Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 10:26
Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
26. for there is nothing covered, &c.] Two reasons against fear are implied: (1) If you fear, a day will come which will reveal your disloyalty; (2) Fear not, for one day the unreality of the things that terrify you will be made manifest.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Fear them not … – He encouraged them by the assurance that God would protect them. and that their truth and innocence should yet be vindicated. It is probable that the declaration, There is nothing covered, etc., was a proverb among the Jews. By it our Saviour meant that their innocence, their principles, and their integrity, though then the world might not acknowledge them, in due time would be revealed, or God would vindicate them and the world would do them justice. They were, then, to be willing to be unknown, despised, persecuted for a time, with the assurance that their true characters would yet be understood and their sufferings appreciated.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. Fear them not] A general direction to all the persecuted followers of Christ. Fear them not, for they can make you suffer nothing worse than they have made Christ suffer; and under all trials he has promised the most ample support.
For there is nothing covered, c.] God sees every thing this is consolation to the upright and dismay to the wicked; and he will bring into judgment every work, and every secret thing, whether good or bad, Ec 12:14.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
This is a proverbial speech, used by our Saviour upon more occasions than this, Mar 4:22; Luk 8:17; 12:2. As to his present use of it, the sense is, “Though my gospel be now covered and hid, yet it shall be revealed and made known.” Or, “Though your innocency be hid and covered, yet God shall bring forth your judgment as the light, and your righteousness as the noonday.” Or, “Though your enemies rage and malice be hid, and their vengeance seemeth to sleep, yet it shall be revealed.” The first seemeth most probable, from what followeth in the next verse, which he seemeth to speak as a means to it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26. Fear them not therefore: forthere is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, thatshall not be knownthat is, There is no use, and no need, ofconcealing anything; right and wrong, truth and error, are about tocome into open and deadly collision; and the day is coming when allhidden things shall be disclosed, everything seen as it is, and everyone have his due (1Co 4:5).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Fear them not, therefore,…. That is, be not afraid of men, and of their reproaches and revilings; which our Lord intimates would do them no more hurt, than they did him, and which in a little while would be all wiped away: time would bring all things to light, when the wickedness of these men would be discovered, their evil designs seen through; which were now covered with the specious pretences of sanctity, and zeal for religion, and the glory of God; and the innocence and integrity of him and his disciples would be made manifest. There is no need to refer this to the great day of account, when every secret thing shall be brought to light; but it chiefly regards the times when the Gospel should be more publicly known, and embraced, and should prevail against all the opposition made unto it; and then all these reproachful names and characters would be seen plainly to arise from spite and malice: to which may be applied those proverbial sayings in common use,
for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known. Men may cover their malice and wickedness, for a while, under the best of names, but ere long it will all be revealed to their great shame and reproach: the innocence of the followers of Christ may, for some time, lie out of sight, and they may be traduced as the worst of men; but in process of time things take another turn, and their characters appear in quite another light: and so it is with the Gospel preached and professed by them, which, though sometimes it is little known, lies hid, and is covered with disgrace; yet in the Lord’s own time its light breaks forth, power attends it, and it is made manifest to the consciences of men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Fear them not therefore ( ). Repeated in verses 28 and 31 ( present middle imperative here in contrast with aorist passive subjunctive in the preceding prohibitions). Note also the accusative case with the aorist passive subjunctive, transitive though passive. See same construction in Lu 12:5. In Mt 10:28 the construction is with and the ablative, a translation Hebraism as in Lu 12:4 (Robertson, Grammar of the Greek N.T. in the Light of Historical Research, p. 577).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Fear them not therefore,” (me oun phobethete autous) “Therefore you all are not to fear or be fearful (of) them,” because the hour of judgement will vindicate and reward your faith, labor, and perseverance, and their overthrow.
2) “For there is nothing covered,” (ouden gar estin Kekalumenon) “Because there is (exists) nothing that has been veiled or concealed,” nothing hidden in life, in time, against eventual judgment, 1Co 4:5.
3) “That shall not be revealed,” (ho ouk apokaluphthesetai) “Which will not be unveiled,” one day-in the judgment, of the righteous, 2Co 5:10; and the wicked, Ecc 12:13-14; Mat 12:36-37.
4) “And hid, that shall not be known.” (kai krupton ho ou gnosthesetai) “And hidden or concealed which will not be disclosed or made known,” Rev 19:11-15. Even motives and intents of the heart, and idle words, are objects of accountability in that solemn hour, when each shall one-by-one give account of himself unto the Lord, 1Co 4:5; Mr 4:22; Luk 8:17; Luk 12:2-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Mat 10:26
. Fear them not therefore When the apostles saw the gospel so greatly despised, and recollected the small number of believers, they might be apt to throw away hope even for the future. Christ now meets this doubt, by declaring that the gospel would be widely spread, would at length rise superior to all the hindrances which might arise from men, and would become generally known. The saying, nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, has some appearance of being a proverb: but we restrict it in a special manner to the doctrine of salvation, which Christ promises will be victorious, whatsoever may be the contrivances of men to oppose it. Though he sometimes preached openly in the temple, yet, as his doctrine was rejected, it was still concealed in dark comers: but he declares that the time for proclaiming it will come; which, we know, happened shortly afterwards. In no part of the earth was there ever such thunder heard as the voice of the gospel, which resounded through the whole world. As this promise ought to fill them with courage, Christ exhorts them to devote themselves to it with boldness and perseverance, and not to be alarmed, though they see the gospel hitherto despised, but, on the contrary, to become its zealous preachers.
The passage which I have taken from Mark was, perhaps, spoken at a different time, and in a different sense: but as the sentences in that place are concise, I have followed the meaning which appeared to me the most probable. After having commanded the apostles to assemble burning lamps by sending out a bright light to a great distance, he immediately afterwards adds, nothing is hidden which shall not be revealed. Now the lamp of the gospel was kindled by the apostles, as it were in the midst of darkness, that by their agency it might be raised on high, and shine throughout the whole world. The passage in the eighth chapter of Luke’s Gospel is precisely alike. As to the passage in the twelfth chapter, there is no room to doubt that it has the same meaning, though there is a difference in the words: for Christ there commands the apostles to bring to light what they had spoken in darkness. This means, that hitherto they had only spoken in whispers about the gospel, but that their future preaching would be so public, that it would spread to the most distant parts of the world.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(26) Fear them not therefore: for . . .The words that bid them banish fear look backward and forward. Why should they be afraid when they were only suffering what their Master Himself had suffered, and when they could look forward to the open publicity of His triumph? In that day the veil that now conceals the truth shall be drawn away; the unknown sufferers for the truth shall receive the crown of martyrdom; the undetected cowardice that shrinks from confessing it will then be laid bare.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
26. Nothing covered, that shall not be revealed All their words and deeds of darkness and violence shall be exposed in the broad light of God’s judgment.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Do not be afraid of them therefore, for there is nothing covered, that will not be revealed, and hid, that will not be known.”
Thus in the light of eternal realities they are not to be afraid of them. They persecute Him, they will therefore persecute them. But in the end all truth and falsehood will be revealed. Then they will be glad indeed that they were on the side of truth, whatever the cost. In the Day when everything will be laid bare, their truth and honesty will be manifested, and their actions will be justified while those of their opponents will be seen for what they were, and will be condemned. For all things are open to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do (Heb 4:13).
Alternately, with the following verse in mind, He may be indicating that whatever men do to them they will not be able to prevent the truth going out. What is at present covered up will have the cover taken off, what is at present hidden will be made known (compare 2 Corinthian 3-4).
‘Do not be afraid of them.’ Note the threefold ‘do not be afraid’, here and in Mat 10:28; Mat 10:31. Because they are His and His Father’s they need fear no man, neither their accusations, their calumniations nor their threats, because He is watching over them. The only One therefore Whom they must reverently fear is God, their Heavenly Father, and His Father.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fearless Confession of Christ Demanded.
v. 26. Fear them not therefore; for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
v. 27. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Have no fear, is the key-note of this section. Do not let fear, which is natural under the circumstances, overpower you, since they that are your enemies and try to harm you, are human beings. Take the risks of your high calling. Two proverbial sayings are offered by Christ in support of His urgent admonition. The covered things will be revealed, the secret things will be made known. The hatred and persecution of the world are often disguised under the form of patriotism and humanity, necessity of unification, etc. ; but God will, on the Day of Judgment, set everything in the proper light and render to every man his dues. In the meantime His work must go on. Its beginnings had of necessity been obscure, done, as it were, in darkness. But the disciples are to give it the proper publicity, set it forth in the light before the whole world. In the same way His confidential communications, His private teaching to them, was to be made common property. The learned doctors of the Jews had the custom of delivering their discourses in the synagogues to one of the elders, who then served as an interpreter in giving the people the sum of the dissertation in a popular form. In a similar manner, the work of the apostles should be carried on. The doctrine which they had received from Christ they are to proclaim with a loud voice from the roofs, since those of the Orient were flat and permitted such a use. Even today, and today perhaps more than ever, the disciples of Christ should make use of all legitimate ways to spread the Gospel-truths as widely as possible, never forgetting, however, that means to attract the people to the Gospel can never be made an end in themselves, lest the chief thing be made a matter of secondary importance. They shall be used to serve the Gospel only.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 10:26. Fear them not therefore, &c. The meaning of this verse is, that the disciples ought not to conceal the truth which had been committed to them, notwithstanding all the contradictions that they might meet with in the course of their ministry; because the design of the Lord Jesus Christ was, that the gospel which he revealed to them in private, and which was a mystery to all the rest of mankind, should by them be published all over the world. Our blessed Saviour applies here a proverbial saying to the Gospel; see Mar 4:22. Luk 8:17; Luk 12:2. There is nothing covered, &c. This is a general rule, which may admit of several exceptions. Our Lord applies it to different subjects. Here he gives his disciples to understand, that it was his design that they should openly and courageously reveal to the world those truths, which the time and circumstances did not then permit him to disclose everywhere.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 10:26 . Further encouragement by pointing to the providence of God.
] The diminutive is used advisedly . Comp. Psa 11:1 ; Psa 84:3 ; Aristot. H. An . v. 2, ix. 7. Two small sparrows for a single farthing . The latter was one-tenth of a drachma, and subsequently it was still less. It is also used by Rabbinical writers to denote the smallest possible price of anything; Buxtorf, Lex. Talm . p. 175, Lightfoot, Schoettgen.
] is simply and , and placed first in the answer , which is, in fact, a continuation of the thought contained in the question. See Khner, ad Xen. Mem . ii. 10. 2.
] a single .
. ] not spoken of the bird that is caught in the snare or gin (Irenaeus, Chrysostom, Euth. Zigabenus), but of that which has dropped dead from the sky or the branches.
] independently of, without the interference; the reading . . is an old and correct gloss. Comp. the classical expressions , , and sine Diis , Isa 36:10 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Mat 10:26-27 . ] inference from Mat 10:24-25 : since, from the relation in which, as my disciples, you stand to me as your Master, it cannot surprise you, but must only appear as a necessary participation in the same fate, if they persecute you.
The which follows, then, conjoins with the . . a further awakening consideration that, namely, which arises out of the victorious publicity which the gospel is destined to attain; whereupon is added, in Mat 10:27 , the exhortation an exhortation in keeping with this divine destiny of the gospel to labour boldly and fearlessly as preachers of that which He communicates to them in private intercourse. This addition is the more emphatic from there being no connecting particle to introduce it. The thought, “elucescet tandem orbi vestra sinceritas,” which others (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Heracleon in Cramer’s Cat ., Erasmus, Grotius, Beza) have found in Mat 10:26 , as well as the reference to the judgment (Hilgenfeld), are equally at variance with the context, as seen in Mat 10:27 . For the figurative contrasting of and , in the case of and such like, comp. Soph. Phil . 578, and Wunder in loc.; for . , also a common expression among classical writers for what is told in confidence , see Valckenaer, ad Eurip. Hipp . 932.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
9. Holy boldness and candor the duty of the disciples, based on holy watchfulness, and on confidence in their safety, under the sovereign protection of God.
Third and fourth warning and comfort. Mat 10:26-31.
26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered [concealed, verhllt], that shall not be revealed [enthllt]; and hid [versteckt], that shall not be known [entdeckt]. 27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in [the, ] light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house-tops. 28And fear not [Be not afraid of, ]36 them which [that] kill37 the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
But rather fear him [ ] which [who] is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing [penny]38? and one of them shall not [not one of them shall] fall on the ground without your Father. 30But the very hairs of your head39 are all numbered. 31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat 10:26. Fear them not therefore.Because every calumny of their faith was in the first place directed against their Master, who will set everything in its true light Confidence in His is to form the ground of their perfect . All the wicked secrets of their opponents shall be brought to light; it would, therefore, be most unbecoming if they were to spread their faith, the most precious of all secrets, with timidity and by stealth,40 as if it were some dangerous mystery.
For there is nothing covered, etc.These two proverbial sayings or principles are apparently intended to supplement each other. The first of them refers probably to the dealings of God: He conceals and He reveals. The second refers to the conduct of man in connection with the dealings of God: men hide and conceal the truth, but it will be discovered, known, and acknowledged. The appearing of Christ will place everything in its proper light, Mat 25:31; Eph 5:13; 1Co 4:5.
Mat 10:27. What I tell you.This means to imply that the Lord recommended to His disciples to proceed more openly in their teaching than He had done. But this was the fundamental principle of the development of His revelation. His work was to be established in His disciples before it could be established in the world. Revelation had to receive its final completion in secret, among the despised community of the cross, before it could be presented in its fulness to the world.Upon the house-tops.The roofs were flat, so that it was possible to converse, in a loud voice, from one house-top to another, or into the street. A figurative expression for the most public declaration.
Mat 10:28. Fear not them that kill the body.[41]This may indeed occasion their death. But they should neither fear death nor those who kill. They kill only the body. In other words, the hope of the great appearing of Christ, which shall make everything manifest, must raise them also above the grave.
Both soul and body.In my Life of Jesus (Mat 2:2, p. 721), I have with Stier applied this to Satan, while most commentators refer it to God. The former interpretation I supported on the following grounds: 1. Because the same kind of fear which is felt toward those who kill the body cannot be cherished in reference to God. But here I overlooked that the expression used in the one case is , [comp. the Hebr. ], and in the other, [] . The word may also be used in reference to proper fear, and the use of the Aorist (implying the continuation of a fear already cherished), as also the accusative instead of , are in favor of this view. 2. Because the idea of destruction of body and soul seems rather to apply to Satan. But the great enemy does not destroy soul and body in hell ( ),42 where he and condemned souls are punished (Mat 25:41; Rev 20:10), but before that time, and for the purpose of having them consigned to hell. The judgment of Gehenna is not administered by Satan. 3. Because of the expression , which in other places refers to noxious destruction, or to laying waste, and the name of , who dwells in the place of destruction. However, the text does not bear, Fear the destroyer, but, Fear Him who is able to destroy, which could only refer to God. Finally, from the parallel passage in Luk 12:5, Fear Him who hath power to cast into hell, we at once conclude that this fear can only apply to the Almighty. Satan works that sinful fear of death which is the bondage from which we can only be delivered by a higher and holier fearthat of God (Heb 2:14).
[This change of Dr. Lange, which supersedes the protest of Meyer in loc. (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 239), is decidedly for the better. The Scripture nowhere uses the phrase , nor does it ever ascribe to Satan such power of destruction; while, on the contrary, is usually followed by , and God is represented throughout as the Almighty dispenser of life and death, both temporal and eternal. Bengel aptly quotes Jam 4:12, which is decisive against Stier: There is one lawgiver who is able () to save and to destroy (, the same words as in our passage). Christ sets God before us here as the sole object both of our godly, child-like fear, and (in Mat 10:29-31) of our child-like trust. We should fear Him alone because of His power to destroy, and should trust Him alone because of His power to save and His ever-watchful care of His children. See Dr. Alfords remarks against Stier, and also the note of Dr. Owen in loc.: Fear Him (i. e., God), not as before, fear from Him, because reverence and awe, such as is due from man to his Maker, is intended, and not the fear or terror which human cruelty can inspire.P. S.]
Mat 10:29. Two sparrows.The word properly signifies little birds generally [aviculi]; here, in the more definite sense, little sparrows [passerculi].Farthing, penny, , the tenth part of a drachm, or a Roman denar, afterward valued still lower; indicating the smallest coin.Not one of them shall fall to the ground.To portray sudden death, the bird falling to the ground, struck by a stone or an arrow. Irenus and Chrysostom refer it to the snare of the bird-catcher; but this would scarcely be so applicable.
Mat 10:30. But the very hairs.Indicating the most special providence (providentia specialissima), and the most absolute preservation. The hair as the natural ornament of the head. No part of our life, of what characterizes or adorns it, shall be lost.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The disciples must bear in mind that the gospel of Jesus is destined to become a revelation for all nations. They are to form a Church, and not a secret society, or party, or school, or political fraternity. The contrast between the secrecy which the Lord employed in teaching them, and the publicity with which they were to come forward, indicates the law according to which revelation was ever to develop and break forth more clearly and openly, and points far beyond the mission then entrusted to them.
2. They which kill the body.(1) Psychology: body and soul; (2) doctrine of immortality; (3) eschatology: the kingdom of Christ belongs pre-eminently to the other world, beyond death and the grave. Mark also the contrast between killing the body and destroying body and soul. The soul cannot be annihilated. Lastly, it also implies the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. The bodies of the lost shall suffer with their souls in hell.43
3. Not a hair of your head shall perish without your Father, far less your head itself.An expression implying their complete safety.Of more value than many sparrows. This depends upon the , and is intended to indicate the infinite superiority of the disciples over irrational creatures. The climax is as follows:The humblest of Gods creatures have their value in His sight: how much more human beings! Especially Christians: but, above all, the witnesses of Jesus. The value of the life of Jesus is the height of the climax, but does not appear here.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The address of the Lord to His people: Fear not. 1. The fear from which we are delivered (of revilers and of murderers, of the loss of honor and of life); 2. the fear by which we are delivered (Fear Him who is able, etc.); 3. the spiritual grounds for being fearless (confidence in the great revelation of Christ, consciousness of our immortality and of our complete safety in the hands of God); the blessed effect of such fearlessnessperfect joy in bearing witness for Jesus (or in particular cases, triumph of life over death, entrance into glory).With the manifestation of Christs righteousness, everything else must become manifest.When God makes known what is hid, men can no longer succeed in concealing it.The impending great revelation in its twofold effects: 1. As giving perfect comfort to the disciples: 2. as the greatest terror to an evil conscience.Holy and spiritual fear will set us free from all carnal fear.A right sense of our immortality consists in the feeling that we are perfectly safe in the keeping of our Father.The price of articles in the market an emblem of the high price which God attaches to life.Money, or the price which men attach, a symbol of the value which God sets.Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? or, the birds of the air a sermon to us, both in death and in life.God cares for all living, after its own kind: 1. According to its life (the Living One cares for the living, the God of providence for every individual, the sympathizing Saviour pities every one); 2. according to its peculiar mode of life (for His creatures in His goodness, for persons in His love, for believers in His grace); 3. according to the object of their lives (Christ, for His own sake and for that of His people; Christians, for Christs and their own sakes; and all creatures, for the sake of Christians and of the kingdom of God).The very hairs of your head are all numbered; or, the complete safety of Christians in the keeping of their Father: 1. Their whole life, with all that characterizes and adorns it, is safe; 2. they lose their earthly life, only to gain a higher; 3. their life, with all its gain, is bestowed on them by their Father in heaven.
Starke:Those who fear to proclaim the whole truth are false teachers, and neither cold nor hot.Quesnel: It is sinful to withhold the word of God from the common people. [Quesnel adds on Mat 10:27 : The Church has no more hidden mysteries, nor secret truths; and it is now the time to reveal all the knowledge and grace which Christ has committed to her. It is to injure religion, to imagine that it contains some truths or mysteries which ought to be concealed.P. S.]Cramer: Human fear must be overcome by the fear of God.Eternal death is the only evil which really deserves to be feared.Quesnel: It is a sign of great blindness to allow our souls to be destroyed.The contemplation of the providence of God a powerful means for overcoming the fear of man.What infinite value attaches to a soul for which Jesus has shed his blood! [We add from Quesnel on Mat 10:28 : It is prudence to deliver up the body in order to save the soul. This is to cast the lading of the vessel into the sea, to preserve the men from destruction. A man loses nothing when he loses that only which must perish.P. S.]
Heubner:Nothing in the life of His people is of small importance before God.Infinite value of an immortal soul.
Footnotes:
[37] Mat 10:28. [double , also in Cod. Sinait.] is the olian-Alexandrian form [for .] Lachmann, [Tischendorf, Alford]. See the note of Meyer [Com. i., p. 227].
[38] Mat 10:29.[Luther and Lange render (diminut from the Lat. as): Pfennig, de Wette: Heller. The E. V. uses farthing in Mat 5:26 for the Greek . But this is only the third or fourth part in value of an which is equal to a cent and a half of Am. money. Hence penny is more accurate. Conant: The Saviour means by it the most trifling pecuniary value, or next to nothing; and to change the Common Version, merely for more minute exactness in such a case, would be mere pedantry. But as different words are used in the Greek and as farthing and penny represent their exact relation and nearly their actual value, there is no harm in making the distinction.P. S.]
[39] Mat 10:30.[The Greek and the German have here the advantage over the English in being able to place your, is marked contrast to the sparrows, at the beginning of the sentence. , Lange (deviating from Luther): An each aber sind auch die Haare des Hauptes, etc. Perhaps we might render: But as to you, the very hairs of your head, etc.P. S.]
[40][In German: mit ngstlicher Heimlichthuerei.]
[41][These were the dying words of Ulrich Zwingli on the settle field of Cappel in Switzerland, Oct., 1531.P. S.]
[42][Luther wrongly translates: in die Hlle, for in der, mistaking for . The E. V. here, as elsewhere, is more accurate.P. S.]
[43][We add the remark of Dr. Brown: both soul and body in hell. A decisive proof this that there is a hell for the body as well as the soul in the eternal world; in other words, that the torment that awaits the lost will have elements of suffering adapted to the material as well as the spiritual part of our nature, both of which, we are assured, will exist for ever.P. S.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Ver. 26. Fear them not therefore ] Be not reviled out of your religion, but say, If this what it means to be vile, I will be yet more vile. Contra sycophantae morsum non est remedium, saith Seneca. Didicit ille maledicere, et ego contemnere, said he in Tacitus. If I cannot be master of another man’s tongue, yet I can be of mine own ears. Dio writes of Severus, that he was careful of what he should do, but careless of what he should hear. a Do well and hear ill, is written upon heaven gates, said that martyr. Ill men’s mouths are as open sepulchres, saith David, wherein good men’s names are often buried: but the comfort is, there shall be a resurrection as well of names as of bodies, at the last day.
For there is nothing hidden that shall not be known ] q.d. Deal not unfaithfully in the ministry: conceal not the truth in unrighteousness, betray not the cause of God by a cowardly silence. For (whatsoever you may plausibly plead and pretend for your false play) all shall out at length: and well it shall appear to the world that you served not the Lord Christ, but your own turns upon Christ: and so yourselves might sleep in a whole skin, let what would become of his cause and kingdom. Fearful men are the first in that black bill,Rev 21:8Rev 21:8 . And God equally hateth the timorous as the trencherous.
a , .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
26. ] The force of this is: ‘Notwithstanding their treatment of Me your Master, Mine will be victory and triumph; therefore ye, My disciples, in your turn, need not fear.’ Compare Rom 8:37 .
] This solemn truth is again and again enounced by our Lord on different occasions, and with different references. See Luk 8:17 ; Luk 12:2 . The former part of the verse drew comfort and encouragement from the past: this from the future . ‘All that is hidden must be revealed (1) it is God’s purpose in His Kingdom that the everlasting Gospel shall be freely preached, and this purpose ye serve. (2) Beware then of hypocrisy (see Luk 12:2 ) through fear of men, for all such will be detected and exposed hereafter: and (3) fear them not, for, under whatever aspersions ye may labour from them, the day is coming which shall clear you and condemn them, if ye are fearlessly doing the work of Him that sent you’ (ch. Mat 13:43 ). ; ; , . Chrys. Hom. xxxiv. 1, p. 390.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 10:26-27 . : “fear not,” and again “fear not” in Mat 10:28 , and yet again, 31, says Jesus, knowing well what temptation there would be to fear. connects with Mat 10:24-25 ; fear not the inevitable for all connected with me, as you are, take it calmly. supplies a reason for fearlessness arising out of their vocation. It is involved in the apostolic calling that those who exercise it should attract public attention. Therefore, fear not what cannot be avoided if you would be of any use. Fear suits not an apostle any more than a soldier or a sailor, who both take coolly the risks of their calling. , ; , : the two pairs of words embody a contrast between Master and disciples as to relative publicity. As movements develop they come more under the public eye. Christ’s teaching and conduct were not wholly covered and hidden. There was enough publicity to ensure ample criticism and hostility. But, relatively, His ministry was obscure compared to that of the apostles in after years to which the address looks forward. Therefore, more not less, tribulation to be looked for. The futures . . with the relative virtually express intention; cf. Mar 4:22 , where occurs; the hidden is hidden in order to be revealed. That is the law of the case to which apostles must reconcile themselves.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Matthew
THE WIDENED MISSION, ITS PERILS AND DEFENCES
Mat 10:16-31
We have already had two instances of Matthew’s way of bringing together sayings and incidents of a like kind without regard to their original connection. The Sermon on the Mount and the series of miracles in Mat 8:1 – Mat 8:34 and Mat 9:1 – Mat 9:38 are groups, the elements of which are for the most part found disconnected in Mark and Luke. This charge to the twelve in Mat 10:1 – Mat 10:42 seems to present a third instance, and to pass over in Mat 10:16 to a wider mission than that of the twelve during our Lord’s lifetime, for it forebodes persecution, whereas the preceding verses opened no darker prospect than that of indifference or non-reception. The ‘city’ which, in that stage of the gospel message, simply would ‘not receive you nor hear your words,’ in this stage has worsened into one where ‘they persecute you,’ and the persecutors are now ‘kings’ and ‘Gentiles,’ as well as Jewish councils and synagogue-frequenters. The period covered in these verses, too, reaches to the ‘end,’ the final revelation of all hidden things.
Obviously, then, our Lord is looking down a far future, and giving a charge to the dim crowd of His later disciples, whom His prescient eye saw pressing behind the twelve in days to come. He had no dreams of swift success, but realised the long, hard fight to which He was summoning His disciples. And His frankness in telling them the worst that they had to expect was as suggestive as was His freedom from the rosy, groundless visions of at once capturing a world which enthusiasts are apt to cherish, till hard experience shatters the illusions. He knew the future in store for Himself, for His Gospel, for His disciples. And He knew that dangers and death itself will not appal a soul that is touched into heroic self-forgetfulness by His love. ‘Set down my name,’ says the man in Pilgrim’s Progress , though he knew-may we not say, because he knew?-that the enemies were outside waiting to fall on him.
A further difference between this and the preceding section is, that there the stress was laid on the contents of the disciples’ message, but that here it is laid on their sufferings. Not so much by what they say, as by how they endure, are they to testify. ‘The noble army of martyrs praise Thee,’ and the primitive Church preached Jesus most effectually by dying for Him.
The keynote is struck in Mat 10:16 , in which are to be noted the ‘Behold,’ which introduces something important and strange, and calls for close attention; the majestic ‘ I send you,’ which moves to obedience whatever the issues, and pledges Him to defend the poor men who are going on His errands and the pathetic picture of the little flock huddled together, while the gleaming teeth of the wolves gnash all round them. A strange theme to drape in a metaphor! but does not the very metaphor help to lighten the darkness of the picture, as well as speak of His calmness, while He contemplates it? If the Shepherd sends His sheep into the midst of wolves, surely He will come to their help, and surely any peril is more courageously faced when they can say to themselves, ‘He put us here.’ The sheep has no claws to wound with nor teeth to tear with, but the defenceless Christian has a defence, and in his very weaponlessness wields the sharpest two-edged sword. ‘Force from force must ever flow.’ Resistance is a mistake. The victorious antagonist of savage enmity is patient meekness. ‘Sufferance is the badge of all’ true servants of Jesus. Wherever they have been misguided enough to depart from Christ’s law of endurance and to give blow for blow, they have lost their cause in the long run, and have hurt their own Christian life more than their enemies’ bodies. Guilelessness and harmlessness are their weapons. But ‘be ye wise as serpents’ is equally imperative with ‘guileless as doves.’ Mark the fine sanity of that injunction, which not only permits but enjoins prudent self-preservation, so long as it does not stoop to crooked policy, and is saved from that by dove-like guilelessness. A difficult combination, but a possible one, and when realised, a beautiful one!
The following verses Mat 10:17 expand the preceding, and mingle in a very remarkable way plain predictions of persecution to the death and encouragements to front the worst. Jewish councils and synagogues, Gentile governors and kings, will unite for once in common hatred, than which there is no stronger bond. That is a grim prospect to set before a handful of Galilean peasants, but two little words turn its terror into joy; it is ‘for My sake,’ and that is enough. Jesus trusted His humble friends, as He trusts all such always, and believed that ‘for My sake’ was a talisman which would sweeten the bitterest cup and would make cowards into heroes, and send men and women to their deaths triumphant. And history has proved that He did not trust them too much. ‘For His sake’-is that a charm for us , which makes the crooked straight and the rough places plain, which nerves for suffering and impels to noble acts, which moulds life and takes the sting and the terror out of death? Nor is that the only encouragement given to the twelve, who might well be appalled at the prospect of standing before Gentile kings. Jesus seems to discern how they shrank as they listened, at the thought of having to bear ‘testimony’ before exalted personages, and, with beautiful adaptation to their weakness, He interjects a great promise, which, for the first time, presents the divine Spirit as dwelling in the disciples’ spirits. The occasion of the dawning of that great Christian thought is very noteworthy, and not less so is the designation of the Spirit as ‘of your Father,’ with all the implications of paternal care and love which that name carries. Special crises bring special helps, and the martyrologies of all ages and lands, from Stephen outside the city wall to the last Chinese woman, have attested the faithfulness of the Promiser. How often have some calm, simple words from some slave girl in Roman cities, or some ignorant confessor before Inquisitors, been manifestly touched with heavenly light and power, and silenced sophistries and threats!
The solemn foretelling of persecution, broken for a moment, goes on and becomes even more foreboding, for it speaks of dearest ones turned to foes, and the sweet sanctities of family ties dissolved by the solvent of the new Faith. There is no enemy like a brother estranged, and it is tragically significant that it is in connection with the rupture of family bonds that death is first mentioned as the price that Christ’s messengers would have to pay for faithfulness to their message. But the prediction springs at a bound, as it were, from the narrow circle of home to the widest range, and does not fear to spread before the eyes of the twelve that they will become the objects of hatred to the whole human race if they are true to Christ’s charge. The picture is dark enough, and it has turned out to be a true forecast of facts. It suggests two questions. What right had Jesus to send men out on such an errand, and to bid them gladly die for Him? And what made these men gladly take up the burden which He laid on them? He has the right to dispose of us, because He is the Son of God who has died for us. Otherwise He is not entitled to say to us, Do my bidding, even if it leads you to death. His servants find their inspiration to absolute, unconditional self-surrender in the Love that has died for them. That which gives Him His right to dispose of us in life and death gives us the disposition to yield ourselves wholly to Him, to be His apostles according to our opportunities, and to say, ‘Whether I live or die, I am the Lord’s.’
That thought of world-wide hatred is soothed by the recurrence of the talisman, ‘For My name’s sake,’ and by a moment’s showing of a fair prospect behind the gloom streaked with lightning in the foreground. ‘He that endureth to the end shall be saved.’ The same saying occurs in Mat 24:13 , in connection with the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem, and in the same connection in Mar 13:13 , in both of which places several other sayings which appear in this charge to the apostles are found. It is impossible to settle which is the original place for these, or whether they were twice spoken. The latter supposition is very unfashionable at present, but has perhaps more to say for itself than modern critics are willing to allow. But Luk 21:19 has a remarkable variation of the saying, for his version of it is, ‘In your patience, ye shall win your souls.’ His word ‘patience’ is a noun cognate with the verb rendered in Matthew and Mark ‘endureth,’ and to ‘win one’s soul’ is obviously synonymous with being ‘saved.’ The saying cannot be limited, in any of its forms, to a mere securing of earthly life, for in this context it plainly includes those who have been delivered to death by parents and brethren, but who by death have won their lives, and have been, as Paul expected to be, thereby ‘saved into His heavenly kingdom.’ To the Christian, death is the usher who introduces him into the presence-chamber of the King, and he that loseth his life ‘for My name’s sake,’ finds it glorified in, and into, life eternal.
But willingness to endure the utmost is to be accompanied with willingness to take all worthy means to escape it. There has been a certain unwholesome craving for martyrdom generated in times of persecution, which may appear noble but is very wasteful. The worst use that you can put a man to is to burn him, and a living witness may do more for Christ than a dead martyr. Christian heroism may be shown in not being afraid to flee quite as much as in courting, or passively awaiting, danger. And Christ’s Name will be spread when His lovers are hounded from one city to another, just as it was when ‘they that were scattered abroad, went everywhere, preaching the word.’ When the brands are kicked apart by the heel of violence, they kindle flames where they fall.
But the reason for this command to flee is perplexing. ‘Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come.’ Is Jesus here reverting to the narrower immediate mission of the apostles? What ‘coming’ is referred to? We have seen that the first mission of the twelve was the theme of Mat 10:5 – Mat 10:15 , and was there pursued to its ultimate consequences of final judgment on rejecters, whilst the wider horizon of a future mission opens out from Mat 10:16 onwards. A renewed contraction of the horizon is extremely unlikely. It would be as if ‘a flower should shut and be a bud again.’ The recurrence in Mat 10:23 of ‘Verily I say unto you,’ which has already occurred in Mat 10:15 , closing the first section of the charge, makes it probable that here too a section is completed, and that probability is strengthened if it is observed that the same phrase occurs, for a third time, in the last verse of the chapter, where again the discourse soars to the height of contemplating the final reward. The fact that the apostles met with no persecution on their first mission, puts out of court the explanation of the words that refers them to that mission, and takes the ‘coming’ to be Jesus’ own appearances in the places they had preceded Him as His heralds. The difficult question as to what is the terminus ad quem pointed to here seems best solved by taking the ‘coming of the Son of Man’ to be His judicial manifestation in the destruction of Jerusalem and the consequent desolation of many of ‘the cities of Israel,’ whilst at the same time, the nearer and smaller catastrophe is a prophecy and symbol of the remoter and greater ‘day of the Son of Man’ at the end of the days. The recognition of that aspect of the fall of Jerusalem is forced on us by the eschatological parts of the Gospels, which are a bewildering whirl without it. Here, however, it is the crash of the fall itself which is in view, and the thought conveyed is that there would be cities enough to serve for refuges, and scope enough for evangelistic work, till the end of the Jewish possession of the land.
In Mat 10:26 – Mat 10:31 , ‘fear not’ is thrice spoken, and at each occurrence is enforced by a reason. The first of these encouragements is the assurance of the certain ultimate world-wide manifestation of hidden things. That same dictum occurs in other connections, and with other applications, but in the present context can only be taken as an assurance that the Gospel message, little known as it thus far was, was destined to fill all ears. Therefore the disciples were to be fearless in doing their part in making it known, and so working in alliance with the divine purpose. It is the same thing that is meant by the ‘covered’ that ‘shall be revealed,’ the ‘hidden’ that ‘shall be known,’ ‘that which is spoken in darkness,’ and ‘that which is whispered in the ear’; and all four designations refer to the word which every Christian has it in charge to sound out. We note that Jesus foresees a far wider range of publicity for His servants’ ministry than for His own, just as He afterwards declared that they would do ‘greater works’ than His. He spoke to a handful of men in an obscure corner of the world. His teaching was necessarily largely confidential communication to the fit few. But the spark is going to be a blaze, and the whisper to become a shout that fills the world. Surely, then, we who are working in the line of direction of God’s working should let no fear make us dumb, but should ever hear and obey the command: ‘Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid.’
A second reason for fearlessness is the limitation of the enemy’s power to hurt, reinforced by the thought that, while the penalties that man can inflict for faithfulness are only corporeal, transitory, and incapable of harming the true self, the consequences of unfaithfulness fling the whole man, body and soul, down to utter ruin. There is a fear that makes cowards and apostates; there is a fear which makes heroes and apostles. He who fears God, with the awe that has no torment and is own sister to love, is afraid of nothing and of no man. That holy and blessed fear drives out all other, as fire draws the heat out of a burn. He that serves Christ is lord of the world; he that fears God fronts the world, and is not afraid.
The last reason for fearlessness touches a tender chord, and discloses a gracious thought of God as Father, which softens the tremendous preceding word: ‘Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.’ Take both designations together, and let them work together in producing the awe which makes us brave, and the filial trust which makes us braver. A bird does not ‘fall to the ground’ unless wounded, and if it falls it dies. Jesus had looked pityingly on the great mystery, the woes of the creatures, and had stayed Himself on the thought of the all-embracing working of God. The very dying sparrow, with broken wing, had its place in that universal care. God is ‘immanent’ in nature. The antithesis often drawn between His universal care and His ‘special providence’ is misleading. Providence is special because it is universal. That which embraces everything must embrace each thing. But the immanent God is ‘your Father,’ and because of that sonship, ‘ye are of more value than many sparrows.’ There is an ascending order, and an increasing closeness and tenderness of relation. ‘A man is better than a sheep,’ and Christians, being God’s children, may count on getting closer into the Father’s heart than the poor crippled bird can, or than the godless man can. ‘Your Father,’ on the one hand, can destroy soul and body, therefore fear Him; but, on the other, He determines whether you shall ‘fall to the ground’ or soar above dangers, therefore fear none but Him.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 10:26-27
26Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
Mat 10:26 “do not fear them” This is a negative aorist passive (deponent) subjunctive like Mat 10:19 functioning as an aorist active imperative like Mat 10:28; Mat 10:31. This construction meant “do not even start an action.” This verse states that the motives and purposes of the human hearts, both positive and negative, will be known on Judgment Day.
It is difficult to relate the truth of this verse with the biblical promises that when God forgives, God forgets (cf. Psa 103:11-14; Isa 1:18; Isa 38:17; Isa 43:25; Isa 44:22; Mic 7:19). Possibly unconfessed (believers, cf. 1Jn 1:7-9) sin or unforgiven (unbelievers) sin is being referred to. I so rejoice in the “forgetfulness of God” ! Jesus’ blood cleanses from all sin (cf. Hebrew 9)!
Believers are not to fear humans, but respect/fear God (cf. Mat 10:28; Heb 10:31).
Overall I think this verse refers to the motives and actions of
1. unworthy houses, Mat 10:13
2. wolves, Mat 10:16
3. evil men, Mat 10:17
4. governors and kings, Mat 10:18
5. brother, Mat 10:21
6. child, Mat 10:21
7. “they” of Mat 10:23
8. “them” of Mat 10:26
9. “those” of Mat 10:28
Mat 10:27 “housetops” The flat rooftops common in Palestine were places of social activity; therefore, what was told would become public knowledge. Jesus wants His message known by all mankind!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fear . . . not = Ye should not fear.
covered = concealed.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
26. ] The force of this is: Notwithstanding their treatment of Me your Master, Mine will be victory and triumph; therefore ye, My disciples, in your turn, need not fear. Compare Rom 8:37.
] This solemn truth is again and again enounced by our Lord on different occasions, and with different references. See Luk 8:17; Luk 12:2. The former part of the verse drew comfort and encouragement from the past: this from the future. All that is hidden must be revealed-(1) it is Gods purpose in His Kingdom that the everlasting Gospel shall be freely preached, and this purpose ye serve. (2) Beware then of hypocrisy (see Luk 12:2) through fear of men, for all such will be detected and exposed hereafter: and (3) fear them not, for, under whatever aspersions ye may labour from them, the day is coming which shall clear you and condemn them, if ye are fearlessly doing the work of Him that sent you (ch. Mat 13:43). ; ; , . Chrys. Hom. xxxiv. 1, p. 390.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 10:26. , therefore) although you will be hated.-, nothing) Cf. Mar 4:22; Luk 12:2.-, …, for, etc.) The world will not so quickly destroy you, by whom truth will be propagated far and wide.-, covered) i.e. removed from sight.-, shall be uncovered) especially in the time of the Messiah.-, hidden) i.e. removed from hearing: cf. Mat 10:27.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
The King cheering his Champions
Mat 10:26 Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
The King gives reasons for courage, saying, “Fear them not therefore.” Have no fear of slander; your Lord and Master bore the full blast of that pitiless storm. Have no fear of misrepresentation, for the great God will right your characters before long. You and your traducers will alike be shown up in the colours of truth. Though you should be “covered” with obloquy, your integrity shall be “revealed”; though your true value is “hid”, it shall yet “be “known.” Secret villainy and secret virtue will alike be set in the full blaze of day. Anticipate the future, and bo not overwhelmed by the present.
Mat 10:27. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
God is the great revealer, and you should imitate him by publishing the truth to men. Go on, true believers, with your proper work, as mouths for God. Tell out what your Master tells you. Receive a message from himself in your quiet meditation, and then make it known everywhere. Hear it like a whisper in your ear, and then sound it forth as the eastern town-crier, who gets to the highest point in the village, and makes all the people hear from “the housetops.” Keep the study and the closet out of sight, and there in secret meet with Jesus; and then set the pulpit of testimony in as conspicuous a place as you can find. If plunged “in darkness” of sickness, trouble, or distress, listen to him whose voice is heard in the thick darkness, and then “speak ye in light” the profitable lessons ye have learned.
Lord, let no one of us speak till thou speakest to him, and then let him not be silent. May all thy disciples present to thee their opened ears, and then use in thy cause their fire-touched tongues!
Mat 10:28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
This, following upon the former verse, forbids us to forbear our testimony from fear of men. We may not say less or more because of the opposition of the foe. A mighty argument against fear is the comparative weakness of the enemy. Men can only wound our inferior part, the body, but are not able to kill the soul. But if we disobey God, the Supreme Lord of life and death has power even to destroy both parts of our being by casting them both into the death and darkness of Gehenna, or hell. Let us fear the Greater, and we shall not fear the less. There is no cure for the fear of man like the fear of God.
Mat 10:29-31. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Here is a sermon against fear, and sparrows are the text. Those birds are of little worth, and you are of far greater consideration than many of them. God observes the death of a sparrow, and he much more notes the lives and deaths of his people. Even the least part of his children’s bodily frame has been registered. The very hairs of their head are counted and catalogued; and, to the most minute circumstance, all their lives are under the arrangement of the Lord of love.
Chance is not in our creed: the decree of the Eternal Watcher rules our destiny, and love is seen in every line of that decree.
Since we shall not suffer harm at the hand of men by their arbitrary conduct, apart from the will and permission of our Father, let us be ready to bear with holy courage whatever the wrath of man may bring upon us. God will not waste the life of one of his soldiers; no, nor a hair of his head. If we die in God’s battle we live in the grandest sense, for by loss of life we gain life.
Mat 10:32-33. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Because divine providence rules over all, the destiny of believers is secure beyond fear of harm, and they must not shrink from the boldest avowal of their faith because of anxiety to preserve their lives. Our business is to confess Christ before men. In him the truth we acknowledge begins, centres, and ends. Our Confession of Faith is a confession of Christ: he is our theology, or Word of God. What a joy to confess him now! What a reward to be confessed by him hereafter in the glory-world! It will be a high offence against the great God, whom Jesus twice calls “my Father which is in heaven “, if we fail to confess his Son on earth.
It is clear that in this passage to “deny” Jesus means,-not to confess him. What a grave warning is this for the cowardly believer! Can a non-confessing faith save? To live and die without confessing Christ before men is to run an awful risk. Actually to recant and give up Christ must be a dreadful crime, and the penalty is fearful to contemplate. Disowned by Jesus before his Father who is in heaven! What hell can be worse?
Lord, let me never blush to own thee in all companies! Work in me a bold spirit by thy Holy Spirit. Let me confess thy truth whatever the spirit of the age may be, uphold thy church when she is most despised, obey thy precepts when they cost most dear, and glory in thy name when it is most reproached.
Mat 10:34-36. Think not that I am come to send 2peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Peace will be the ultimate issue of our Lord’s coming; but, at the first, the Lord Jesus sends a sword among men. He wars against war, and contends against contention. In the act of producing the peace of heaven ho arouses the rage of hell. Truth provokes opposition, purity excites enmity, and righteousness arouses all the forces of wrong.
During the process of fermentation, in which the right works for mastery, natural relationships go for nothing as preservatives of peace. The coming of Christ into a house is often the cause of variance between the converted and the unconverted. The more loving the Christian is, the more he may be opposed: love creates a tender zeal for the salvation of friends, and that very zeal frequently calls forth resentment. We are to expect this, and not to-be put about by it when it occurs. Animosities on account of religion often excite the fiercest of enmities, and nearness of kin inflames rather than quenches the hostility. We are to press on in confessing the Lord Jesus, come what may of it. Even if our house becomes a den of lions to us, we must stand up for our Lord. The peace-at-any-price people have no portion in this kingdom.
Lord, teach us how to behave in these trying circumstances.
Mat 10:37. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Christ must be first. He herein claims the highest place in every human breast. Could he have done so had he not been divine? No mere prophet would talk in this fashion. Yet we are not sensible of the slightest egotism in his speech, neither does it occur to us that he goes beyond his line. We are conscious that the Son of God has a right to speak thus, and only he.
We must earnestly beware of making idols of our dearest ones, by loving them more than Jesus. We must never set them near the throne of our King. We are not worthy to dwell with Christ above, nor even to be associated with him here, if any earthly object is judged by us to bo worthy to rival the Lord Jesus.
Father and mother, son and daughter-we would do anything to please them; but, as opposed to Jesus, they stand nowhere, and cannot for an instant be allowed to come in the way of our supreme loyalty to our Lord.
Mat 10:38. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Here our Lord for the second time in this gospel brings in his death. At first ho spoke of being taken from them; but now of the cross. There is a cross for each one which he may regard as “his cross.” It may be that the cross will not take us up, but we must take it up, by being willing to endure anything or everything for Christ’s sake. We are not to drag the cross after us, but to take it up. “Dragged crosses are heavy; carried crosses grow light.” Bearing the cross, we are to follow after. Jesus: to bear a cross without following Christ is a poor affair. A Christian who shuns the cross is no Christian; but a cross-bearer who does not follow Jesus equally misses the mark. Is it not singular that nothing in so essential to make a man “worthy of Christ as cross-bearing in his track? Yet it is assuredly so. Lord, thou hast laid a cross upon me, do not permit me to shirk it, or shrink from it.
Mat 10:39. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
If to escape from death he gives up Christ, and so finds a continuance of this poor mortal life; by that very act he loses true life. He gains the temporal at the expense of the eternal. On the other hand, he who loses life for Christ’s sake does in the highest sense find life, life eternal, life infinitely blessed. He makes the wisest choice who lays down his life for Jesus, and finds life in Jesus.
Mat 10:40. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
What blessed union and hallowed communion exist between the King and his servants! The words before us are especially true of the apostles to whom they were first addressed. Apostolic teaching is Christ’s teaching. To receive the twelve is to receive their Lord Jesus, and to receive the Lord Jesus is to receive God himself. In these days certain teachers despise the epistles which were written by apostles, and they are themselves worthy to be despised for so doing This is one of the sure tests of soundness in the faith. “He that is of God heareth us “, says John. This bears hard on modern critics who in a hypocritical manner pretend to receive Christ, and then reject his inspired apostles.
Lord, teach me to receive thy people into my heart, that thus I may receive thee; and as to the doctrine which I hold, be pleased to establish me in the apostolic faith.
Mat 10:41. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
Men may receive a prophet as a patriot, or a poet: that is not the point in hand. The prophet must be received in his highest character, “in the name of a prophet”, and for the sake of his Lord; and then the Lord himself is received, and he will reward the receiver in the same way in which his prophet is rewarded. If we cannot do all the good deeds of a righteous man, we can yet partake in his happiness by having fellowship with him, and by uniting with him in vindicating the faith and comforting his heart. To receive into our homes and our hearts God’s persecuted servants is to share their reward. To maintain the cause and character of good men is to be numbered with them in God’s account. This is all of grace; since the deed is so little and the recompense so large.
Mat 10:42. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.
He looked away from the apostles to some of the least and youngest of those who followed him, and he declared that the very least kindness shown to them should have its recompense. There may be a sea of warm love in “a cup of cold water.” Much loyalty to the King may be expressed by little kindnesses to his servants, and perhaps more by kindness to the little ones among them than by friendship with the greater sort. To love a poor and despised child of God for Christ’s sake shows greater love to Christ than if we love the honourable, and amiable, and rich members of his church.
Acts of love are divinely estimated rather by motive than by measure. “A cup”, and that “of cold water”, may mean as much from one as a banquet from another. Cold water has a special value in a hot climate; but this text makes it precious anywhere. Giving refreshment may be made a choice means of fellowship with holy men, if we give it because they are disciples; and specially so when persecuting governments make it penal to succour the saints in any way.
Though every kindly deed is its own reward, yet the Lord promises a further recompense. What we give for Christ’s sake is insured against loss by the promise of the text, by the “Verily, I say unto you “, which confirms it, and by the use of the negative “in no wise “, which shuts out all possibility of its being otherwise.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s The Gospel of the Kingdom
Fear: Mat 10:28, Pro 28:1, Pro 29:25, Isa 41:10, Isa 41:14, Isa 43:1, Isa 43:2, Isa 51:7, Isa 51:8, Isa 51:12, Isa 51:13, Jer 1:8, Jer 1:17, Jer 1:18, Eze 2:6, Act 4:13, Act 4:19, 1Pe 3:14
for: Mar 4:22, Luk 8:17, Luk 12:2, Luk 12:3, Luk 24:47, Act 1:8, 1Co 4:5
Reciprocal: Job 12:22 – discovereth Joh 14:27 – afraid Col 2:3 – hid Col 4:4 – I may
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
0:26
The persecutors perform their evil deeds often in an underhanded and cowardly manner. But their works will finally be exposed and all false charges disproved.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 10:26. Fear them not therefore, because of the relation to Christ, who will certainly triumph. Another reason follows: for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed. A proverbial statement, occurring with a different application in Luk 12:2; in a different connection, but with the same general application in Mar 4:22; Luk 8:18. This clause refers to Gods dealing; the next, and hid, that shall not be known, to mans conduct in regard to what is revealed. The course of thought is: God designs to reveal His truth (there is nothing covered, etc.). You are the agents in doing so, be bold therefore, for however you or others may hide it, there is nothing hid that shall not be known. The injunction: fear not has then a double support; fear not, for it is your duty as my servants to proclaim the truth; fear not, for however men treat it, your Master will set things in the true light. A subordinate thought is: Beware of hypocrisy and holding back of the truth; which will be detected hereafter.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Christ here exhorts his disciples to a free profession and open publication of the doctrine of the gospel, from this consideration, that whatever they say or do shall be brought to light, proclaimed and published to the world. I will make the excellency of your doctrine and the innocency of your lives shine as the light; your integrity in dispensing of it, and patience in suffering for it, shall redound to God’s glory and your commendation, at the revelation of your Lord from heaven. As wicked men have cause to fear because their evil deeds shall be made evident, so good men have cause to rejoice because their goodness and good deeds shall be made manifest. Let it be our care to do good, and it shall be Christ’s care to discover the goodness which we do, to vindicate it from misconstruction, and set it in its clearest light.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
10:26 {l} Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
(l) Truth will not always be hidden.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The attitudes of the disciples 10:26-39 (cf. Luk 12:1-12)
Even though Jesus’ disciples would encounter hostile opposition, they should fear God more than their antagonists.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The basis for confidence in the face of persecution is an understanding that whatever is presently hidden will eventually come out into the open. This proverbial statement applies to the truth about Jesus that the fearful disciple might seek to keep hidden for fear of opposition. It also applies to the disciple himself who might want to hide instead of letting his light shine. It applies also to the preceding teaching about persecution.
What Jesus told His disciples privately would eventually become public knowledge, so they should declare it publicly. In Palestine common flat-roofed houses were good places from which to make public addresses.
"Good news is not meant to be kept under wraps, however little some people may wish to hear it." [Note: France, The Gospel . . ., pp. 402-3.]