Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:21
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against [their] parents, and cause them to be put to death.
21. the father the child ] The history of persecutions for religion affords many instances of this. It is true even of civil disputes. Thucydides, describing the horrors of the Corcyrean sedition, says (3:82), “The ties of relationship became weaker than those of party.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And the brother shall deliver up the brother … – Were there no evidence that this had been done, it would scarcely be credible. The ties which bind brothers and sisters, and parents and children together, are so strong that it could scarcely be believed that division of sentiment on religious subjects would cause them to forget these tender relations. Yet history assures us that this has been often done. If this be so, then how inexpressibly awful must be the malignity of the human heart by nature against religion! Nothing else but this dreadful opposition to God and his gospel ever has induced or ever can induce people to violate the most tender relations, and consign the best friends to torture, racks, and flames. It adds to the horrors of this, that those who were put to death in persecution were tormented in the most awful modes that human ingenuity could devise. They were crucified; were thrown into boiling oil; were burned at the stake; were roasted slowly over coals; were compelled to drink melted lead; were torn in pieces by beasts of prey; were covered with pitch and set on fire. Yet, dreadful as this prediction was, it was fulfilled; and, incredible as it seems, parents and children, husbands and wives, were found wicked enough to deliver up each other to these cruel modes of death on account of attachment to the gospel. Such is the opposition of the heart of man to the gospel! That hostility which will overcome the strong ties of natural affection, and which will be satisfied with nothing else to show its power, can be no slight opposition to the gospel of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 10:21
The disciple is not above his Master.
The Master and His disciple
Jeremy Taylor, in exhorting to patience the afflicted of his day, many of whom were sufferers for conscience sake from loyalty to Church and king, reminded them that they had seen their sovereign (the unfortunate Charles the First) imprisoned and put to death, and that he had borne his misfortunes with exemplary fortitude. Guatemala the sovereign of Mexico, whom the Spanish conquerors in their cruel greed tortured to make him show them treasures they believed him to have concealed, bore all they inflicted upon him with stoical heroism. One of his followers, also put to the torture, complained of his treatment, and was disposed to give way, at which the chief reproachfully exclaimed, And I too, am I upon a bed of roses? or, as it ought perhaps to be more literally rendered, Am I enjoying the luxury of the bath? If the example of suffering patience in an earthly monarch be so powerful, how much more when it is set us by the King of kings?
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 21. And the brother shall deliver up the brother, c.] What an astonishing enmity is there in the soul of man against God and goodness! That men should think they did God service, in putting to death those who differ from them in their political or religious creed, is a thing that cannot be accounted for but on the principle of an indescribable depravity.
O shame to men! devil with devil damn’d
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational though under hope
Of heavenly grace; and, God proclaiming peace,
Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife
Among themselves, and levy cruel wars,
Wasting the earth, each other to destroy!
PAR. Lost, b. ii. l. 496.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Luke speaketh much the same, Luk 21:16,17, though as spoken upon another occasion. Our Saviour here tells them, that the persecutions would reach even to death itself, and that the malice of the world against him and his gospel should proceed so far, as to extinguish all natural affection, between brethren, and parents, and children, and that they would meet with a multitude of enemies (for that is here meant by all, not every individual man, as in a multitude of other scriptures). The root of all persecution is hatred.
For my names sake; for preaching or professing of my gospel, and living up to the rule of it, Act 4:18; 5:41. This is that which Peter calleth suffering as a Christian, 1Pe 4:16. And by this phrase he doth not only admonish them of their duty, to see that they suffered for his names sake, but also encourage them from the honourable cause of their suffering, it was for his names sake. He also addeth another argument: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. There shall be an end of these sufferings, if they end not in your lifetime they will end with your lives, and if you continue to the end you shall be saved. It is neither true patience, nor will it be profitable, if it holdeth not out to the end, Mar 13:13; 1Co 9:24; Heb 3:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. And the brother shall deliver upthe brother to death, and the father the child: and the childrenshall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put todeathfor example, by lodging information against them with theauthorities. The deep and virulent hostility of the old nature andlife to the newas of Belial to Christwas to issue in awfulwrenches of the dearest ties; and the disciples, in the prospect oftheir cause and themselves being launched upon society, are hereprepared for the worst.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death,…. Christ having fortified the minds of his disciples by the foregoing promises of divine influence and assistance, proceeds to open more largely and particularly the sorrows, troubles, and afflictions they must expect would attend the faithful ministration of his Gospel; as, that the true followers of Christ should not only be persecuted and betrayed, and delivered up into the hands of the civil magistrate, by persons that were strangers to them; but even by their nearest relations, brethren, whom the nearness of blood, should oblige to the tenderest regards to each other, to the securing of property and preserving of life: these should deliver up those that were so nearly related to them in the bonds of consanguinity, into the hands persecuting men in power, in order to be put to death; than which scarce anything can be more barbarous and unnatural, though the next instances exceed it:
and the father the child, and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. The father laying aside his natural affection for his child, whom he has begotten, and brought up, and has took so much care of, and delight in, and perhaps his only one, his son aud heir; and yet, professing a faith different from his, such is his blind zeal and bigotry, that, breaking through all the ties of parental relation and affection, he delivers him up into the hands of wicked magistrates, to put him to death: and, on the other hand, children, forgetting the bonds they are in, and the obligations they lie under to their aged parents, rise up against them, and either with their own hands murder them, or appear as witnesses against them, and give their hearty consent to the taking away of their lives; even of them who have been the means and instruments of bringing them into the world, and of bringing them up in it. This shows the sad corruption of human nature, its enmity to the Gospel of Christ, and the inveterate malice and hatred of Satan against Christ, and his interest. Something like this is said by the Jews themselves, as what shall be in the times of the Messiah; for a little before his coming, or in the age in which the son of David comes, they say,
“the son shall deal basely by his father, the daughter shall rise up against her mother–a man’s enemies shall be of his own household; the face of that generation shall be as the face of a dog; and the son shall not reverence his father g.”
g Misn. Sota, c. 9. sect. 15.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death,” (paradiosei de adelphon eis thanaton) “Then a brother will deliver up a brother to death,” by giving official information or testimony against his own brother, to cause him to be executed; Mic 7:6. Bigotry will break through ties of family lines, Mic 5:7; Luk 21:16; Mat 10:35-36.
2) “And the father the child:” (kai pater teknon) “And a father a child,” a father shall betray or give over his small child to these false prophets in sheep’s clothes, in official garb of Magistrates, Synagogue Rulers, Governors and Kings.
3) “And the children shall rise up against their parents,” (kai epanastesontai: tekna eip goneis) “And children will stand up against parents,” as witnesses of turncoat nature, that will betray, give over their own parents to execution, even thinking they are doing God’s service, Joh 16:2.
4) “And cause them to be put to death.” (kai thanatosousin autos) “And will put them to death,” or as primary witness will cause their parents to be put to death.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Mat 10:21
. And the brother will deliver up the brother to death. He first gives warning what heavy calamities await them, and then adds a remarkable consideration, which sweetens all their bitterness. First, he announces that those circumstances which other men find to be the means of protection, or from which they obtain some relief, will prove to the disciples a fresh addition to their misery. Brothers, who ought to assist them when oppressed, to stretch out their hand to them amidst their distresses, and to watch over their safety, will be their mortal enemies.
It is a mistake however, to suppose that it happens to none but believers to be delivered up to death by their brethren: for it is possible that a father may pursue his son with holy zeal, (590) if he perceives him to have apostatized from the true worship of God; nay, the Lord enjoins us in such a case (Deu 13:9) to forget flesh and blood, and to bestow all our care on vindicating the glory of his name. (591) Whoever has fear and reverence for God will not spare his own relatives, but will rather choose that all of them should perish, if it be found necessary, than that the kingdom of Christ should be scattered, the doctrine of salvation extinguished, and the worship of God abolished. If our affections were properly regulated, there would be no other cause of just hatred among us.
On the other hand, as Christ not only restores the kingdom of God, and raises godliness to its full vigor, but even brings men back from ruin to salvation, nothing can be more unreasonable than that the ministers of so lovely a doctrine should be hated on his account. A thing so monstrous, and so contrary to nature, might greatly distress the minds of simple men: (592) but Christ foretells that it will actually take place.
(590) “ Par un zele sainct et plaisant a Dieu;” — “by a zeal that is holy and pleasing to God.”
(591) “ De maintenir la gloire de son nom, a fin que punition soit faite de l’outrage commis contre sa majeste;” — “to maintam the glory of his name, that punishment may be inflicted on the outrage comnntted against his majesty.”
(592) “ Les gens simples, et d’esprit paisible;” — “simple people, and of peaceable dispositions.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(21) The brother.The nouns are in the Greek without the article, brother shall deliver up brother, and are thus, perhaps, more forcible as statements of what should happen often. Our English idiom, however, allows the use of the article with nearly the same meaning. The words reproduce almost verbally the prophecy of Mic. 7:6, and are there followed by the prophets expression of his faith, Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation, answering to the endurance of which our Lord speaks in the next verse.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
21. Brother shall deliver up the brother to death Persecution shall arise, in which all natural ties shall be disregarded. These predictions were amply fulfilled in the first ages of Christianity. Shall deliver up Shall give information of them to the magistrate, and shall surrender them to the officer or government in pursuit of them. Children shall rise up against their parents The children shall start up, accuse their parents of being Christians, and cause them to be put to death.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.”
Jesus then moves His attention from the judges to the ones who will cause His disciples, and those who hear and respond to them, to be judged, or indeed might judge them themselves by popular opinion on the basis of Deu 13:1-11. Considering that He Himself was almost put to death by His own neighbours in Nazareth (Luk 4:28-30, something be it noted that we only know of because of Luke), it was very likely that in hot-headed, fanatical Galilee He would expect similar things to happen to others. And while these words might appear to us as extreme, they are in fact simply indicating that these people will call on the Scriptures, as interpreted by them, to support them in what they do (Deu 13:1-11; Deu 18:20), and will act accordingly, for these verses in Deuteronomy specifically included instructions as to what they should do to close relations whom they saw as apostasising, and they tie in with what Jesus is saying here (Mat 13:6-11). Thus Jesus is simply saying that they will treat His disciples and their own kin in accordance with their view of them as false prophets and conveyers of false teaching, and that by proclaiming Jesus the disciples must recognise that they will be in danger of being treated as apostates. (The putting to death might have been largely figurative for ‘treating them as dead’, but it must be seen as very likely that some did ‘disappear’ at the hands of lynch mobs or particularly zealous fanatics. Deaths were much easier to arrange in those days, especially if no one complained. And rightly worded accusations to the civil authorities as reactionaries and conspirators might well have occasionally resulted in the death penalty).
It is true that His language may be intended to be extravagant in order to get over the point (as in Mat 5:21 onwards), for to a certain extent they would be restrained by Roman law, but it was certainly not beyond a possibility, and it echoed such behaviour in the Old Testament (Mic 7:6; Isa 66:5; compare Psa 50:20). The main point behind it, however, is as a vivid warning to the disciples that all those who followed Him must expect to be treated like false prophets.
It is also true that there might well be something deliberately prophetic about it, as Jesus saw ahead into the future, and recognised that the restraint of Rome would not always be present, but He certainly had good cause to recognise that it could happen even now in the present to these brave men whom He was sending out into the virtual unknown with a message that would arouse strong feelings.
Note how these words parallel their being brought before Jewish courts and beaten in synagogues. All will be for similar reasons, the hatred of many Jews for Jesus and His words.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Persecution in the family circle:
v. 21. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child; and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
v. 22. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake. But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. The indescribable depravity of man’s heart, causing such hatred of the purity of the Gospel, severing the closest natural ties, turning the members of the same household into mortal enemies: brother against brother, father against child; actual insurrection of children against parental authority leading to murder; all natural and family affections forgotten. The world as such has always hated the servants of Christ, and the generality of the hatred toward them has in no wise been modified, even though there is a good deal of prating about toleration. In times of unusual stress, even now, hatred of the pure Gospel and its heralds will spread over the earth like an infectious fever and will readily burst forth in persecution at the slightest apparent provocation. But again: It is for His sake, and therefore a privilege rather than a trial. And Christ holds out the promise of a reward of mercy to stimulate a cheerful courage. He that perseveres, that has enduring patience to the end when the deliverance will come (for the trial will be neither momentary nor perpetual), shall find salvation awaiting him, Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10; Rev 3:11-12.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 10:21. And the brother shall deliver up, &c. “Such is the nature of the men among whom ye are going, and such the obstinacy with which they will oppose the Gospel, that, were it their brother, their father, or their son who preached it, they would make no scruple of being active in putting these nearest relationsto death. You may therefore expect the hottest persecution; but as you are to have great assistances, you need not be dismayed.” See the next note.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:21 . Comp. Mic 7:6 .
.] not merely before the judges, but generally. It is the expression in classical Greek for rebellious rising ( , 2Ki 3:4 ; Krger, ad Dion . p. 55); in Greek authors usually with the dative, also with .
] take away life (Mat 26:59 ), i.e. bring about their execution. A vivid expression . Comp. also Mat 27:1 . The reason of this hostile treatment is self-evident, but may be further seen from Mat 10:22 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
6. Severity of the impending Persecution, to the extent of breaking the bonds of Natural Relationship. Greatness of the Persecution, its measure, and glorious end. Mat 10:21-22
21And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child:27 and the children shall rise up against their parents,28 and cause them to be put to death. 22And ye shall be hated of [by] all men29 for my names sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat 10:21. Will rise up, .The verb means insurrection in the strictest sense,being in this case equally directed against parental authority and the Spirit of Christ. This inward rebellion leads to the corresponding outward sin of parricide, either by delivering up parents to the magistrates, or by inciting fanatical vengeance. Again, the brother and the father show their hatred to their brother or child by the , or delivering them up to deatha term which also implies treason and vileness.
Mat 10:22. Ye shall be hated by all.This strong expression (though without the article) indicates the generality of the hatred toward Christ. It will spread over the world like an infectious fever, or a pestilence, and furnish the material with which, on any given occasion, the fire of persecution may be lit up.
For My names sake;i. e., purely on account of their Christian profession, and not on account of the personal blemishes and errors which may mingle with it.
But he that endurethviz., faithful to his professionto the end.To the individual, the end is martyrdom by death, or else deliverance; to the Church as a whole, the end is the complete victory of its distinctive confession of Christ over the hatred of the world. In both these respects sufferings shall have an end. There are different interpretations of the expression (the end of these sufferings; of life; the destruction of Jerusalem, etc.).30Shall be saved.Here very emphatically, absolutely . The end of this way is salvation (Luk 21:19), while every side-path leads to destruction.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
Christianity is based on a new spiritual relationship, and its effectsof love or of hatredare much stronger and wider than the natural bonds which connect human society. Hence hatred of the gospel assumes a demoniac shape, and wickedly dissolves all the sacred bonds of nature. But even this fearful outburst must not shake the confidence of believers in the holy Name which they profess. It only serves to convince them of the depth of human corruption. In the name of Christ they shall ultimately succeed in transforming the natural bonds which connect man to man, and by the love of Christ shall they overcome the hatred of the world. Not that Christianity itself endangers the bonds of natural relationship, but that it becomes the innocent occasion of such hatred. But here also the name of Christ shall prevail, and a higher bond of unity shall bind together His own.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Hatred of Christ is necessarily murderous in its character,1. because Christ is life; 2. because sin is real death.The two great forms in which hatred of Christ appears, are betrayal and rebellion.Profession of Christ revealing the deep ruin of the world, as apparent in the hatred of Jesus and His people.The hatred and persecution of the gospel an evidence of its power and loftiness.Fanaticism in its relation to faith: 1. It dissolves all the bonds of life and of love, but imputes the blame of it to faith; 2. it leads a man to acts of betrayal, of rebellion, and of murder, while he imagines that he is offering services acceptable to God; 3. it institutes a community of hatred in opposition to the community of love, and mistakes the fire of hell for a sacred flame of heaven; 4. it appears in the guise of religion, but for the purpose of banishing Christ and His religion from the earth.Final preservation of all things in Christ, despite the enmity of the world. 1. The family and friendship shall be preserved, though dissolved in various ways; 2. humanity, despite its enmity; 3. our own life, although we surrender it.But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.Faithfulness to the Lord the condition of safety.
Starke:There is no hatred in the world so great as that against Christ and His members.The world imputes every evil to Christians, although itself is the sole cause of it.God has put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.
Lisco:In measure as these sufferings are painful, the reward is glorious. 1. The sufferings: a. persecution by our nearest relatives; b. general hatred. 2. The reward: deliverance, blessedness.
Heubner:It is evidence of the highest love to renounce love for the sake of Christ.
Footnotes:
[23] Mat 10:19.[Dr. Lange reads with Codd. B., E., Sinait., etc., and Lachmann , tradiderint, instead of , tradent.P. S.]
[24] Mat 10:19.[ . Comp. the exegetical note on Mat 6:25, p. 133, and the remark of Maldonatus in loc.: Non omnem prcedentem meditationem vetat; sed eam qu diffldentiam divin providenti et opis habeat, quque nimio metu ac sollicitudine liberam Evangelii prdicutionem impediat Bengel: Una, non Scurandi, cura sit. Non omnis prparatio ex eo nobis prohibetur. 1Ti 4:15; coll. Luk 21:14; 1Co 14:26.P. S.]
[25] Mat 10:19.Some Codd., D., L., al., omit the words from to , probably misled by the similarity of sound with the preceding.
[26][In German: Geistliche Schnrednerei, for which know no English equivalent.P. S.]
[27] Mat 10:21.[Dr. Conant omits the art. as in Greek, and renders: And brother will (for shall) deliver up brother to death, and father child. But the latter clause shows that it will not do in English. The N. T. of the Am. Bible Union has restored the article before every noun. Lange also gives the art.P. S. ]
[28] Mat 10:21.[Here where the plural is used, it is better to omit the art.: children will rise up against parents . So Conant, N. T. of the A. B. U., Lange (Kinder gegen Eltern).P. S.]
[29] Mat 10:22.[The interpolated men of the C. V. is quite unnecessary.P. S.]
[30][Enduring to the end is the proper evidence of the reality and solidity of the Christian profession, drawing back unto perdition exposes the want of foundation. It often occurs in connection with similar warnings, Mat 24:13 (he that shall endure unto the end); 1Co 1:8 (confirm you unto the end); Heb 3:6 (firm unto the end); Mat 3:14 (steadfast unto the end); Mat 6:11; Mat 10:23; Mat 10:26-29; Rev 2:26 (who keepeth my works unto the end). The phrase has therefore obviously a universal applicability to all believers, and to the end of individual life ( = finis vit) But this does not exclude a special reference to great future epochs in a prophetical discourse like this (comp. Mat 10:23). Hence may be referred directly to the destruction of Jerusalem (comp. Mat 10:23; Mat 24:13), and indirectly to the final judgment which was foreshadowed and typified by the former. So , likewise, was literally fulfilled in the timely escape of the Christians from the doomed city by Divine admonition, and will be absolutely fulfilled in the everlasting salvation. Compare the prophetic discourses of the Saviour in Matthew 24 and Commentary.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Ver. 21. And the brother shall deliver up the brother ] As Alphonsus Diazius did his own brother John at Neoberg, in Germany. So, Doctor London made Filmer, the martyr’s own brother, witness against him, cherishing him with meat and money, and telling him he should never lack as long as he lived, &c. So, one Woodman was delivered by his own brother into his enemy’s hands. Of him and other martyrs burnt with him, White, Bishop of Winchester after Gardiner, falsely affirmed in a sermon, Good people, these men deny Christ to be God, and the Holy Ghost to be God, &c. In the civil wars of France, the sons fought against their fathers, and brothers against brothers, and even women took up arms on both sides for defence of their religion. This is the effect of the gospel of peace, but by accident.
And the father the child ] As Philip, King of Spain, who said he had rather have no subjects than heretics, as he called them: and, out of a bloody zeal, suffered his eldest son Charles to be murdered by the cruel Inquisition, because he seemed to favour the Protestant side.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
21. ] Spoken perhaps of official information given against Christians, as there are no female relations mentioned. But the general idea is also included.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 10:21-22
21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against his parents and cause them to be put to death. 22You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.
Mat 10:21 This speaks of the radical commitment necessary for discipleship which supersedes even family love and often caused confrontation within families (cf. Mat 10:34-39).
Mat 10:22 “you will be hated by all because of My name” Persecution was expected for disciples of Jesus (cf. Mat 5:10-12; Joh 15:18-21; Joh 16:1-3; Joh 17:14; Act 14:22; Rom 5:3-4; Rom 8:17; 2Co 4:16-18; 2Co 6:3-10; 2Co 11:23-30; Php 1:29; 1Th 3:3; 2Ti 3:12; Jas 1:2-4; and all of 1 Peter.
SPECIAL TOPIC: WHY DO CHRISTIANS SUFFER?
“it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved” The doctrine of the “perseverance” (see Special Topic below) is as biblical as “the security of the believers!” (cf. Mat 24:13; Gal 6:9; Rev 2:7; Rev 2:11; Rev 2:17; Rev 2:26; Rev 3:5; Rev 3:12; Rev 21:7). We must affirm both truths, even though they cause doctrinal tension! Doctrines are given in tension-filled relationship to other doctrines, not isolated truths. The best illustration is that biblical truth is revealed as constellations of stars, not as single stars. We must focus on the patterns of the whole of biblical revelation.
“End” (telos) refers to the end of this age (cf. Mat 24:6; Mat 24:13-14). “Saved” can be understood in its OT sense of physical deliverance or its NT sense of spiritual salvation.
SPECIAL TOPIC: PERSEVERANCE
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
child . . . children. Greek plural of teknon. App-108.
against. Greek. epi. App-104. Not the same as in Mat 10:18.
cause them to be put to death = will put them to death.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
21.] Spoken perhaps of official information given against Christians, as there are no female relations mentioned. But the general idea is also included.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:21. , the brother) Those who are most near, are most easily divided.-, shall cause to be put to death) By an atrocious death, even by the agency of the magistrates.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
the brother shall: Mat 10:34-36, Mat 24:10, Mic 7:5, Mic 7:6, Zec 13:3, Mar 13:12, Mar 13:13, Luk 12:51-53, Luk 21:16, Luk 21:17
the children: 2Sa 16:11, 2Sa 17:1-4, Job 19:19
Reciprocal: Job 19:14 – kinsfolk Psa 3:1 – many Psa 27:10 – When Psa 31:11 – especially Psa 50:20 – thine own Psa 69:8 – and an alien Jer 9:4 – ye heed Jer 11:21 – that seek Jer 12:6 – thy brethren Jer 13:14 – even Jer 15:10 – a man Dan 11:33 – yet Zec 11:6 – deliver Mal 2:10 – why Mat 10:35 – General Mar 13:11 – and deliver Luk 12:53 – General Act 5:33 – took Act 9:16 – I will Act 14:22 – we 1Co 15:19 – of all 1Ti 1:9 – murderers 2Ti 3:3 – natural Rev 6:11 – until
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:21
The same oposition to truth that would bring the apostles into the courts, will also divide between the members of families. This prediction is made specifically in Luk 12:53 where Jesus is speaking of the results of his teaching.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:21. And. The heavenly Father aids; the human relatives may persecute.
Deliver up. Become informers. The first prophecy of actual martyrdom. The idea of persecution in general is of course included.
Shall rise up. A strong word, implying first, rebellion against parental authority, and then, in this connection, a parricidal course of conduct.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour goes on in a farther discovery of the world’s hatred and enmity against the gospel, and the preachers of it; and gives all Christians in general, and his ministers in particular, to understand, that such is the enmity of the world against holiness, and the professors of it, that it will overcome and extinguish even the natural affections of the mearest and dearest relations towards each other. Grace teaches us to lay down our lives for the brethren, but corruption teaches a brother to take away the life of a brother; The brother shall deliver the brother to death.
Yet observe, Our Saviour comforts his disciples that there will be an end of these sufferings; and assures them, that if their faith and patience did hold out unto the end, they should be saved. This is our comfort, that if our sufferings for Christ end not in our lifetime, they will end with our lives.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 10:21. And the brother, who believeth not, shall deliver up the believing brother to death, and the father the child, &c. As if he had said, All the wisdom and justice of your apologies, though divinely inspired, will not disarm the malice of your unreasonable enemies, which shall prevail to such a degree as even to triumph over natural affection, and break asunder the strictest bonds of social life: for the nearest relations shall betray one another, not only to some slighter punishments, but even to violent and tormenting deaths. And fathers shall thus become the murderers, instead of being the guardians and protectors, of their children: and children, on the other hand, forgetting all the obligations of filial duty and affection, shall rise up, as witnesses, against their own parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men Namely, of all that know not God. You, my apostles, notwithstanding all the humanity of your character, and benevolent design of your office, shall be the objects of general aversion, censure, and persecution, and all this for my names sake That is, for your attachment to me and my cause, though it be the cause of righteousness and truth, of the redemption and salvation of the human race. But he that endureth to the end shall be saved But be not discouraged at the prospect of these trials, for he that perseveres in the faith and practice of the gospel, and who bears constantly and with invincible patience these persecutions, (which my grace is sufficient to enable you all to do,) shall be finally and eternally saved from all sin and misery, into the kingdom and glory of God: whatever extremities he may be called to suffer in this world, God will not only deliver him from the destruction which shall come upon the wicked, but will repay his fidelity with unspeakable and everlasting felicity in the next.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Brother shall deliver the brother to death, &c. Because they believe in Me and preach Me. Christ fortifies beforehand the Apostles and believers by predicting the persecutions which they were about to suffer from their unbelieving relations, who (forgetful of natural ties and affections) would persecute them even unto death. As Bede says, “He foretold the future trouble, in order that, being known beforehand, they might more easily bear it.” “For the darts which are seen coming are less likely to strike,” says S. Hilary. As examples of the fulfilment of these words, S. Barbara was killed by her own father for the faith of Christ. So, too, was S. Christina. S. Lucia was accused by her own son Euprepius of being a Christian, and was crowned by the judge with the martyr’s laurel on the 16th of September, A.D. 303. S. Wenceslas, prince of Bohemia, was treacherously killed by his brother Boleslas and his mother Drahomira, who were unbelievers. The Emperor Maximian caused his sister Artemias, a Christian, and Diocletian, his wife Serena, Pope S. Caius, and his brother S. Gabinus, with his holy daughter Susanna, his cousins, to suffer martyrdom because they were Christians.
And ye shall be hated of all men, &c. All-that is, many, almost all, as was wont to be in councils, judgment-halls, and theatres where the martyrs were. For the faith and preaching of Christ crucified was at the first new and paradoxical to the whole world. Wherefore both Jews (who were accustomed to Moses) and Gentiles (who were attached to their gods) rose up against the Apostles, who preached this doctrine, and against the little flock of believers who were converted to it.
But he that shall endure, i.e., in patience. For the Gr. is , he who shall sustain these persecutions and adversities even unto the end at once of his persecutions and his life, he wholly and solely shall be saved. He shall be endowed with health, happiness, and eternal glory as the reward and crown of his patience. It is not enough to have endured and overcome once, twice, or thrice: but to win the crown we must endure and conquer to the end, according to those words in the Apoc.: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life.” See what I have there said. Hear S. Bernard (Epis. 129): “Perseverance merits glory for men, a crown for virtues. It is the vigour of strength, the consummation of virtues; it is a nurse of merit, a winner of reward, a sister of patience, a bulwark of sanctity. Take away perseverance, and there is neither reward for obedience, nor grace for well-doing, nor praise for fortitude.”
But when they shall persecute you, &c.-Flee, “not,” says Bede, from fearing suffering, but by yielding, so that the occasion of tribulation may become the seed of the Gospel,” lest by the slaying of the preachers the preaching of the faith should be cut off, but by their fleeing it may be scattered in other places. This flight was indeed victory. For they fled not through fear, but from love to Christ, that they might propagate His faith. So the Tartars, as they flee, cast their darts at their pursuing enemies, and so transfix and slay them.
You will ask whether this be a precept, or only a permission. I reply, it is partly a precept, as when the necessity of the Church, or the faith, or peril of one’s own fall, requires flight. For “he does not deny Christ by flying, who flies lest he should deny,” says S. Chrysos. So S. Nazian. (Orat. 1 in Julian) and Athanasius (de fug su). For had he not fled from the rage of the Arians, they would have triumphed over the Homoousian faith, which seemed to stand or fall with Athanasius. It is partly of counsel, as when greater benefit is expected for oneself or others from flight. It is partly a permission, as when any one has an excessive dread of torments; and he is not bound by any necessity or obligation (as being a bishop or pastor, for example) to remain in a particular place. For otherwise it is unlawful to flee if peril, or scandal, be likely to accrue to the Faith, the Sacraments, or the Sheep, i.e., the faithful. This is plain from Joh 10:11-12.
Hence the example of Christ, of His Apostles, of S. Athanasius and others is a refutation of Tertullian who in his book, de Fug, contends that flight is unlawful. S. Jer. (in Catal. Scriptor Ecclesiast. in Tertul.) shews that this book was one of those which he wrote against the Church after he became a heretic and a Montanist.
Verily I say unto you, ye shall now have gone over, &c. The Gr. is , ye shall not have finished, that is, traversing and converting the cities of Israel. 1. S. Chrysos, explains it of the first mission of the Apostles into Judea; as much as to say, flee from the city where they persecute into another; for ye shall not have gone over all the cities of Palestine until I shall return to you, and recall you to me. But in this first mission the Apostles were kindly received by the Jews, so that there was no need for them to flee. They came back to Christ rejoicing, as we see by Luk 10:17.
2. Bede expounds thus, “Ye shall not have converted the Jews before my resurrection. After that I will return to you and send you to the Gentiles dispersed throughout the world, where you shall have a perpetual field for your labours.”
3. Others say, “Ye shall not have gone over Judea, preaching and fleeing away until I return to it in vengeance by means of Vespasian and Titus, that I may cut off the Jews who have persecuted you.”
4. And correctly, “Ye shall not by journeying and preaching, perfect in the faith of the Gospel and the religion of Christ, the cities, that is the people of Israel, to whom I am now sending you before the second advent of the Son of Man.” For as S. Paul teaches in Romans xi., it behoveth that the fulness of the Gentiles, i.e., all the Gentiles must come first into the Church, and then all Israel shall be saved. Christ intimates that the Jews shall disbelieve the Gospel until the end of the world, but then, a little before the judgment, they will be converted by Enoch and Elias. So S. Hilary.
Thus far are the precepts which Christ gave to His Apostles. There now follow promises and inducements by which He animates them generously to rise superior to persecutions. The first inducement is Christ himself (Mat 10:24), who suffered more from the Jews than they would. The second is in Mat 10:26, that God, after the persecutions would make manifest the truth of the Gospel to the glory of Christ and the Apostles. Thirdly, in ver. 28 (Mat 10:28), that God who is the Lord of the soul is rather to be feared than the persecutor of the body. Fourth, in ver. 29 (Mat 10:29). Because God has a special care for them. Fifth, ver. 32 (Mat 10:32). Because God will honour them in the presence of the angels and glorify them eternally.
The disciple, &c. Christ here animates His disciples to bear persecutions, says S. Chrys. by His own example. The disciple and the servant, such as ye are to Me, 0 ye Apostles, ought not to seek for greater honour and applause of men than his Master has.
It is enough for the disciple, &c. That is to say, if the Jews have derided and caluminated Me, and called Me Beelzebub, i.e., a friend and associate of Beelzebub-Me, who am Christ your Master and Lord, yea the Head of your family-if, I say, they have dared to do such things against Me, who have proved Myself by so many miracles to be Messiah and the Son of God, how much more will they dare to do like things to you, My disciples and servants! And if I quietly and bravely bear such things from them, how much rather ought ye to bear these things, yea even rejoice in them because ye bear them for My sake, and in bearing them are made like unto me, and are, as it were, adorned with My raiment and My ornaments!
Hear what S. Hilary says upon this passage, “Let no kind of injuries, or reproaches in any wise affright us; but let us rather embrace them as our glory, if only we may be made conformable to our Lord and His sufferings.” And as Tertullian says (lib. de bono Martyrii, c. 9.) “Since the Lord and Master Himself has suffered persecution, betrayal and death, how much more ought His disciples and servants to fulfil the same things, lest they should seem to be superior to Him in being exempt from evil; since this ought to suffice them for glory that they are made conformable to the sufferings of their Lord and Master.” Whence S. Ambrose says (lib. 2, de Abraham: c. 7.) “The soul going forth to war bears not before her the likenesses of eagles or dragons; but in the cross of Christ and in the name of Jesus she goes out to battle, strong with this sign, faithful to this standard.”
S. Jerome (Epist. 39, ad. Marcel.) speaking of Blesilla, the daughter of S. Paula, who after the death of her husband became a nun, and was derided by the world, writes, “Our Blesilla will laugh, and will count it no disgrace to hear the revilings of croaking frogs, when her Master was called Beelzebub.”
You will ask who and what was Beelzebub? He was the god and idol of the Ekronites. See 2Sa 1:2-3, 2Sa 1:6. He is so called from Baal zebub, i.e., the lord of the fly, or possessing flies, because he was worshipped and invoked against the pest of flies. Thus among the, Greeks, Jupiter had the title of , or averter of flies, because they worshipped him that he might drive away flies. Thus the inhabitants of Cyrene when swarms of flies brought a pestilence, invoked the god Achor to drive them away, as Pliny tells us (lib. 8, c. 28). This idol Beelzebub seems also to have had the head of a fly. For the Sept. translates Beelzebub, the Lord Fly. Similarly the Egyptians represented the god Apis with the head and figure of an ox, Anubis of a dog, Hammon of a ram, and so on. Hence the Jews called Lucifer the prince of the devils, partly in derision partly from abomination, the Fly God, or the god of flies. I say more upon Beelzebub on 2Sa 1:2.
The Gr. codices in this place, as well as in Mar 3:22, and Luk 9:15-19, also Theophyl. and others, always read Beelzebub, which some interpret to mean, Jupiter stercorarius, or the dungy Jove: for though zebal in Hebrew means a habitation, zebel in Chald., Syriac, and Arabic, signifies dung, because the devil is, by reason of sin, most unclean, and so stirs men up to commit all uncleanliness, especially the sins of drunkenness and impurity. This is perhaps the origin of the name zebulus, or zabulus which S. Hilary and others of the ancients give to the devil, unless you prefer to derive it from the olic za for , that is, zabulus instead of diabolus.
Fear them not therefore, &c. The Gr. Is a beautiful paranomasia, or pun. There is nothing hid which shall not be unhid, nothing covered which shall not be uncovered.
The meaning is, “Although the Jews slander you as being not of God, but the Apostles and ambassadors of Beelzebub, yet fear ye not their derision or contempt, for God will in the end make plain your innocence and true religion, not only in the day of judgment, but even in this life.” So S. Chrysos.
It might also be explained thus-“Do not fear or shrink, 0 My Apostles from preaching My Gospel, for although but few may believe in the beginning, that it may appear hidden and concealed, yet it shall creep on by degrees, and its truth shall at length be known, and shall shine forth through the world.”
Hear S. Ambr. (lib. de Jacob. et vit. beat. c. 8), “It is the part of a perfect man not to succumb to those things which seem to most, terrible and dreadful, but like a brave soldier to sustain the onset of the severest troubles. Thus S. Vincent acted when his torments, he answered back the tyrant, “Thou shalt see that I have more power when I am tormented than thou hast when thou art tormenting.” So too the Apostles shone the more brightly in the darkness of persecution. Of their virtue S. Bernard speaks (Serm. xxvii. in Cant.), “As stars shine in the night, but are unseen by day, so does true virtue, which in prosperity often appears not, become conspicuous in adversity.”
What I say unto you, &c. Since the roofs of the houses in Judea are flat, it was possible to preach from them as from a lofty pulpit. S. Jerome gives a threefold meaning. I. What ye have heard in a mystery, that preach ye plainly. 2. What ye have learned in secret, that speak ye in public. 3. What I have taught you in this one corner of Judea, boldly evangelize to the whole world.
Mystically, S. Austin, “What I say in darkness, i.e., in fear, preach ye in the light, i.e., in the confidence of the truth.”
And fear not them which kill, &c. Do not, from fear of death with which the persecutors threaten you, deny My faith, or cease from the preaching which I have commanded you, for if ye do this, ye will incur the far worse death of the soul, even its eternal death in hell. Truly does S. Chrys. say (Hom. 5 ad pop.) “He who is always afraid of hell will never fall into its flames.”
This saying of Christ has reference to a most needful precept. He bids us that we must not, through fear of tyrants, break the faith which we have pledged to God, nor violate His law. It may be further extended to things which are counselled, not commanded; but then it is a matter of counsel, not of precept. Thus Pope S. Clement extended it to the counsel of virginity. When SS. Nercus and Achillcus, the servants of S. Flavia Domitilla, who had been betrothed to Aurelian the son of the Roman consul, counselled her to embrace virginity, and asked S. Clement to give her the veil, he answered bravely, “For you, for her, and for me, I perceive there is prepared the palm of martyrdom. But forasmuch as Christ has laid it down that we must not fear them which kill the body, let us disregard mortals, that we may plainly and wholly obey the Author of everlasting life.” He therefore consecrated Domitilla, a virgin; which when Aurelian her betrothed heard, he beheaded SS. Nercus and Achilleus, and banished S. Domitilla to Pontus, where she completed her martyrdom by fire. At last S. Clement, being drowned in the sea, obtained the same palm. Thus were there four glorious victims of virginity. And the heroism of their action consisted in this-that it would have been lawful for them to persuade Domitilla to avoid the persecution by marrying Aurelian. But the love of chastity and of Christ gained the victory.
Victorinus of Utica (lib. 3. Wandal. Persecut.) relates that a matron named Dionysia, when she was exposed naked upon a lofty place and beaten with rods by the Arians, bravely answered, “Ye servants of the devil, that which ye think ye do to my shame is indeed my praise.” And when she beheld her only son, a little child turn pale at the torments, she animated him by reminding him of hell, lest the King should say to his servants, “Cast him into outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” “That is the life,” she said, “to be desired which is always in possession.” And strengthening her child with these words, she soon made him a martyr. Thus far Victor. He relates in the same place that Victorianus, the proconsul of Carthage, being asked by the ambassadors of King Hunneric to become an Arian, answered, “Being firm in God and Christ my Lord, I will tell ye what ye shall answer to your king: ‘Let him torment me with fire, let him expose me to beasts, let him excruciate me with every kind of torment; if I should consent unto him, it would be in vain that I have been baptized into the Catholic Church. For if this present life were all, and we did not hope for another which is indeed eternal, still even so, I would not do what he requires for the sake of a little temporal glory, and be ungrateful to Him who hath bestowed His faith upon me who believe in Him.’ At this reply the King was so enraged that no speech can express for how long and with what punishments he afflicted him. But he triumphing, and making in the Lord a happy consummation, received the martyr’s crown.” Thus Victor. Wisely spoke the martyr S. Flavian, “The body does not feel torments when the mind is in heaven, and has devoted itself to God with all its strength.”
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, &c. Farthing, this is the Roman as, Gr. assarion. It is a diminutive, and means , little as. For the assarius was the half, not of the ancient as, which was a pound, but of the later as, which was half an ounce. So that the assarius was the fourth part of the uncia, or ounce of brass, and therefore of very small value. This, which Enthym. renders by terunciola, or a little farthing was the price of two sparrows in Judea in the time of Christ.
Shall not fall upon the eath. For birds live in the air, and when they are pierced with arrows, or perish from any other cause, they fall to the earth. Without your Father: i.e., without His providence and pleasure. If God hath so great care and providence of these little sparrows, what will he have of you? For He is your Father, in that he hath given you reason, for similitude to Himself. And He hath re-formed you in Christ, and made you like unto Christ.
Symbolically, S. Hilary says: “The two sparrows are the body and the soul, which are born as it were sparrows, that they should fly with spiritual wings toward Heaven, but the sinner sells them for an as, that is, a little pleasure, to the devil, that they may go down to hell.”
But the hairs of your head, &c. That is, God from eternity hath appointed and decreed not only the number of your members, but even of your hairs. Wherefore He knows it exactly, and diligently keeps them to the number which He willeth, so that not one can fall without His special providence, as Luke saith.
Allegorically, the hairs of Christ are all the elect and those who shall be saved, for these adorn Christ as hair does the head. Tropologically, hairs are all the thoughts, words, and deeds of the faithful. So S. Cyril (lib. 8 in Levit.). Again, hairs are the minutest thoughts and intentions of the Saints. So Damascene.
Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value, Syr. more excellent. The Gr. is ye are preferable, ye excel. If God have such care of sparrows, much more will he have of you. Wherefore, rest secure in the fatherly bosom of His Providence in all persecutions and tribulations whatsoever. For He will deliver you out of them all, either by freeing you from them, or else by giving you the crown of martyrdom, and taking you to heaven, where there will be no more labour or pain.
Whosoever therefore shall confess Me, &c. From this word confess, martyrs were anciently called confessors. Shall confess Me. The Gr. is , i.e., in Me. For I will confess him, the Gr. is , i.e., in him. And so Tertullan reads (in Scorpiace c. 9). So also S. Luke xii. 5. It is a Hebraism. For the Heb. constructs verbs of contact, whether bodily, mental, or spiritual contact, with the prep. , in. The Heb. would be hoda bi, confess in Me, meaning confess Me. This is plain from the antithesis, shall deny Me. Maldonatus, however, takes it differently-shall confess, i.e., shall glory in Me, answering to the Heb. hithraddeh, which, being in the Hithpael, has a reflexive force. To confess in oneself, i.e., to glory.
The meaning is, whosoever, in the presence of tyrants, being interrogated concerning the faith, shall generously and constantly confess that he believeth in Ye as the Messiah and the Son of God, him will 1 in like manner profess before God, and angels, and men, to be My disciple, and as such will I honour and glorify him.
Martyrdom is the confession of Christ and the profession of Christianity, even to torments and a cruel death, and therefore it is the highest love and honouring of Christ. Wherefore the Apostles and Apostolic men have most ardently desired martyrdom. S. Ignatius in his Epistle to the Romans, says, “My love is crucified. There is not in me a fire of earthly, but of heavenly fuel. And I have living water which saith inwardly, Come to the Father.” S. Basil says (Hom. 19 in S. Gordium, Mart.), “The martyrs speedily attain to heavenly glory by a violent and premature death. They endeavour speedily to migrate from this life, which ought rather to be called a lingering death, by means of short toil.” We see, therefore, that he does not call death death, but as S. Sophia said to her daughter Anastasia (apud Surium, Octob. 25), “A good thing is departure from an evil world. It is joy, gladness, pleasure, splendour, beauty, light, a sweeter and fairer than earthly light.” S. Anthony, as S. Athanasius testifies, when those who were about to become martyrs in the persecution of Maximian were being carried to Alexandria, rushed out of his monastery, and followed these victims of Christ saying, “Let us advance to the glorious triumphs of our brethren, that we may join them in their conflict.”
Tertullian thus concludes his apology in behalf of Christ and Christians-“Well, then, do this, 0 ye excellent governors, since ye will be so much more acceptable to the populace, when ye have sacrificed the Christians to them. Crucify, torment, condemn us, tear our bodies to pieces. Your wickedness is the sure proof of our innocency. God has a meaning in allowing us to suffer. For when ye condemn a Christian woman to pollution rather than to a lion, ye confess that a stain upon modesty is reckoned by us to be far more dreadful than any death. And still all your most exquisite cruelties produce no effect; they only induce men to join us. We are multiplied as often as you reap us. The blood of the Christians is their seed.”
This same Tertullian wrote his Scorpiace against the Gnostics, who taught that it was permitted under torture to deny Christ with the mouth, so long as His faith were retained in the heart. The Priscillianists afterwards taught the same, whose motto was, “Rights, perjuries, secrets, betray not.” In the Scorpiace, i.e., an antidote against scorpions, meaning Gnostics, Tertullian treats altogether of the good of martyrdom. S. Cyprian, too, following Tertullian as a master, according to his wont, wonderfully extols the martyrs and martyrdom. In his Epistle to the Martyrs, among other eulogiums, he scatters the following: “The martyr is made a colleague of the Passion of Christ. The martyrs give us a school of morals: the confessors shew us the beginning of virtues. The martyrs shall be assessors with Christ in the judgment. The martyrs obtain the kingdom of heaven without delay. The martyrs receive fruit a hundred-fold. The prayer of the martyrs deserves to be heard by God. By the triumphs of the martyrs the church is made glad. Martyrdom by the baptism of blood is of all things the most excellent.”
Lastly, the Standard Bearer, the Prince and the Captain of the Martyrs, is Christ. Wherefore, the primitive bishops and fathers, as Julian the Apostate unwillingly acknowledged, “All flew to martyrdom like bees to a bee-hive,” to use S. Chrysostom’s words. S. Hubert, the successor of S. Lambert the martyr in the see of Liege, was wont to sigh because he was not his successor in martyrdom likewise. “0 unhappy I,” he said, “whose sins have accumulated in such a heap that I am not worthy to be associated with such a man.”
I have collected many more notes upon Martyrdom in Hosea, c. xi. sub finem. See also Victor of Utica on the Vandal persecution (lib. 2, 3), where he relates that when many of the orthodox were thrust by Hunneric, the Arian king, like swarms of locusts, into a narrow dungeon, full of every kind of filth, where the horror of the overpowering stench was worse than any torture, even here the Martyrs sang with exultation this hymn to the Lord, “Such honour have all His Saints.”
Think not that I am come, &c., that is to say, earthly peace: for Christ promised by Isaiah (ix. 6 and 7, and lxv. 25), that He would bring spiritual peace of mind, the peace of the union of the faithful among themselves, and with God and His Angels, which leads to peace and everlasting felicity in Heaven.
But a sword: i.e., separation, as S. Luke has (Luk 12:51), discord in faith and religion. He means that He will separate His faithful people by reason of their faith from unbelievers. But the unbelievers will on their part take occasion to separate themselves from the faithful, and will hate them, and will deprive them of liberty and goods and life. This is what Christ especially refers to in what follows; and this too entirely answers to the words of Micah (Mic 7:6) from which Christ here quotes.
I am come to separate, &c. A man’s foes shall be they of his own household. Syriac. A man shall have as his enemies the sons of his own house. Because, as S. Chrys. says (Hom. 2, cont. Judos), it shall come to pass that in the same house there shall be one faithful believer in Christ, whilst another shall continue unbelieving. A father will wish his son to return back from the faith to his former impiety. Foretelling this He saith, I am come to separate. Such shall be the victorious power of the Gospel that sons shall disregard their parents, daughters their mothers, and parents their children, and shall adventure their life and all things for the sake of godliness. Some are of opinion that Christ only applies the passage of Micah, using it in a different sense. But I reply that Micah was speaking literally of the calamity of sinful Jerusalem through the siege of the Chaldeans, as S. Jerome shows-that in it the inhabitants should be so distressed by sword and famine and pestilence that even brother would snatch away bread from brother, child from parent, wife from husband. But, allegorically this strife of the Jews signifies the discord and opposition of unbelieving parents and brethren and husbands against believers, whether Jews, or Gentiles in the time of Christ, especially when the faithful ran into peril of goods and fame, and even life itself. In this allegorical sense Christ cites Micah’s words: and in an allegory, or parable it is not necessary to apply every word.
He that loveth father, &c. That is, is not worthy to have Me for his Lord and Master, is not worthy of My name and company, My grace and kingdom, and the rest of My promises. The reason is, because Christ forasmuch as He is our God and Lord and Saviour, must be far preferred to parents and children. Wherefore he who prefers them to Christ so as for their sakes to revolt from the faith of Christ, treats Him unworthily, and does Him the highest dishonour. So S. Jerome and others. S. Saturus, when Hunneric threatened him that unless he became an Arian, he would give his wife in marriage to his camel driver, and when his wife, trembling at this, besought him to consent unto the king, answered like another Job, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. I should dread it, 0 woman, if there were nothing but the bitter sweetness of this life. Thou ministerest, 0 my wife to the artifices of the devil. If thou lovedst thy spouse, thou wouldst never drag thine own husband to the second death. Let them tear away my children, let them separate my wife, let them take away my substance, yet will I rest secure upon the promises of my Lord. I will hold fast the words, ‘Whosoever forsaketh not wife, or children, or lands, or houses, he cannot be My disciple.'” So Victor of Utica.
And he that taketh not (from the hand of the Lord upon his shoulders to bear it like Christ.) his cross, &c. To bear the cross is to be ready for the sake of Christ to bear reproaches, stripes, imprisonments, and the most painful and ignominious death, such as was the death of the cross, which Christ vouchsafed to bear for us. Because, as S. Chrys. says, speaking in the name of Christ “As I have brought you the utmost blessedness; so I ask of you a singular obedience and affection, that ye may be as lions in battle array.” Christ alludes to His future bearing of His own Cross. For it is altogether just and right, that after Christ bearing His cross for us, we also should follow Him, bearing our cross with love and reverence, and thus walk towards heaven. This is the exact literal sense.
Mystically, the Cross is mortification. Listen to the Gloss, “The Cross is borne in two ways, either when the body is affected by abstinence, or when the mind is touched with compassion for one’s neighbour. Their neighbours’ sins are an instrument of torture to the Saints.”
Lastly, S. Jerome says, “It is written in another Gospel, He that taketh not his Cross daily, lest we should suppose that a burning faith would suffice once for all: the Cross must be always carried, that we may show that we always love Christ.”
He that findeth his life, &c. Findeth ought to be in the past tense; for the Gr. is ). The meaning is, He that findeth his life (), that is, the corporeal safety of his life, when in peril of death, through denial of the faith, and of My name, such a one shall lose his soul (), that is, the eternal salvation of his soul, which alone is real safety, and shall go away into hell. And, on the other hand, he who shall lose the present life of his soul (), or his life, on account of his profession of My name, he shall find health and safety, and the eternal happiness and glory of his soul (), or life.
He therefore who indulges his soul, loses it: he who mortifies it, saves it. See the paradox which there is here. Life is made to consist in death, and death in life. Whence Tertullian says in his Scorpiace, “God hath willed to destroy death by death, to shake off torments by torments, to give life by taking it away, to heal the flesh by wounding it, to save the soul by casting it away.”
Observe the Heb. is matsa, i.e., he hath found. Understand, he hath acquired, he hath gotten, he hath obtained, as the LXX. trans. in Job iii. 22: and the Vulg. in 1. Sam. xxxi. 3. Similarly the Gr. , literally, I light upon, frequently means, I obtain, rescue, I deliver, &c. The Latin invenire, lit. to come upon, means to acquire or obtain anything. Thus any one is said to find, that is to obtain grace, favour, praise. So Gabriel said to the Blessed Virgin, Thou hast found favour, or grace with God, i.e., Thou hast come into favour with God: thou hast gained the love of God. In Gen. xxvi. 12, it is said, “Isaac sowed in that land, and found, i.e., gained in that same year a hundred-fold.” (Vulg.) For what any one finds sprung up in his field, that he gains. So here, He that findeth his life, that is, who gains it when it is as it were lost, and causes it as though to come to him afresh by denying Christ, this man shall lose it in another and a better life.
Again matsa, he hath found, denotes liberty, sufficiency, abundance, power. So in Psa 21:9, “Let Thy hand be found by all Thine enemies.” (Vulg.) That is, let it suffice, let it be stronger and more powerful than Thine enemies. So here to find the soul is to acquire the liberty of the soul (anima), i.e., of the life, and abundance of possessions, by denying the faith. For this was what kings and tyrants were wont to promise to those who would deny Christ.
He that receiveth you, &c. For he who receiveth an ambassador, in the ambassador receiveth the king who hath sent him. The Apostles were the ambassadors of Christ, and Christ of God. He, therefore, who receiveth them, receiveth Christ in them, and in Christ, God Himself-according to these words of S. Paul-“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us.” And again, in the Epistle to the Galatians, “Ye did not reject me, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” Christ here proposes the rewards of those who should receive the Apostles, that He may make provision for the Apostles in the poverty which He commanded them to observe-as, for instance, when they were preaching, that He might strengthen them in it, and might invite hosts to show them liberal hospitality.
He that receiveth a prophet, &c. A prophet, i.e., a teacher and preacher of the Gospel such as the Apostles were. For formerly the office of the prophets was not only to predict future events, but to teach the people, and preach the law and word of God.
Shall receive a prophet’s reward, or hire (merces, Vulg.) Some explain this as though reward from a prophet: and that far surpassing the hospitality which they have shown, because they shall receive from the prophet the grace and faith of Christ, and the benefit of the prophet’s prayers.
2. Euthymius. A prophet’s reward-i.e., shall be equal to a prophet in his reward, shall be accounted worthy of equal honours with him.
3. And best. Shall receive, &c., because as he co-operates with the prophet, and assists him because he is a prophet and a preacher, so shall he be partaker of his labour, his merit, and his reward, and yet not in equal degree, but proportionably with the prophet, according to the co-operation and love with which he co-operates with the preacher. For so by common law the receivers of thieves and robbers are awarded similar (though not equal) punishment with the thieves themselves. Thus S. Chrysostom explains: “He shall receive that reward of a prophet which it is fitting that he should receive who receives a prophet.” S. Gregory (Hom. 20 in Evang.) says the same. Although the elm bears no fruit of itself, yet it supports the vine with its grapes: thus she makes her own what she kindly sustains of another’s.
The same rule is indicated by the old law of war. “There shall be an equal share to him who goeth down into the battle with him who remaineth by the baggage. They shall alike divide the spoils.” (1Sa 30:24). A prophet’s reward, then, is that he shall receive the reward of his prophecy, or his preaching, because he assisted and promoted it, for without that assistance the preacher could not have preached, forasmuch as he would have lacked food.
Lastly, by a prophet’s reward some understand the gift of prophecy; which S. Jerome (On Obadiah) thinks the prophet Obadiah obtained because he fed the prophets with bread and water in Jezebel’s persecution. “Forasmuch as he nourished a hundred prophets, he received the grace of prophecy, and from a prince became a general of the Church’s army. He fed at that time a little flock in Samaria; now he feeds the churches of Christ throughout all the world.” S. Epiphanius, S. Isidore, and others think the same, though it is more probable that the Obadiah of 1 Kin. 18 and the fourth of the Minor Prophets were different persons, as I have shown in the preface to Obadiah.
He that receiveth a righteous man, &c. In the same way as I have said of a prophet. Yea, though such a one shall be in sin, he shall receive the grace of repentance, and shall be made righteous. For to this men are often brought by the word and example of saints who are their guests, who obtain the grace of repentance by their prayers. So S. Francis, being received by a soldier to hospitality, foretold his speedy death, persuaded him to make his confession, and obtained from God his eternal salvation. For as soon as the soldier had confessed, he expired. (See S. Bonaventura, in his Life, c. II.)
And whosoever shall give to drink, &c. Cold water, as the cheapest of all things, and within the competence of the poorest to bestow. He does not say, says S. Jerome, warm water, lest any one should make the want of fuel an excuse. And he does not speak of a goblet, or a flagon, but He says a cup, or glass. For who is so poor that he could not give, or at least carry, a cup of water? S. Augustine gives the same explanation.
In the name of a disciple, i.e., because he is My disciple, because he adheres to My teaching, and believes in Me. For this having respect to Christ, ennobles and exalts both the intention of the giver and the work itself; that which is given to a Christian, Christ esteems as bestowed upon Himself, and as such recompenses it with a great reward. For if you should do the same work for a different reason, because the person benefited is your servant, or relation, or friend, the deed is of little or no merit in the eyes of God. For this would be an alms, or an act of natural pity; but the former an act of supernatural mercy. So theologians and Suarez (lib. 2, de necessitat. grati, c. xvi. 10). By these words of Christ it is intimated that a work of mercy done to a man only because he is a man, is of the natural order: but if it be done because he is a believer, a fellow citizen with the saints, and of the household of God, it is a work of mercy of a higher, that is, of a supernatural order.
An illustrious example of this occurs in the life of S. Anastasia, V. and M. After her tongue had been cut off (Lat. Prscinderetur), and her teeth knocked out, being athirst, she asked for water (poposcit). A certain man named Cyril gave her to drink, and by that one cup of cold water purchased the crown of martyrdom. For when Probus the governor understood that he had done this for a Christian woman because he was a Christian, he sent him to a martyr’s death.
From these words of Christ some theologians (with Suarez) gather as probable, that grace in a just man is increased by remisser acts: as if, for example, a just man should have intense degrees of grace, say as eight, but should perform an act of almsgiving, by giving, for example, a cup of cold water to a poor man in a remiss kind of way-say as three-by which act he would nevertheless acquire an augmentation of his habitual intense grace as eight, by three additional grades, so that it would be intensified, or extended as eleven. See the full discussion of this question in Suarez (Tom. 3 de Gratia, lib. 9, cap. 3, nu. 36).
Lastly, Christ here signifies that no work, however small, done to a preacher, shall go without its reward. Of this nature are those remiss works which just men do in great abundance. And they would lose the reward of very many of their works, were it not that remiss works increase the more intense grace; for few Christians perform acts so intense that they equal, or exceed the habit; and Christ here teaches that they do not lose their reward.
Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary
The disciples would find themselves opposed by everyone without distinction, including their own family members, not just rulers. In spite of such widespread and malicious persecution the disciple must endure patiently to the end. "The end" refers to the end of this period of intense persecution, namely, the Tribulation (cf. Mat 24:13). The second coming of the Son of Man will end it (Mat 10:23). The promise of salvation for the one who remains faithful does not imply eternal salvation since that depends on faith in Jesus. It is deliverance from the period of intense persecution that is in view. Entrance into the kingdom would constitute salvation for these future persecuted disciples.
Thus this verse does not say that all genuine believers will inevitably persevere in their faith and good works. [Note: E.g., John Murray, Redemption-Accomplished and Applied, p. 152; et al.] Rather it says that those who do during the Tribulation can expect God to deliver them at its end. Jesus was not speaking about eternal salvation but temporal deliverance. Temporal deliverance depended on faithful perseverance. Whereas "the end" has specific reference to the end of the Tribulation in Mat 24:13, here it probably has the more general meaning of "as long as may be necessary."
If the Jews had accepted Jesus, these 12 disciples would have taken the message of the kingdom throughout Israel during the Tribulation period that would have followed Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. Before they could finish their task, Jesus would have returned from heaven. Those of them who persevered faithfully would experience deliverance from further persecution by entering the kingdom following His return. Since the Jews rejected Jesus, God postponed the kingdom for at least 2,000 years. During the Tribulation period yet future, the 144,000 Jewish disciples of Jesus living in Palestine and elsewhere in the world will be preparing people for Jesus’ return to set up His kingdom (Rev 7:1-8; Rev 14:1-5). Those who remain faithful and withstand persecution will be saved from further persecution by Jesus’ return to the earth to set up His kingdom.
"If those who fight under earthly commanders, and are uncertain as to the issue of the battle, are carried forward even to death by steadiness of purpose, shall those who are certain of victory hesitate to abide by the cause of Christ to the very last?" [Note: Calvin, 1:456.]