Saturday in the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 15, 2023

Matthew 10, 24-33

Jesus said to his Apostles: “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household! “Therefore do not be afraid of them. 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.”

The Lord continues his instruction of the Apostles before sending them out on their first mission.

In today’s Gospel Reading, the Lord speaks using the understanding held in ancient times that the one who precedes in one way precedes in all ways.  Knowing this helps us to know the Lord’s meaning when he later asks the question regarding Psalm 110: “How do the scribes say that Christ is the son of David? For David himself says by the Holy Spirit: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. David therefore himself calls him ‘Lord’. And whence is he then his son?” (Mark 12:35–37).  That is, since if David calls the Messiah his “son”, the Messiah cannot be greater than David.  But the Messiah is greater than David.  He is the “Son of Man” written about in the Book of Daniel.  Therefore, David could not be the “father” of the Messiah: God is.  So here, using this way of thinking, the Lord says, “No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master.”  That is, it is impossible for the student to be superior to his teacher and the slave to his master.  Now, that history provides us proof that many men and women exceeded their teachers is plain to see, but the Lord speaks according to the thinking of the people to whom he addresses his teaching.  And, because none of those whom he taught could surpass him in wisdom and knowledge, he says: “. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master.”  They become like them in their knowledge and ability through constant exposure to their teachings, opinions, and manner of behavior.  Thus, St. Paul says to the Christians of Corinth: “Be followers of me, as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11, 1).  And Jesus himself to his followers: “Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and humble of heart” (Matthew 11, 29).  He says, “Learn of me”, which is, Learn to be like me.  This teaching about teachers and students and masters and slaves leads to this saying: “If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household!”  If you look and act and think like your teacher or master, do not be surprised if you are treated with the same honor or derision with which others treat your teacher and master.  Only, hold firm: “Therefore do not be afraid of them.”

“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.”  The Lord means that at the end of the world, all will see who the Son of Man’s true servants are, and their glory shall be like his.  At the same time, the Lord counsels his Apostles to preach all that he has told them.  There are to be no secret teachings, or wisdom reserved for an elect, as in the gnostic and pagan sects current at the time.  Because the Lord does this himself, he can say to the leaders of the Jews: “I have spoken openly to the world. I have always taught in the synagogue and in the Temple, where all the Jews resort: and in secret I have spoken nothing” (John 18, 20).  Nothing is withheld so that a person’s salvation would be impeded or lost because of this.

“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.”  He says, Do not be afraid of your persecutors, whose power I’d limited to this world.  If you are going to be afraid of anyone, be afraid of the one whose power is unlimited and can kill both body and soul.  But do not be afraid of your Father, who treasures you: “All the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid.”

“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.”  Personal allegiance was seen as exceedingly important in ancient times and remained so up until modern times when it has been replaced by threats and promises backed up by the ability to know a person’s words and movements through technological means.  But long ago, it was important to publicly acknowledge your allies and those to whom you owed fealty in such places as the marketplace or any meeting place.  In those times, a person’s identity was bound up with another’s, making personal betrayal the worst crime imaginable, and the one most ruthlessly punished.  To “acknowledge” the Lord Jesus, then, means to profess allegiance to him and also to imitate him in every possible way, no matter the consequences from his enemies.  As St. Peter wrote years later while in Rome, “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2, 21).