Matthew 10:26–33
Jesus said to his apostles: “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground unperceived by your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. 'Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”
Commentary
The scene of today’s Gospel is Galilee, where Jesus continues his teaching to his fellow countrymen, the Jews. The Jews are pious people and learn about their history and God teaching when they are young. In Jesus’ time, there had already been many schools of Judaism and a number of well-known rabbis. So, what exactly Jesus teaches? To put it simple, Jesus’ teaching is new because he transforms the ancestral religion of the Jews, and in fact, all religions.
Jesus’ teaching in Galilee is a historical event. The beginning of today’s Gospel says: “Jesus said to his apostles….” It is an eye-witnessed event. Further, his teaching will be carried forward by his apostles. We are his apostles just as true as Peter, Matthew, John and James in Jesus’ time. Thus, his teaching in Galilee is relevant to them and us as well despite time and space.
Let us join the apostles in Galilee and listen to Jesus’ teaching. In our listening, we take note where these teaching take place in my life today? Why? and how?
Frist, we must be reminded that today’s Gospel is set in the context of Matthew 10:24-25, where Jesus has warned the apostles that they will be persecuted as he was. In this context, we know that Jesus encourages those whom have been unfairly condemned by telling them that do not be afraid of those who persecuting you unfairly.
When we are being condemned unfairly, we sometimes don’t know how to defend out honesty, or what to say when we are protecting the good name of other, or we are not sure what others will say about us. But Jesus assures us that for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. With is encouragement, we can be in peace because we trust that the truth will be revealed in God’s time.
It is when we are afraid no more we can then proclaim the good news. We can only proclaim publicly from what we learned from Jesus privately. “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops (verse 27)” is a mission for us. In this sense, our faith is never private but with apostolate dimension to proclaim the good news and serve mankind.
“Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (verse 28).” Most of us understand the meaning of the first part of this verse that we should not be afraid of human judgment but God’s judgment. However, attention should also be paid to the second half of this verse that if we are so afraid of human judgments we can end up in the “hell” created by our own fear thus destroying our soul as well.
It seems that we are trapped in a hopeless situation because being humans, we can all be afraid of something. As in all Jesus’ teaching, having pointed out our desperate situation that we cannot save our own skin, he tells us the good news that God the Father come to our rescue. He reminds us that we are more precious than all creatures created by the Father. If we acknowledge Jesus before all others, Jesus also will acknowledge us before the Father. However, if we deny him before others, Jesus also will deny us before the Father in heaven.
If we read this reminder carefully and contemplatively, we soon understand that it is not God forsakes us, but we forsake him because of our pride. So, let us pray for humility today. Amen.