Today’s Gospel illustrates the continuation of the important instructions Jesus gave His disciples-apostles when He sent them out on mission (we heard the beginning of the discourse last Sunday). It is about the concrete exhortation not to be afraid to witness to Christ. The imperative “do not be afraid” is repeated no less than three times in a few sentences, at the beginning, in the middle and at the end; and so it punctuates the whole of Jesus’ brief discourse. The Master’s insistence on this attitude that the disciples-missionaries will have to assume, or perhaps better, will have to learn to have in their mission, emerges very clearly. From Jesus’ words we can glimpse three fundamental aspects of this not-having-fear, which are still relevant today.
First of all, it is about the disciples not being afraid of men in proclaiming all that they had received from their Master: “What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.” It refers, then, to the divine revelations that Jesus confides to His disciples “in the secret” of their hearts. The disciples are called to be Christ’s “megaphone” in conveying His proclamation and teaching to the world in its entirety. It will be what the Risen One will exhort to His most faithful disciples before He ascends to Heaven: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19).
Secondly, the disciples’ attitude of not being afraid comes from a sapiential view of life with God and in God. Thus, on the one hand Jesus exhorts, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” That is, men are only men; they do not have absolute power over the soul. In contrast, “rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” That is to say, be afraid only of God, the true and only Almighty.
Such teaching of Jesus on the fear of God echoes with that of the wise teachers in the biblical-Jewish tradition. It is emblematically emphasized Sir 1:6 [LXX 1:8]: “There is but one, wise and truly awesome, seated upon his throne—the Lord.” Moreover, God is the final instance and “puts to death and gives life, casts down to Sheol and brings up again” (1 Sm 2:6). Therefore, Jesus’ exhortation is a strong call for reflection: let those who are wise think about this in order to have the right attitude toward Him and Him alone, regardless of anything else or anyone else. Here we catch a glimpse of what biblical-Jewish wisdom repeatedly insists on: from contemplating God’s greatness and omnipotence to wisdom in life (cf. Ps 107:43a); indeed, it is precisely from the fear of the almighty God that right and wise behavior is arrived at, according to the aforementioned fundamental motto of the biblical-Jewish wisdom tradition: “Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (cf. Pr 1:7; Ps 111:10).
Finally, immediately after the exhortation to fear the One who is the only Almighty, Jesus offers a significant explanation that seems like a digression, but in fact is not: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. (…) So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Here God is explicitly mentioned as Father and His care for all created things, no matter how insignificant, such as the sparrows among the animate beings or such as the head hair, which symbolizes the marginal parts of the human body, is highlighted. If the thought of absolute power to be afraid helps to relativize other fears, the glimpse of God’s care for His children adds confidence in Him and the strength not to fear anyone outside Him. Thus, we have two aspects of the fearing of God that turn out to be somewhat complementary: on the one hand, God is to be feared because of His omnipotence, and on the other hand, He is the one in whom trust must be placed. The fear of God is thus linked with trust in Him.
Here, too, Jesus’ thinking is shown to be not far removed from biblical-Jewish teaching, especially that of the sages of Israel, who often recommended finding safe refuge in the Lord Himself and even in His fear! Here are some texts from the biblical wisdom tradition that need no further clarification:
Pr 14:26-27:
The fear of the LORD is a strong defense,
a refuge even for one’s children.
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning one from the snares of death.
Pr 19:23:
The fear of the LORD leads to life;
one eats and sleeps free from any harm.
It is therefore the thought concerning the fear of God which, manifested in the reverential and trusting relationship with Him, guarantees life and casts out all other fears. This is seen again in the psalms, so to speak, “anti-fear” (cf. Ps 23:4; 27:1.3; 46:2-3; 49:6.16-17; 56:4-5.12; 91:5-13), among which we particularly point out Ps 56:4-5 by virtue of its proximity to the content of the Gospel text contemplated: “When I am afraid, in you I place my trust. I praise the word of God; I trust in God, I do not fear. What can mere flesh do to me?” Such fear of God, which goes together with faith and trust in God that liberates from all fear, lies behind both Jesus’ instruction and biblical-Judaic and sapiential thought. And here we come full circle: from fear to awe, i.e., from instinctive fear in the face of threat from men, we come to the true fear of God, the religious fear, which includes the dimension of faith and trust in the almighty and at the same time caring God toward His creatures.
It is precisely this perspective of fear and trust in God that helps us properly understand Jesus’ concluding saying, which, at first glance, seems threatening: “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.” This is a “disturbing” principle of reciprocity that follows a cold, rather human and cruel logic without any mercy from the Lord. However, these words should be read in conjunction with another New Testament passage which, curiously picking up on the same thought, offers immediately afterwards an affirmation about the Lord’s unconditional faithfulness for the salvation of all, including those who are “unfaithful”: “This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2Tm 2:11-13). In the end, God’s faithfulness, which overpowers all human unfaithfulness, will always win, like heaven above the earth.
Let us pray (in the words of the alternative Collect prayer in the Italian Missal for Sunday XII, Year A):
O God, who entrusts to our weakness the prophetic proclamation of your word, sustain us by the power of your Spirit, that we may never be ashamed of our faith, but may confess your name with all boldness before men, that we may be recognized by you on the day of your coming. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen
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