The Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 25, 2023

Matthew 10, 26–33

Jesus said to the Twelve: “Fear no one. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” 

In this part of his Gospel, St. Matthew is recording how the Lord Jesus prepared his Apostles to preach to the cities and towns in Galilee and Judea.  He has given them them specific instructions on what to take with them, how to act while on mission, and what to say.  The verses that make up today’s Gospel Reading, however, may actually come from a later time, during the forty days after the Resurrection, when the Lord was preparing the Apostles to go out to the world.  If this is correct, then Matthew adds them on to the instructions the Lord gives his Apostles at the an earlier time during his Public Life because the content is similar and it seemed to to him to fit there.  The reason for thinking this possible is that the Lord is sending the Twelve to nearby localities where they will not experience the persecution he speaks of here — they are just dipping their toes in the preaching life that they will know after Pentecost.  But whether Jesus spoke these words in the order we have them or indeed after the Resurrection, their meaning does not change for us.

“Fear no one.”  The Lord tells this to the Apostles who will be confronted by resistance, mockery, and both religious and civil authority.  A message which ought to cause universal rejoicing will be seen by many as a threat.

“Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.  What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”  This verse seems detached from “Do not fear”, but this addresses another fear, that the machinations and persecutions of the wicked will prevent the Gospel from being preached.  The Lord is saying, Do not worry, for the Gospel will be made known to everyone, everywhere.  Just do as I tell you.

“And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.”  The Lord returns to the subject of fear for their personal safety.  Down through the ages, from the time Adam and Eve lost immortality for the human race, people viewed death as the worst possible thing that could happen to a person.  They viewed it this way because death meant the end, extinction, though a person’s “shade” might persist for a time.  The Lord, however, revealed that the life of this world amounted to only the beginning of life for those who believed in God.  And this new life would make us forget about the pains of this life: “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed to us” (Romans 8, 18).  The soul, Jesus reveals, is beyond the power of any man because it is in the hands of God.  “Be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.”  It is God alone who has power over the soul, and he will allow those who persevere in wickedness to suffer the consequences of their actions in hell.  “Gehenna” is a valley outside the city of Jerusalem into which trash was thrown and often burnt.  It was also a place where, during the time of the Kingdom of Judea, wicked priests and kings offered human sacrifices to pagan gods (cf. 2 Chronicles 28, 3).

“Even all the hairs of your head are counted.”  Each of us is fully accounted for in God’s marvelous Providence, and he dwells through his grace in each believer.  He knows us intimately and thoroughly.  He knows every action we have performed, no matter how slight and unconscious, and every reason for it: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O Lord, you know it through and through (Psalm 139:3-4).”

“Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.”  The Greek word translated here as “acknowledge” also has the meanings of “profess”, “confess”, and “praise”. Any of these options work better than the vague “acknowledge”.  One “acknowledges” the existence of another, but to “profess”, “confess”, or to “praise” express knowledge of another and allegiance to him.  We confess and praise God through our good deeds as well as verbally.  In fact, we act like Christians without regard for what anyone else thinks.  The reward for this is that our Lord will praise us before his Father in the life to come.  We ought to dwell on this, that the infinite and all-powerful Son of God who died for our sins will praise you and me for the comparatively little things we did for him here on earth!

We have no reason to fear anyone but have every reason to rejoice always (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17).