Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.

Matthew 10: 26-33

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

Discussion Questions:

1. What makes you fearful, and how does it affect your faith life?
2. When have you had to persevere through a time of suffering, rejection, or being misunderstood for doing the right thing? How did you respond?
3. Do you find it easier to worship Jesus than to proclaim and follow him? In what ways might active discipleship take a back seat to worship in your faith life? 
4. Where in your daily life (at work, with friends, or in your family) do you find it most tempting to “quietly hide” your faith, rather than acknowledge it? What do you think you are trying to protect in those moments?”
5. How often do you spend time reflecting on how much you are loved, rather than how much you produce?

6. When is it hardest for you to believe that God intimately knows and unconditionally cares about the details of your daily life?”

Biblical Context

Mary McGlone

After our 50 days of Easter and two solemnities, today’s Gospel thrusts us into the middle of Jesus’ discourse about mission. The opening line is the most important: “Fear no one.” If this were the Gospel of John, the next step would probably be a discourse on the truth that makes us free. But, Matthew is concerned about more concrete matters.

One dimension of Jesus’ instructions in this passage is the reversal of the “messianic secret” (Matthew 16:20). Instead of warning his disciples to “tell no one,”

Jesus now says there is no such thing as restricted access to the good news. When Jesus told people not to tell anyone what they thought of him or asked them not to publicize the news about a sign he had worked, it was generally because they didn’t fully understand it. They would be likely to proclaim him as their style of messiah or a wonder-worker, not as the messenger of God that he had been sent to be.

When the apostles are sent to proclaim the nearness and coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, they have been commissioned to do the works that Jesus has done. The very fact that Jesus could and did freely share his power demonstrates what kind of a savior he was. He sought the reign of heaven, not the spotlight.

Jesus commissioned the apostles and told them how to travel light and become a part of the communities they were to visit. Then, he immediately warned them about the job: he was sending them out as lambs among the wolves; they would be labeled as minions of the devil. What an introduction to his injunction, “Fear no one.”

Clearly, the disciples’ lack of fear can’t be based on external evidence or on naiveté. Jesus sends them out fully aware of what they are facing. But, even more than that, he makes them fully aware of the content of their message. They are being sent to proclaim what they have heard and to do what they have seen. They are to share what has sparked their hopes and deepened their faith. By giving them his mission, Jesus pushes them into the necessary next step of discipleship. It’s one thing to stand by and admire what Jesus says and does, it’s quite another to say and do the same. But, the reality is that only by taking up the mission can they be disciples. Jesus is not a one-man show. Anybody who wants to watch from the sidelines will never be more than a spectator. Being part of the dynamic of the coming of the reign of heaven requires active participation.

There is a mystery to this dynamic. Jesus preached God’s unconditional love and invited everyone to receive it. The trick is that we can only receive that love by risking everything else, as he said, by losing our life to save it. Apostles will know the love of God and the coming of the kingdom only to the extent that they give themselves to it. In knowing the love of God they will be impelled to share it. When they are dismissed and persecuted, they will understand that as an experience of solidarity with God and of God with them. Like fledgling sparrows learning to fly, they will set off behind their master trusting that the Father of Jesus will care for them as he had for Jesus himself. They will not be afraid.

An Abundance of Love

Reflection
By Heidi Busse

Do not be afraid.
Jesus repeats this exhortation more than any other throughout the Gospels, contrasting fear with belief in many of his parables and teachings. Pope Francis famously referred to fear as an enemy: “Here, then, is the great enemy of faith: it is not intelligence, nor is it reason, as, alas, some continue obsessively to repeat; but the great enemy of faith is fear.” In today’s passage from Matthew, Jesus tells his Apostles that it is fear that will prevent them from living their faith out loud.

While praying with this passage, I wondered: Why is fear so maligned in the Bible?

I found a compelling answer in modern psychology. Renowned psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross taught that “there are only two primary emotions, love and fear. But it’s more accurate to say that there is only love or fear, for we cannot feel these two emotions together, at exactly the same time. They’re opposites. If we’re in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we’re in a place of love, we cannot be in a place of fear.”

Aha! As God’s children, we were created out of an abundance of love for the purpose of love. Decisions made from a place of love are based on acceptance, compassion, empathy, and kindness. Kübler-Ross notes that from fear comes “anger, hate, anxiety, and guilt.” So, we are at our best, our most holy, when we mirror the love from which we were created.

When my children were born and first laid upon my chest, I remember knowing them so deeply and completely that all pain and fear dissolved, and there was only love. Like a parent with a newborn child, Scripture tells us that God loves us right down to each of the hairs on our heads. And surrounded by that kind of love, really—what do we have to fear?

Heidi Busse is the editor of Give Us This Day.