (Proverbs 9:10; Luke 1:50, 23:50; Acts 10:2; Colossians 3:22; 1 Peter 2:17), because only God has the power to judge the soul.  Christians are instructed to resist the devil (James 4:7), but not to fear him.  Hell here is translated from "Gehenna."  In Jewish history, Gehenna (which was the Valley of Hinnom) became a place of forbidden religious practices (2 Chronicles 28:3; Jeremiah 32:35).  By Christ's time, my study bible says, the valley had become a garbage dump that smoldered ceaselessly.  Because of these associations, Gehenna acquired the connotation of eternal punishment in the afterlife.

"Gehenna" gives us an image of hell:  in Jesus' time it was a smoldering garbage dump, in ancient times a place of horrible practices, such as burning children alive in sacrifice, an abomination to God.  If we think of the analogy of a ceaselessly smoldering garbage dump, we get a picture of a place in which that which must be left behind or discarded as worthless is burned, and in particular that which stands in the way of union with God.  But, if we can receive it, the flames of hell are the flames of the energies of God, burning away what cannot stand in those flames and the fullness of the light of God.  And in the image of the light and the flame of God's love, we get a context for Jesus' preaching to the apostles about their bold witness even in the face of persecutions.  He has been accused of casting out demons by the ruler of demons (see this reading), and so tells the disciples that if this has been said of Him, the Master, how much more will be said of those who are of His household!  But fear has only one place in them:  it is God who must be feared alone.  In a strange sense, today's reading with its image of hell teaches us about the hell that is on earth, into which they are courageously to go to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. In the world, the One who has come to liberate is persecuted, even claimed to be one who works with the ruler of demons.   The mention of Gehenna sends into the text a message about those who are faithless to God, the practices of evil.  Later on Jesus will teach that the one sin that will stand is to call the work of the Spirit evil (Matthew 12:31-32).  Where the holy is called evil is a vision of hell.  Jesus is calling for His disciples to turn such a "hell" upside down, to boldly preach the revelation of the Kingdom in the world, in the name of the only One who is to be feared.  Persecution seeks to place fear into the hearts of the persecuted, but Jesus exhorts His followers only to fear God, and to reveal that which is given them to reveal.  "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."  Into the valley of fear, they are not to fear the world, but God alone.  The One whom they serve knows each sparrow, and the number of each hair on their heads.  Therefore they are precious members of this Kingdom, and must remember that in mission.  It's an orientation to the world that He gives them, one in which they are to be wise and prudent, to conduct themselves humbly, to have awareness of  their own weaknesses, but to fear only God.  Jesus lays it out very plainly:  "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."    We have a choice to make:  we can walk into the worldly hell and bear witness to the kingdom of heaven with our lives, or we can cower in fear of the world instead and betray our own souls.  We choose which master we serve (6:24).  His apostles are those sent out to bring the good news to the world.  Which mission do you choose to live in your life in this world?