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10:40 Jesus identi es himself completely with his disciples. To welcome one of them, to help one of them, is to welcome and help Jesus himself. Can we welcome Christ in others?
John the Baptist, Polyptych of the Mystical Lamb by Jan Van Eyck
MATTHEW 
whoever endures to the end* will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.* 24o No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. 25It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,* how much more those of his household!
Courage Under Persecution. 26p “Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.* q 27What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28And 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.r 29Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. 30Even all the hairs of your head are counted. 31So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. 32* Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. 33But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.s
Jesus: A Cause of Division. 34t “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. 35For I have come to set
a man ‘against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
36and one’s enemies will be those of his household.’
The Conditions of Discipleship. 37u “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up his cross* and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39* v Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Rewards. 40“Whoever receives you receives me,* and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.w 41* Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple— amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”x
* [10:23] Before the Son of Man comes: since the coming of the Son of Man at the end of the age had not taken place when this gospel was written, much less during the mission of the Twelve during Jesus’ ministry, Matthew cannot have meant the coming to refer to the parousia. It is di cult to know what he understood it to be: perhaps the “proleptic parousia” of Mt 28:16–20, or the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, viewed as a coming of Jesus in judgment on unbelieving Israel.
* [10:25] Beelzebul: see Mt 9:34 for the charge linking Jesus with “the prince of demons,” who is named Beelzebul in Mt 12:24. The meaning of the name is uncertain; possibly, “lord of the house.”
* [10:26] The concealed and secret coming of the kingdom is to be proclaimed by them, and no fear must be allowed to deter them from that proclamation.
* [10:32–33] In the Q parallel (Lk 12:8–9), the Son of Man will acknowledge those who have acknowledged Jesus, and those who deny him will be denied (by the Son of Man) before the angels of God at the judgment. Here Jesus and the Son of Man are identi ed, and the acknowledgment or denial will be before his heavenly Father.
* [10:38] The rst mention of the cross in Matthew, explicitly that of the disciple, but implicitly that of Jesus (and follow after me). Cruci xion was a form of capital punishment used by the Romans for o enders who were not Roman citizens.
* [10:39] One who denies Jesus in order to save one’s earthly life will be condemned to everlasting destruction; loss of earthly life for Jesus’ sake will be rewarded by everlasting life in the kingdom.
* [10:40–42] All who receive the disciples of Jesus receive him, and God who sent him, and will be rewarded accordingly.
* [10:41] A prophet: one who speaks in the name of God; here, the Christian prophets who proclaim the gospel. Righteous man: since righteousness is demanded of all the disciples, it is di cult to take the righteous man of this verse and one of these little ones (Mt 10:42) as indicating di erent groups within the followers of Jesus. Probably all three designations are used here of
Christian missionaries as such.
o. [10:24–25] Lk 6:40; Jn 13:16; 15:20.
p. [10:26–33] Lk 12:2–9.
q. [10:26] Mk 4:22; Lk 8:17; 1 Tm 5:25.
[10:28] Jas 4:12.
s. [10:33] Mk 8:38; Lk 9:26; 2 Tm 2:12; Rev 3:5. w. [10:40] Lk 10:16; Jn 12:44; 13:20. t. [10:34–35] Lk 12:51–53. x. [10:42] 25:40; Mk 9:41.
u. [10:37–39] 16:24–25; Lk 14:26–27.
v. [10:39] Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; Jn 12:25.
28 r.