July 11, 2025 • 23 mins
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Matthew 10: 24-33 - 'Everything now hidden will be made clear.'
Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraphs:
- 765 (in 'The Church - Instituted by Christ Jesus') - The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and his power, but also in his lot (abbreviated).
- 363 (in 'Body and Soul but Truly One') - In Sacred Scripture the term "soul" often refers to human life or the entire human person. But "soul" also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God's image: "soul" signifies the spiritual principle in man.
- 1034 (in 'Hell') - Jesus often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire" reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost. Jesus solemnly proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather . . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire," and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire!"
- 305 (in 'God Carries out his plan: Divine Providence') - Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the providence of our heavenly Father who takes care of his children's smallest needs: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?". . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."
- 1816 (in 'Faith') - The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."
- 14 (in 'Prologue') - Those who belong to Christ through faith and Baptism must confess their baptismal faith before men (abbreviated).
- 2145 (in 'The Name of the Lord is Holy') - The faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear. Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Got a Bible question? Send an email to logicalbiblestudy@gmail.com, and it will be answered in an upcoming episode!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Hello everyone. Welcome back to Logical Bible
Study. And once again, we're taking a
look at the gospel reading for today's Mass.
So if you go to Mass today, you'll hear from Matthew chapter
10, verses 24 to 33. So we're going to have a look at
the text and then as we always do, in this podcast.
We want to have a go at analyzing the literal sense of
(00:32):
Scripture. What was the original meaning in
the plain sense of the text? What's the author trying to
communicate to his audience? And of course, if we understand
that correctly, then that would also be the meaning that is
intended by the Holy Spirit. And so that's where we always
want to start as Catholics. When we study the Scripture,
Jesus instructed the 12 as follows.
(00:55):
The disciple is not superior to his teacher.
Nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple
that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like
his master. If they have called the master
of the House of Bellsible, what will they not say of his
(01:15):
household? Do not be afraid, for everything
that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now
hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark,
Tell in the daylight what you hear in whispers.
Proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who
(01:38):
kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.
Fear him rather. Who can destroy both body and
soul in hell? Can you not buy 2 sparrows for a
penny? And yet not one falls to the
ground without your father knowing why every hair on your
head has been counted. So there is no need to be
(02:00):
afraid. You are worth more than hundreds
of sparrows. So if anyone declares himself
for me in the presence of men, Iwill declare myself for him in
the presence of my Father in heaven.
But the one who disowns me in the presence of men I will
disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.
(02:23):
Now our context here is really important.
Jesus is speaking within a longer speech here, which he's
giving to his 12 apostles beforehe sends them out amongst the
towns. So the audience is is the 12
apostles. He's just been warning them of
the dangers they will face. And if you've been listening in
the last few days, you might have heard that now he's getting
(02:45):
into a part of the sermon where he's encouraging them to not be
afraid when they face those difficulties on their mission.
So we started verse 24. Jesus instructed the 12, so he's
giving the 12 apostles in particular guidance about how to
go about their specific mission.So what Jesus says here does not
(03:06):
necessarily apply to all disciples in all times.
Let's keep that in mind. And he starts by saying this the
disciple is not superior to his teacher nor the slave to his
master. Now, Jesus actually says this a
few different times in his ministry in different contexts,
so this is actually one of his favorite phrases.
(03:27):
The disciple is not superior to his teacher nor the slave to his
master. It has different meanings
depending on the context, but the basic meaning is always the
same and the basic meaning is this.
This has happened to me, so if you follow me, don't be
surprised when it happens to you.
So he says this, for example, atthe Last Supper in relation to
(03:52):
washing people's feet. And so when the apostles see him
washing their feet, at first they're a little bit surprised
and they say why should we have to wash each other's feet?
And Jesus, basic answer is I'm your master and I'm doing it and
you're the servants, so you should do it as well.
So it's the same basic idea, butin this particular context in
(04:12):
Matthew today. He's talking about the suffering
that the 12 apostles will experience on their mission.
So the basic idea here is if your master experience is
suffering and you're the servants, well, then you should
experience suffering as well. Verse 25.
It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like
his teacher and the slave like his master.
(04:34):
So Jesus tells the apostles thatalthough the suffering and
persecution they will experienceis going to be difficult, in a
sense it's going to be an honor as well.
Because they are servants and they'll get to experience the
same thing their master did, andtherefore if they do it
properly, they'll grow to be more like him.
Now we should keep this perspective in mind when we go
(04:55):
through suffering. There's a lot of different
verses that are used when the topic of suffering for
Christians is brought up, but this is one that's often
neglected and we should keep this verse in mind.
Jesus here says that if we're really his servants and he's our
master. Then we should expect suffering
and use it to become more like him.
That's the basic teaching here. We should expect suffering
(05:18):
because of who we serve. He then says if they have called
the master of the House of Bealsible, now who's bealsible?
This was the name of a well known Canaanite God in the Old
Testament, and you can see it discussed in the second King's
chapter one where some of the Jews fall into worshipping.
Belzible as well and it is roughly translated Prince of
(05:41):
Baal. So it's a well known Canaanite
God. Now overtime the Jews had
changed the meaning of the word a little bit and in the time of
Jesus basically Belzible had come to mean something like
Prince of demons. So it's what we'd call Satan.
It was the Jewish way of referring to Satan.
Basically if they have called the master of the house
(06:04):
Belzible, what will they not sayof his household?
So what's Jesus saying here? Well, he's saying, well we know
that the Jewish leaders are already called Jesus.
Well, they said he already serves blsible rather than God.
So remember they said that in Chapter 9, verse 34 they see him
working these miracles and they say, oh he must be serving
(06:24):
blsible. That's how he's doing this
sorcery. That's what the Jewish leaders
said. And that's a deep insult
actually to Jesus. And Jesus tells his apostles
that they. Themselves should not be
surprised then, when they face similar persecution from the
Jewish authorities. If that's the way they respond
to the Kingdom of God in its fullness, in the person of
(06:47):
Jesus, well then of course they're going to have a similar
reaction when Jesus servants do similar things.
That's the idea here. He then goes on to verse 26.
Now the audience here is important.
He's talking to the 12 apostles and he's giving them
instructions about their specific mission.
So that means what Jesus says here does not necessarily apply
(07:09):
to all disciples in all times. We can't say that this applies
to us in the same way. The first thing he says is do
not be afraid or literally have No Fear of them.
So who's the them? Well, in context, he's telling
the apostles not to be afraid ofthe Jewish leaders and the
governors who are going to persecute them.
(07:31):
And put them in on trial in the coming years.
So Jesus knows that the apostleswhen they preach the gospel are
going to face persecution. And he's telling them do not be
afraid of those who persecute you, for everything that is now
covered will be uncovered and everything now hidden will be
made clear. This is probably a reference to
the Apostolic age. So Jesus is looking ahead to the
(07:55):
time when the apostles will preach on earth, and Jesus is
saying that. While he is currently speaking
about the Kingdom during his ownlifetime in a kind of veiled
way, using things like parables,he teaches here that after he's
returned to heaven and the Holy Spirit has come in the Apostolic
age, the apostles will proclaim the Kingdom of God clearly to
(08:18):
the whole world and they won't use parables.
So let's have a look at that phrase again, for everything
that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now
hidden will be made clear. So I think that is what's
talking about the Apostolic age.The apostles preaching will be
quite clear and not vague as Jesus teaching sometimes is
(08:38):
deliberately. And by the way Jesus
deliberately makes things vague.He's contrasting that with the
way the apostles will preach, which would be very plain.
That's how God sets up his plan of salvation during Jesus
lifetime. He reveals the Kingdom to people
in a sort of hidden way where the only those who are.
Open to it will understand. But then the when the apostles
(09:00):
preach it sort of changes a bit and they speak in a much more
plain way and apparently that's how the Father wanted to set it
up. Verse 27, what I tell you in the
dark tell in the daylight what you hear in whispers proclaim
from the housetops. So once again same meaning Jesus
is telling the apostles that they will need to boldly
(09:22):
proclaim the things of the Kingdom.
Which at the present time that he's speaking, he's only
revealing to them privately. He's saying the day will come
when you're going to shout the mysteries of the Kingdom from
the housetops. And what does it mean by
housetops? Well, in that culture, all
houses had roofs for socializing, so you go up on the
roof to talk to people and to docertain tasks.
(09:44):
It was actually a good place to stand and shout a message to the
neighborhood. So it's a metaphorical thing.
When Jesus says shout from the housetops, he means tell
everyone. That is going to be the
apostle's mission after Jesus isgone.
Verse 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. So Jesus now encourages his
(10:06):
apostles to put their suffering that they're going to experience
in an eternal perspective. He knows that they're going to
encounter a lot of persecution in the coming years, and he
knows that some of them are evengoing to be killed for their
faith. And we know from history that
that appears to be the case. However, Jesus tells them not to
fear bodily death since in doingso they will gain much greater.
(10:29):
If they die in the faith they goto heaven.
Here he says there's a much worse faith that they should be
afraid of, which is this fear him rather who can destroy both
body and soul in hell? This is a scary phrase.
Now some of thought that this. Refers to Satan and typically
(10:49):
people will say that who aren't comfortable with seeing God as
judge. But in context and certainly in
the way Jesus explains hell in other places, this is God.
God the Father is the one who can destroy both body and soul
in hell. Jesus is not telling them to
fear Satan. That would not seem to fit with
his other teachings. He's saying fear God.
(11:11):
So the Father is the one who sends people to hell, not Satan.
Satan might be there in a sense.But God is the one who sends
people there. So here, why does Jesus bring
this up? Well, he's basically warning his
apostles not to give up on the faith, no matter how much
they'll be persecuted. He says that although denying
(11:32):
the faith might give them some temporary relief, they'll stop
being persecuted in this life, and they might be tempted to do
that. Actually, he says that if they
give up on the faith, they will end up in a much worse place.
How? In eternal life.
Here this is a pretty clear teaching, at least for the
apostles, that if you deny the faith you end up in hell.
It probably applies particularlyin this context to the apostles,
(11:55):
though the apostles in particular are being warned
about this because they are given a very special
commissioning and authority fromJesus.
So they have a greater responsibility to stay in the
faith and also means they receive a greater condemnation
if they don't use their responsibility well.
(12:15):
Now what's the word for hell here?
The word for hell is Gehenna. That's Jesus word that he
usually uses when he's describing the eternal state of
destruction. Jesus teaches things about hell
all through the Gospels. And here notice what he says.
Fear, the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
So he says something quite clearabout how hell works.
(12:37):
Both the body and the soul are in some sense destroyed in hell.
Now, there's a lot of discussionamongst theologians about what
it means to have your soul destroyed.
Some have thought that it means annihilated, as in your soul
goes out of existence. That's not the Catholic view
though. The Catholic view is destroyed
here in some sense means broken down, which is certainly the way
(13:01):
destroyed is used in other places in the Bible.
So in hell, it's a scary thought, but Jesus is saying it
is a place where your soul is kind of broken down.
So he puts that aside for a bit,the afterlife stuff.
He's now going to give a couple of short metaphors to show the
apostles and to encourage them that God is indeed watching over
them so they should not fear. But he's going to return at the
(13:24):
end of our passage to more information about the afterlife.
Verse 29 First little metaphor, Can you not buy 2 sparrows for a
penny? So sparrows were used for
different things by the Jews. It appears they might have been
used in liturgical sacrifices atthe Temple.
Certainly they're very cheap. A penny is very cheap.
(13:47):
But Jesus says, and yet not one of them falls to the ground
without your Father knowing. So even though sparrows were
common in that culture and they were quite cheap, Jesus says God
the Father sees and knows when every single Sparrow falls.
This is an affirmation of God's omniscience.
This verse clearly teaches that God sees, I mean if he sees all
(14:09):
the sparrows falling. By implication it teaches that
God sees everything on earth. Jesus.
Point here is this. If the Father can see when every
Sparrow falls, of course he can see and watch over each of you
apostles who are so much more precious than the sparrows.
Now some translations actually make it stronger than this
rather than saying. Yet not one falls to the ground
(14:32):
without your Father knowing. It actually says without your
Father willing it. Now that's even stronger, isn't
it? Because it tells us if that's
the right translation. God not only is watching
everything, he is actually planning and allowing
everything. Everything is under His control.
And that's certainly part of Catholic belief as well.
Verse 30, Why every hair on yourhead has been counted.
(14:55):
So Jesus teaches that God the Father knows people so
intimately. That he even knows the number of
hairs on our head. How incredible is that?
We should reflect on this verse more.
This is a God who knows us far more intimately and deeply than
we even know ourselves. He knows the number of hairs on
our head. We don't know that.
But he does. Verse 31.
(15:16):
So there is no need to be afraid.
You are worth more than hundredsof sparrows.
The Apostles as God's messengersare far more valuable than
sparrows. That's the teaching here.
Now, Jesus probably applies thisto all humans as well.
Probably in Jesus mind, all humans are valuable to God.
They're more valuable than sparrows because we're made in
(15:37):
God's image. We are all incredibly loved by
God, much more than common animals.
Now that has interesting applications for animal rights
movement, doesn't it? Because the clear teaching of
scripture is that although animals are incredibly.
Valuable and worth protecting. The clear teaching of scripture
is that humans are much, much more valuable than animals in
(16:00):
the eyes of God. At least.
Jesus is now going to return to the theme of the afterlife, and
he's going to talk a bit about martyrdom and how martyrdom
works if you're killed for proclaiming your faith in Jesus.
Verse 32. So if anyone declares himself
for me in the presence of men. Or as other translations have,
(16:22):
this acknowledges me before men.When would this happen?
Well, in context, Jesus is predicting that there will come
a time when the apostles will beasked by the Jewish leaders,
often at the point of death, whether they believe Jesus is
the Messiah. And we know from history that
that happened. They basically were told if you
(16:43):
deny your faith in Jesus, we'll stop persecuting you and many of
them. Or certainly the apostles did
not give up the faith. They were willing to die.
They would not deny Jesus. Other disciples were known to
leave the faith in that situation.
That's why Jesus brings it up, because he knows that the
apostles are going to face that challenge.
If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I
(17:06):
will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in
Heaven. A better translation here, I
think, is I would acknowledge him before my Father.
So the idea here is that if the apostles remain faithful to
Jesus and do not deny him even at the point of death, then
Jesus will intercede on their behalf in heaven and will tell
(17:27):
the Father that this apostle is one of his own.
Therefore, if the apostle is martyred as a result of refusing
to give up on Jesus, they will enter heaven.
That's the teaching here. And you notice the link here to
what he said earlier about fear,the one who can cast your body
and soul into hell. This is another reminder not to
(17:47):
give up the faith so that they can enter heaven.
Jesus will honor them if they honor him, but then he flips it
around. But the one who disowns me in
the presence of men, I will discern in the presence of my
Father in heaven. So anyone who denies Jesus when
questioned Jesus says he will deny that person to the Father.
(18:10):
That's kind of scary, isn't it? This is a strong implication
that the person who denies Jesuswhen asked if they believe in
him will not be admitted into heaven.
Now certainly the primary application here is to the time
of the apostles. It's a warning to the apostles
that if they deny Jesus, they will not get into heaven.
(18:30):
And so there's some debate abouthow much that applies because
certainly some people are put under quite a strong amount of
pressure to give up the faith. But certainly here we have the
basics of the teaching about martyrdom.
Now that's all we get to hear today.
The next part of this speech is read on Monday of week 15 in
Ordinary Time. It's not actually read on any
(18:52):
Sundays. So if you want to hear the next
little bit Monday of week 15 in Ordinary Time, let's take a
quick look at some catechism paragraphs which make reference
to this passage from Matthew, Chapter 10, paragraph 765.
This is about the way the Churchis structured.
The 12 and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and
(19:14):
his power, but also in his lot and it references here Matthew
chapter 10 in particular, where he tells them if I've been
persecuted, you should expect persecution too.
Paragraph 363. This is about the idea of a
soul. In Sacred Scripture, the term
soul often refers to human life or the entire human person, but
(19:36):
soul also refers to the innermost aspect of man.
That which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most
especially in God's image. Soul, signifies the spiritual
principle in man, and certainly we hear Jesus referring to souls
here. Paragraph 1034 is about hell,
and this brings together variousthings Jesus says about Gehenna.
(20:01):
Jesus often speaks of Gehenna, of the unquenchable fire
reserved for those who, to the end of their life, refuse to
believe and be converted. Where both body and soul can be
lost, Jesus solemnly proclaims that he will send his angels,
and they will gather all evildoers and throw them into
the furnace of fire, and that hewill pronounce the condemnation.
(20:23):
Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire.
Scary words. But this is in the Catechism.
It's part of Catholic teaching that those who persist to the
end of their life in refusing tobelieve and be converted will go
to hell with a. Soul and body will be lost.
Obviously there's a bit more nuance in here.
This is just one paragraph, but it does certainly make reference
(20:47):
to Jesus. Basic Teaching about What
Happens in Hell, paragraph 305. This is about divine Providence,
one of the most mysterious aspects of theology.
Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the Providence of
our Heavenly Father, who takes care of his children's smallest
needs. And it then goes on to reference
(21:09):
various passages in Matthew, Andthis is one of them, where Jesus
says, you're the very hairs on your head are numbered.
So the Father knows us, and He takes care of us.
In His Divine Providence. Paragraph 1816 is about faith.
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on
it, but also profess it confidently, bear witness to it,
(21:31):
and spread it. All, however, must be prepared
to confess Christ before men, and to follow him along the way
of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church
never lacks service of, and witness to the faith unnecessary
for salvation. So everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who
(21:53):
is in heaven. But whoever denies me before
men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
So we have there a direct quote from what we heard today in
Matthew chapter 10 to support the Catholic teaching that
service of and witness to the Faith are necessary for
salvation. We don't like to hear that those
conditions on salvation, but this is one of them.
(22:15):
We have to witness to the Faith and we cannot deny it openly.
Paragraph 2145. This is our last one.
For today the faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name
by confessing the Faith without giving way to fear.
Preaching and catecizing should be permeated with adoration and
respect for the name of our LordJesus Christ, so we'll leave it
(22:39):
there for today. Thank you again for listening.
I hope you learned something new.
It's always great to dive into the text of the Gospels,
particularly Matthew, because there's a lot of stuff going on
there in terms of the Jewish context that we often don't know
about, And that's the point of this podcast to help you.
Get to know those sociocultural aspects of the text that you may
(23:00):
not have been aware of so that we can better get at what Jesus
intended to teach. And I know so many of you have
benefited from this approach to scriptures.
Thank you for your feedback. Please consider sending in an
e-mail If you're new to the podcast and you're learning from
it. Send an e-mail to
logical.biblestudy@gmail.com. And please consider partnering
with the ministry as well so that we can expand the Kingdom.
(23:24):
Through people, and particularlyCatholics learning more about
the Scriptures, all of the information for that is in the
show notes. Thanks for listening, We'll see
you again tomorrow.
Hello everyone. Welcome back to Logical Bible
Study. And once again, we're taking a
look at the gospel reading for today's Mass.
So if you go to Mass today, you'll hear from Matthew chapter
10, verses 24 to 33. So we're going to have a look at
the text and then as we always do, in this podcast.
We want to have a go at analyzing the literal sense of
(00:32):
Scripture. What was the original meaning in
the plain sense of the text? What's the author trying to
communicate to his audience? And of course, if we understand
that correctly, then that would also be the meaning that is
intended by the Holy Spirit. And so that's where we always
want to start as Catholics. When we study the Scripture,
Jesus instructed the 12 as follows.
(00:55):
The disciple is not superior to his teacher.
Nor the slave to his master. It is enough for the disciple
that he should grow to be like his teacher, and the slave like
his master. If they have called the master
of the House of Bellsible, what will they not say of his
(01:15):
household? Do not be afraid, for everything
that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now
hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark,
Tell in the daylight what you hear in whispers.
Proclaim from the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who
(01:38):
kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.
Fear him rather. Who can destroy both body and
soul in hell? Can you not buy 2 sparrows for a
penny? And yet not one falls to the
ground without your father knowing why every hair on your
head has been counted. So there is no need to be
(02:00):
afraid. You are worth more than hundreds
of sparrows. So if anyone declares himself
for me in the presence of men, Iwill declare myself for him in
the presence of my Father in heaven.
But the one who disowns me in the presence of men I will
disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.
(02:23):
Now our context here is really important.
Jesus is speaking within a longer speech here, which he's
giving to his 12 apostles beforehe sends them out amongst the
towns. So the audience is is the 12
apostles. He's just been warning them of
the dangers they will face. And if you've been listening in
the last few days, you might have heard that now he's getting
(02:45):
into a part of the sermon where he's encouraging them to not be
afraid when they face those difficulties on their mission.
So we started verse 24. Jesus instructed the 12, so he's
giving the 12 apostles in particular guidance about how to
go about their specific mission.So what Jesus says here does not
(03:06):
necessarily apply to all disciples in all times.
Let's keep that in mind. And he starts by saying this the
disciple is not superior to his teacher nor the slave to his
master. Now, Jesus actually says this a
few different times in his ministry in different contexts,
so this is actually one of his favorite phrases.
(03:27):
The disciple is not superior to his teacher nor the slave to his
master. It has different meanings
depending on the context, but the basic meaning is always the
same and the basic meaning is this.
This has happened to me, so if you follow me, don't be
surprised when it happens to you.
So he says this, for example, atthe Last Supper in relation to
(03:52):
washing people's feet. And so when the apostles see him
washing their feet, at first they're a little bit surprised
and they say why should we have to wash each other's feet?
And Jesus, basic answer is I'm your master and I'm doing it and
you're the servants, so you should do it as well.
So it's the same basic idea, butin this particular context in
(04:12):
Matthew today. He's talking about the suffering
that the 12 apostles will experience on their mission.
So the basic idea here is if your master experience is
suffering and you're the servants, well, then you should
experience suffering as well. Verse 25.
It is enough for the disciple that he should grow to be like
his teacher and the slave like his master.
(04:34):
So Jesus tells the apostles thatalthough the suffering and
persecution they will experienceis going to be difficult, in a
sense it's going to be an honor as well.
Because they are servants and they'll get to experience the
same thing their master did, andtherefore if they do it
properly, they'll grow to be more like him.
Now we should keep this perspective in mind when we go
(04:55):
through suffering. There's a lot of different
verses that are used when the topic of suffering for
Christians is brought up, but this is one that's often
neglected and we should keep this verse in mind.
Jesus here says that if we're really his servants and he's our
master. Then we should expect suffering
and use it to become more like him.
That's the basic teaching here. We should expect suffering
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because of who we serve. He then says if they have called
the master of the House of Bealsible, now who's bealsible?
This was the name of a well known Canaanite God in the Old
Testament, and you can see it discussed in the second King's
chapter one where some of the Jews fall into worshipping.
Belzible as well and it is roughly translated Prince of
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Baal. So it's a well known Canaanite
God. Now overtime the Jews had
changed the meaning of the word a little bit and in the time of
Jesus basically Belzible had come to mean something like
Prince of demons. So it's what we'd call Satan.
It was the Jewish way of referring to Satan.
Basically if they have called the master of the house
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Belzible, what will they not sayof his household?
So what's Jesus saying here? Well, he's saying, well we know
that the Jewish leaders are already called Jesus.
Well, they said he already serves blsible rather than God.
So remember they said that in Chapter 9, verse 34 they see him
working these miracles and they say, oh he must be serving
(06:24):
blsible. That's how he's doing this
sorcery. That's what the Jewish leaders
said. And that's a deep insult
actually to Jesus. And Jesus tells his apostles
that they. Themselves should not be
surprised then, when they face similar persecution from the
Jewish authorities. If that's the way they respond
to the Kingdom of God in its fullness, in the person of
(06:47):
Jesus, well then of course they're going to have a similar
reaction when Jesus servants do similar things.
That's the idea here. He then goes on to verse 26.
Now the audience here is important.
He's talking to the 12 apostles and he's giving them
instructions about their specific mission.
So that means what Jesus says here does not necessarily apply
(07:09):
to all disciples in all times. We can't say that this applies
to us in the same way. The first thing he says is do
not be afraid or literally have No Fear of them.
So who's the them? Well, in context, he's telling
the apostles not to be afraid ofthe Jewish leaders and the
governors who are going to persecute them.
(07:31):
And put them in on trial in the coming years.
So Jesus knows that the apostleswhen they preach the gospel are
going to face persecution. And he's telling them do not be
afraid of those who persecute you, for everything that is now
covered will be uncovered and everything now hidden will be
made clear. This is probably a reference to
the Apostolic age. So Jesus is looking ahead to the
(07:55):
time when the apostles will preach on earth, and Jesus is
saying that. While he is currently speaking
about the Kingdom during his ownlifetime in a kind of veiled
way, using things like parables,he teaches here that after he's
returned to heaven and the Holy Spirit has come in the Apostolic
age, the apostles will proclaim the Kingdom of God clearly to
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the whole world and they won't use parables.
So let's have a look at that phrase again, for everything
that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now
hidden will be made clear. So I think that is what's
talking about the Apostolic age.The apostles preaching will be
quite clear and not vague as Jesus teaching sometimes is
(08:38):
deliberately. And by the way Jesus
deliberately makes things vague.He's contrasting that with the
way the apostles will preach, which would be very plain.
That's how God sets up his plan of salvation during Jesus
lifetime. He reveals the Kingdom to people
in a sort of hidden way where the only those who are.
Open to it will understand. But then the when the apostles
(09:00):
preach it sort of changes a bit and they speak in a much more
plain way and apparently that's how the Father wanted to set it
up. Verse 27, what I tell you in the
dark tell in the daylight what you hear in whispers proclaim
from the housetops. So once again same meaning Jesus
is telling the apostles that they will need to boldly
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proclaim the things of the Kingdom.
Which at the present time that he's speaking, he's only
revealing to them privately. He's saying the day will come
when you're going to shout the mysteries of the Kingdom from
the housetops. And what does it mean by
housetops? Well, in that culture, all
houses had roofs for socializing, so you go up on the
roof to talk to people and to docertain tasks.
(09:44):
It was actually a good place to stand and shout a message to the
neighborhood. So it's a metaphorical thing.
When Jesus says shout from the housetops, he means tell
everyone. That is going to be the
apostle's mission after Jesus isgone.
Verse 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but
cannot kill the soul. So Jesus now encourages his
(10:06):
apostles to put their suffering that they're going to experience
in an eternal perspective. He knows that they're going to
encounter a lot of persecution in the coming years, and he
knows that some of them are evengoing to be killed for their
faith. And we know from history that
that appears to be the case. However, Jesus tells them not to
fear bodily death since in doingso they will gain much greater.
(10:29):
If they die in the faith they goto heaven.
Here he says there's a much worse faith that they should be
afraid of, which is this fear him rather who can destroy both
body and soul in hell? This is a scary phrase.
Now some of thought that this. Refers to Satan and typically
(10:49):
people will say that who aren't comfortable with seeing God as
judge. But in context and certainly in
the way Jesus explains hell in other places, this is God.
God the Father is the one who can destroy both body and soul
in hell. Jesus is not telling them to
fear Satan. That would not seem to fit with
his other teachings. He's saying fear God.
(11:11):
So the Father is the one who sends people to hell, not Satan.
Satan might be there in a sense.But God is the one who sends
people there. So here, why does Jesus bring
this up? Well, he's basically warning his
apostles not to give up on the faith, no matter how much
they'll be persecuted. He says that although denying
(11:32):
the faith might give them some temporary relief, they'll stop
being persecuted in this life, and they might be tempted to do
that. Actually, he says that if they
give up on the faith, they will end up in a much worse place.
How? In eternal life.
Here this is a pretty clear teaching, at least for the
apostles, that if you deny the faith you end up in hell.
It probably applies particularlyin this context to the apostles,
(11:55):
though the apostles in particular are being warned
about this because they are given a very special
commissioning and authority fromJesus.
So they have a greater responsibility to stay in the
faith and also means they receive a greater condemnation
if they don't use their responsibility well.
(12:15):
Now what's the word for hell here?
The word for hell is Gehenna. That's Jesus word that he
usually uses when he's describing the eternal state of
destruction. Jesus teaches things about hell
all through the Gospels. And here notice what he says.
Fear, the one who can destroy both body and soul in hell.
So he says something quite clearabout how hell works.
(12:37):
Both the body and the soul are in some sense destroyed in hell.
Now, there's a lot of discussionamongst theologians about what
it means to have your soul destroyed.
Some have thought that it means annihilated, as in your soul
goes out of existence. That's not the Catholic view
though. The Catholic view is destroyed
here in some sense means broken down, which is certainly the way
(13:01):
destroyed is used in other places in the Bible.
So in hell, it's a scary thought, but Jesus is saying it
is a place where your soul is kind of broken down.
So he puts that aside for a bit,the afterlife stuff.
He's now going to give a couple of short metaphors to show the
apostles and to encourage them that God is indeed watching over
them so they should not fear. But he's going to return at the
(13:24):
end of our passage to more information about the afterlife.
Verse 29 First little metaphor, Can you not buy 2 sparrows for a
penny? So sparrows were used for
different things by the Jews. It appears they might have been
used in liturgical sacrifices atthe Temple.
Certainly they're very cheap. A penny is very cheap.
(13:47):
But Jesus says, and yet not one of them falls to the ground
without your Father knowing. So even though sparrows were
common in that culture and they were quite cheap, Jesus says God
the Father sees and knows when every single Sparrow falls.
This is an affirmation of God's omniscience.
This verse clearly teaches that God sees, I mean if he sees all
(14:09):
the sparrows falling. By implication it teaches that
God sees everything on earth. Jesus.
Point here is this. If the Father can see when every
Sparrow falls, of course he can see and watch over each of you
apostles who are so much more precious than the sparrows.
Now some translations actually make it stronger than this
rather than saying. Yet not one falls to the ground
(14:32):
without your Father knowing. It actually says without your
Father willing it. Now that's even stronger, isn't
it? Because it tells us if that's
the right translation. God not only is watching
everything, he is actually planning and allowing
everything. Everything is under His control.
And that's certainly part of Catholic belief as well.
Verse 30, Why every hair on yourhead has been counted.
(14:55):
So Jesus teaches that God the Father knows people so
intimately. That he even knows the number of
hairs on our head. How incredible is that?
We should reflect on this verse more.
This is a God who knows us far more intimately and deeply than
we even know ourselves. He knows the number of hairs on
our head. We don't know that.
But he does. Verse 31.
(15:16):
So there is no need to be afraid.
You are worth more than hundredsof sparrows.
The Apostles as God's messengersare far more valuable than
sparrows. That's the teaching here.
Now, Jesus probably applies thisto all humans as well.
Probably in Jesus mind, all humans are valuable to God.
They're more valuable than sparrows because we're made in
(15:37):
God's image. We are all incredibly loved by
God, much more than common animals.
Now that has interesting applications for animal rights
movement, doesn't it? Because the clear teaching of
scripture is that although animals are incredibly.
Valuable and worth protecting. The clear teaching of scripture
is that humans are much, much more valuable than animals in
(16:00):
the eyes of God. At least.
Jesus is now going to return to the theme of the afterlife, and
he's going to talk a bit about martyrdom and how martyrdom
works if you're killed for proclaiming your faith in Jesus.
Verse 32. So if anyone declares himself
for me in the presence of men. Or as other translations have,
(16:22):
this acknowledges me before men.When would this happen?
Well, in context, Jesus is predicting that there will come
a time when the apostles will beasked by the Jewish leaders,
often at the point of death, whether they believe Jesus is
the Messiah. And we know from history that
that happened. They basically were told if you
(16:43):
deny your faith in Jesus, we'll stop persecuting you and many of
them. Or certainly the apostles did
not give up the faith. They were willing to die.
They would not deny Jesus. Other disciples were known to
leave the faith in that situation.
That's why Jesus brings it up, because he knows that the
apostles are going to face that challenge.
If anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I
(17:06):
will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in
Heaven. A better translation here, I
think, is I would acknowledge him before my Father.
So the idea here is that if the apostles remain faithful to
Jesus and do not deny him even at the point of death, then
Jesus will intercede on their behalf in heaven and will tell
(17:27):
the Father that this apostle is one of his own.
Therefore, if the apostle is martyred as a result of refusing
to give up on Jesus, they will enter heaven.
That's the teaching here. And you notice the link here to
what he said earlier about fear,the one who can cast your body
and soul into hell. This is another reminder not to
(17:47):
give up the faith so that they can enter heaven.
Jesus will honor them if they honor him, but then he flips it
around. But the one who disowns me in
the presence of men, I will discern in the presence of my
Father in heaven. So anyone who denies Jesus when
questioned Jesus says he will deny that person to the Father.
(18:10):
That's kind of scary, isn't it? This is a strong implication
that the person who denies Jesuswhen asked if they believe in
him will not be admitted into heaven.
Now certainly the primary application here is to the time
of the apostles. It's a warning to the apostles
that if they deny Jesus, they will not get into heaven.
(18:30):
And so there's some debate abouthow much that applies because
certainly some people are put under quite a strong amount of
pressure to give up the faith. But certainly here we have the
basics of the teaching about martyrdom.
Now that's all we get to hear today.
The next part of this speech is read on Monday of week 15 in
Ordinary Time. It's not actually read on any
(18:52):
Sundays. So if you want to hear the next
little bit Monday of week 15 in Ordinary Time, let's take a
quick look at some catechism paragraphs which make reference
to this passage from Matthew, Chapter 10, paragraph 765.
This is about the way the Churchis structured.
The 12 and the other disciples share in Christ's mission and
(19:14):
his power, but also in his lot and it references here Matthew
chapter 10 in particular, where he tells them if I've been
persecuted, you should expect persecution too.
Paragraph 363. This is about the idea of a
soul. In Sacred Scripture, the term
soul often refers to human life or the entire human person, but
(19:36):
soul also refers to the innermost aspect of man.
That which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most
especially in God's image. Soul, signifies the spiritual
principle in man, and certainly we hear Jesus referring to souls
here. Paragraph 1034 is about hell,
and this brings together variousthings Jesus says about Gehenna.
(20:01):
Jesus often speaks of Gehenna, of the unquenchable fire
reserved for those who, to the end of their life, refuse to
believe and be converted. Where both body and soul can be
lost, Jesus solemnly proclaims that he will send his angels,
and they will gather all evildoers and throw them into
the furnace of fire, and that hewill pronounce the condemnation.
(20:23):
Depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire.
Scary words. But this is in the Catechism.
It's part of Catholic teaching that those who persist to the
end of their life in refusing tobelieve and be converted will go
to hell with a. Soul and body will be lost.
Obviously there's a bit more nuance in here.
This is just one paragraph, but it does certainly make reference
(20:47):
to Jesus. Basic Teaching about What
Happens in Hell, paragraph 305. This is about divine Providence,
one of the most mysterious aspects of theology.
Jesus asks for childlike abandonment to the Providence of
our Heavenly Father, who takes care of his children's smallest
needs. And it then goes on to reference
(21:09):
various passages in Matthew, Andthis is one of them, where Jesus
says, you're the very hairs on your head are numbered.
So the Father knows us, and He takes care of us.
In His Divine Providence. Paragraph 1816 is about faith.
The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on
it, but also profess it confidently, bear witness to it,
(21:31):
and spread it. All, however, must be prepared
to confess Christ before men, and to follow him along the way
of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church
never lacks service of, and witness to the faith unnecessary
for salvation. So everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who
(21:53):
is in heaven. But whoever denies me before
men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
So we have there a direct quote from what we heard today in
Matthew chapter 10 to support the Catholic teaching that
service of and witness to the Faith are necessary for
salvation. We don't like to hear that those
conditions on salvation, but this is one of them.
(22:15):
We have to witness to the Faith and we cannot deny it openly.
Paragraph 2145. This is our last one.
For today the faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name
by confessing the Faith without giving way to fear.
Preaching and catecizing should be permeated with adoration and
respect for the name of our LordJesus Christ, so we'll leave it
(22:39):
there for today. Thank you again for listening.
I hope you learned something new.
It's always great to dive into the text of the Gospels,
particularly Matthew, because there's a lot of stuff going on
there in terms of the Jewish context that we often don't know
about, And that's the point of this podcast to help you.
Get to know those sociocultural aspects of the text that you may
(23:00):
not have been aware of so that we can better get at what Jesus
intended to teach. And I know so many of you have
benefited from this approach to scriptures.
Thank you for your feedback. Please consider sending in an
e-mail If you're new to the podcast and you're learning from
it. Send an e-mail to
logical.biblestudy@gmail.com. And please consider partnering
with the ministry as well so that we can expand the Kingdom.
(23:24):
Through people, and particularlyCatholics learning more about
the Scriptures, all of the information for that is in the
show notes. Thanks for listening, We'll see
you again tomorrow.
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