TRANSLATION MATTHEW 10:26

Do not fear them, for nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing is secret that will not be made known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak it in the light, and what you hear whispered, announce it from the rootops. And do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear rather the One who can destroy body and soul in the Rubbish Tip. Two sparrows are sold for a penny, aren’t they? Yet not one of them falls to the earth without your Father in Heaven. God has numbered all the hairs on your head. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows!

Whoever then takes my side before people I will take the side of that person before my Father in Heaven; but whoever denies me before people, I will deny that person before my Father in Heaven.

These words of Jesus assume that there will be a time when hidden evil and hidden good will be revealed. This may be the time of God’s Rule in the world or it may be the time of the mission of believers after the resurrection if Jesus. The assumed present is the time of Jesus’ ministry. The language of hiding characterises a time of lies and malice; while the language of secrecy characterises a time of necessary care and caution. The truths that Jesus whispers in the darkness will become the gospel truth which will be publicly announced with joy. This material could more convincingly belong to the time of Jesus than the preceding material.

Not fearing those who can kill the body is a tough demand. Again we can see similarities between Jesus and Jihadists. There could be a question about the identity if the one who can destroy both body and soul- is he, as most commentators assume, God? Or is he perhaps, Satan, who has power over those who give in to him, and who leads the opposition to Jesus? I find it difficult to decide, perhaps because I cannot easily imagine the One who counts the hairs of the head also being the destroyer if body and soul. Still, Jesus’ imagination of God is more robust than mine.

Skakespeare summed up the next verses, as “There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow,” (Hamlet 5:2) a faith that leads Hamlet to say, “The readiness is all.” Jesus’ reassurance of the Father’s care is vivid, moving and helpful. My late daughter, a sparrow who fell, used to rage against the message that we are more valuable than sparrows. Her view of ecology led her to questions all forms of human entitlement.

It’s hard to find a good translation if the Greek “homologein” to confess, to declare agreement with, to defend”. I tried various other options before settling on “take the side of”. If the follower of Jesus seems to be at risk in a court or place of public scrutiny, so too the individual person after death appearing before God may need an advocate. Jesus will never forget support for his cause in life or death. People who have given such support often undervalue their contribution. There is food here for pastoral encouragement. Does the parallel sentence about denial really belong to Jesus? It’s possible that it does but also possible that it was added to the tradition by the first Christians in a time of persecution.