6.21.20 - To Fear or Not to Fear, that is the question.

As the Easter Season closes with the Trifecta of Pentecost, Holy Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi, we now return to “Ordinary Time. This Sunday is the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Matthew 10:26-33: Do Not Fear/Whom To Fear

Setting: Jesus is preparing his Apostles to go out and preach. Up till now, Jesus has done it all. The Apostles are frightened a) because they don’t know enough, and b) they fear for their lives. Jesus explains that everything he has been preaching – and even what he has only told them (i.e., that he is the Son of God) will become their job to preach to the world. But they won’t be forgotten or alone.

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26Therefore do not fear them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 27What I tell you in the dark (private), speak in the light; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim on the housetops. 28Do not fear those who kill the body but are powerless to kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30As for you, even all the hairs of your head have been counted. 31Fear not, therefore; for you are worth more than many sparrows.

32Everyone who acknowledges me publicly, I will also acknowledge before my heavenly Father. 33But whoever disowns me publicly, I will disown before my heavenly Father.

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Q: What does V26-27 mean?

A: Everything Jesus has been teaching – including who he is – will all be revealed soon enough. Their job will be to teach it to the whole world.

Q: What does V28 mean?

A: If you die defending Jesus/God, you have nothing to worry about, because your eternal life will be protected and even rewarded. This life is but one second on the eternal clock. But losing your life eternally – now that is bad. Do n0t fear men; instead, you should fear separating yourself from God forever.

Q: Who can destroy both body and soul? (Not an easy answer)

A: _______________

Q: What is the point of the sparrows in V29?

A: ____________________________________________________

Q: Does Jesus’ comment that he will disown those who disown him sound unfair?

A: What is perfect justice? All Jesus is saying is that he will honor our free will. In that sense, he is not disowning anyone. Those who disown God simply get their wish.

Jeremiah 20:10-13

Setting: The LORD commissions Jeremiah to stand at the Benjamin Gate—the most prominent of the gates of Jerusalem used by the king himself—and call Judah to repentance; if they repent, royalty and abundant commerce shall flow to the Temple through the Benjamin Gate in perpetuity. Then Jeremiah takes this same message into the Temple courts. He is arrested, beaten, and placed in stocks at the Benjamin Gate by the chief priest, Passhur. Verse 10 picks up after Jeremiah is released.

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10Yes, I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce! Let us denounce him!” All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. “Perhaps he can be tricked; then we will prevail, and take our revenge on him.”

11But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not prevail. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.

12LORD of hosts, you test the just, you see mind and heart, let me see the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause.

13Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, for he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the evildoers!

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Q: Jeremiah’s starts out lamenting his horrible conditions but in the end he praises God for saving him. This sounds similar to Psalm 22, which Jesus quotes on the cross. It begins with, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” How does it end?

A: Deliverance from evil.

Paul to the Romans 5:12-14 Humanity’s Sin through Adam

12 Therefore, just as through one person sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned —13for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law.

14But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.

15But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person’s transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many.

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Q: Paul is pointing out that Jesus is the New Adam who came and reversed the Fall of Man. What else can be drawn from his comments?

A: The Fall caused humans to lose Sanctifying Grace, which is why our inclination to sin (self-absorption and division) is greater than our inclination to love (servant leadership and undivision). This inclination to sin (called concupiscence) is what we now call Original Sin. It derives from V12.