“Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.” Matthew 10, 26-33
After hearing today’s first reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, I suggest that we would all do well to stop and spare a thought and a prayer for the Jeremiahs of our own time, for those who, despite the risk of rejection, are prepared to name and challenge corruption, dishonesty, deception and lack of integrity in the public and political arena. We might also pause to pray in gratitude for all the First Testament prophets like Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel and Joel, to name a few, who set the standard for living with integrity and promoting justice for humankind.
Jeremiah had already experienced the kind of opposition to which Jesus alerted his disciples they would experience once they took the risk of modelling their lives and preaching on what he had taught them. Jeremiah had pointed out that he had been rejected by even his closest friends and supporters: “All those who used to be my friends watched for my downfall, ‘Perhaps he will be seduced into error. Then we will master him and take our revenge’ “ (Jeremiah 20: 10), and Jesus implied that similar treatment awaited those who would risk being his disciples.
While the literal meaning of the word prophet is “one who proclaims”, it is clear that Jeremiah did more than proclaim. He was also a keen observer of injustices in his own society and found the courage to name them. What we hear from him in today’s first reading reveals that he was struggling with the call God had given him. True to what was tormenting him, he was honest enough to accuse God of tricking and seducing him into the vocation he had embraced. Motivated by his love for God and his respect for his own people, he was courageous enough to challenge the lack of integrity he saw in those who were in positions of power. The way in which he poured out his heart to his God, to whom he was struggling to remain faithful, reveals that he was a complex character. This man of integrity and enduring faith in God still struggled with feelings of self-pity, a desire for vengeance and a need to be cautious. In his struggle, he was unable to see the irony in his plea to a God of love to obliterate those who opposed him and did their best to mistreat him.
In contrast, the Jesus who would endure torture, violence and brutal crucifixion, without seeking vengeance told his disciples that, though they would experience violence and rejection for their efforts to proclaim his message of God’s love for the world, they ought not allow themselves to be gripped by fear or driven by a desire for revenge.
While, in today’s gospel-reading Jesus urges his disciples not to be afraid as they embark on the mission to which he entrusts them, he would have been well-aware that fear is an emotion over which all humans have little control. We all know that it can come upon us unannounced and that it does not listen to directions from anyone. But we do have some say in whether or not we allow it to control our behaviour or dictate to us. We can choose to place our trust in the God he described as loving us immeasurably, the God who values us “more than hundreds of sparrows“, the God who knows us intimately, counting every hair on our head.
This gospel-reading, together with that of last Sunday, marks the beginning of Matthew’s description of Jesus’ public ministry and the way he went about initiating his disciples and preparing them to succeed him.
As we move through another seventeen chapters of Matthew’s Gospel for the remainder of the liturgical year, we will hear repeated urges from Jesus to resist letting fear control us. We will even be reminded that fear is the opposite of faith. If only we can allow the Spirit who motivated Jesus to motivate us, we, too, will learn to face the challenges our world tosses at us with courage, fearlessness and trust in the God who accompanied Jesus through his earthly life and ministry.
Elsewhere, in Matthew’s story, we will hear Jesus urging his disciples to hold their lives with a light grasp, to die to themselves and to take up the cross every day. That translates into a readiness to acknowledge and let go of the prejudices and biases we allow to control us and to open ourselves to admit the Spirit that enlivened Jesus.
In a brief return to today’s first reading, to be a disciple of Jesus means to be a prophet, to proclaim the message of God’s love that Jesus proclaimed, to be a voice for justice and compassion, for mercy, tolerance and forgiveness. Prophecy is expressed equally in word and action. Spending ourselves visiting the sick, welcoming newcomers forced to flee from persecution, violence and rejection, teaching them the local language, visiting the lonely and forgotten in aged-care institutions, being actively engaged in interfaith groups such as Pax Christi and being a volunteer with the St Vincent de Paul Society are prophecy in action and genuine expressions of Gospel discipleship.
I conclude this reflection with a paragraph I wrote for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time back in 2020:
It was the fact that Jesus himself came to discover the paramount importance of personal integrity that led him to say to his disciples: “Do not fear those who deprive the body of life but cannot destroy the soul” (Matthew 10, 28). He came to understand that compromising one’s integrity by cheating, dishonesty, deceit, playing favourites and turning a blind eye to injustice were soul-destroying, selling out on life and becoming a shell of a human being. His own life demonstrated that he preserved his integrity and put his trust in a God who would stand by him no matter what threats were directed at him. That does not mean that he did not experience fear. Arguably, the greatest struggle he faced was during his inner struggle in Gethsemane when fear enveloped him and he prayed that God would come to his rescue. His triumph was that he came through ready to face torture and execution. Yet even just before he breathed his last, he struggled to hold firm to his faith in God. It is indeed fear that is the very opposite of faith.