Matthew 10:26–33
26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And 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. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 10.26–33 ESV – Bible Gateway
In the broader section this passage is in, Jesus is training and preparing the disciples for their overall mission. He is sending them out into the mission field and that fundamentally, they must rely on him to equip them with their material and spiritual needs. To prepare them that many and that will reject his message this should not deter them from preaching the message. This paragraph and the preceding paragraph is focused on the persecution they will meet and how they should deal with it.
Peter Kreeft on one of the central point:
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (John 3:19–21). If you are committing a crime, you prefer the night to the day. If you love good and hate evil, then you will love light and hate darkness, and one day there will be no more darkness, only light, and those who love God, those who love what God is, which is truth and goodness, and who hate falsehood and evil, will be totally happy because they will get only what they love and none of what they hate. That is the day when, as Jesus puts it, “nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” Fear needs darkness; in heaven there is no darkness. The more we love light, the more we will love heaven.[1]
Death avoidance is a natural human reaction. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane asked the Father to remove this cup from him, but foremost that his will be done. We are not to just rush into danger thinking that God’s providence will remove any problem. St. Joseph, in response to the Holy Spirit, moved the Holy Family to Egypt and that on return later, prudentially determined where to live to lessen any danger to them. Still, what we prioritize shows us what we value the most. If we focus only on materialistic desires, we risk our relationship with God.
363 In Sacred Scripture the term “soul” often refers to human life or the entire human person. But “soul” also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God’s image: “soul” signifies the spiritual principle in man.[2]
From Brant Pitre’s commentary on this passage:
So what Jesus is trying to get the disciples to do here is to have a rational, rather than an irrational, fear. Although most of us think it’s rational to be afraid of death, and there’s a sense in which it is, death is painful, it means an end to our natural life. What Jesus is saying is it is irrational to be more afraid of physical death, which is temporary and finite—however horrible it is, it only lasts for a time—than to be afraid of spiritual death, because spiritual death—being separated from God forever in Gehenna, the ancient Jewish name for hell, the realm of the dead—is something that’s not finite, it’s going to last forever, it’s never going to end. So what he is telling the disciples is “as you go out to preach the Gospel, there’s simply no reason to be afraid, even if your life is in danger, because by preaching the Gospel you will save your soul, and the life of your soul will last forever, whereas the life of your body in this world is only for a time and for a season. So he’s trying to turn the disciples way of looking at their lives, looking at reality, upside down and get them to see it the way God sees it, to see from God’s perspective, to see it from an eternal perspective, to understand that although they live in this world, they were made for everlasting life, they were made for eternity.[3]
He also makes a related point:
Now notice this—Jesus is so good about this with the way teaches—as soon as he brings up the fear of God, he recognizes that people can take that in the wrong way, that they could concoct out of that an image of God that would make them terrified of him, as if God is out to get us. So no sooner has he said something about the fear of God that he also talks about the providence of God, and the fatherhood of God, and the care of God for us. So what does he say next? He says “are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will [or apart from your Father’s will]. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” So no sooner has he taught them to fear God that he also wants to make sure they understand that they are not just creatures of the Creator, they are the children of a loving father.[4]
St. Thomas Aquinas makes a similar point in his commentary on Matthew:
Fear not those who only kill the body, but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell, because one ought not to be subject to God on account of fear of punishment, but on account of the love of justice, as is stated: “For you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear: but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons of God” (Rom. 8, 15).[5]
I think of St. John Paul II’s constant refrain: “Be not afraid!”
“Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch…. I plead with you—never, ever give up on hope, never doubt, never tire, and never become discouraged. Be not afraid.”
I also think of another Pope, the first one, Peter. On the night Jesus was arrested, it was fear of arrest and torture that partly drove his denial of Jesus that night. He is transformed on the day of Pentecost and his fear of physical evil was diminished. His will was united with Christ’s will. He would not only face opposition, but be moved to speak against the authorities that had imprisoned him. Jesus said “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Peter denied him, but would go on to acknowledge him before men. Our failures and our brokenness are not a permanent state when we repent before Jesus, who knows are value.
St. Hilary of Poitiers. For it is an unworthy task to number things that are to perish. Therefore that we should know that nothing of us should perish, we are told that our very hairs are numbered. No accident then that can befal our bodies is to be feared; thus He adds, Fear not, ye are better than many sparrows.[6]
Sources
- Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition
- Catholic Productions, Commentaries by Brant Pitre
- St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew
- Catena Aurea Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers, Volume 1 St. Matthew – Verbum
- Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
- Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul: Reflections on the Mass Readings Cycle A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time ↩
- Catholic Church. (2000). Catechism of the Catholic Church (2nd Ed). United States Catholic Conference. ↩
- Catholic Productions, Brant Pitre, Year A, 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time ↩
- ibid ↩
- St. Thomas Aquinas Commentary on the Gospel of St. Matthew, Dolorosa Press ↩
- St. Thomas Aquinas. Catena Aurea: Commentary on the Four Gospels, Collected out of the Works of the Fathers: St. Matthew, St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, A.D. 354. ↩
