We continue our journey through the Gospel with the help of the Holy Fathers. Before us are verses 32 and 33:
“Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
At this point Saint John Chrysostom speaks of the spiritual law established by the Lord, a law that the holy Martyrs later observed in their own struggle. He says the following: “By fear Jesus drives fear out of the apostles; and He does this not only by means of fear, but also by offering hope of great rewards. At the same time, threatening with great authority, Jesus urges them from all sides towards fearless confession of the truth, continuing His words: ‘Everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.’ Thus, He exhorts not only by rewards but also by punishments, and He concludes His discourse with a threat … Why is heartfelt faith alone not sufficient for Jesus—why does He also require confession by the lips? In order to stir us to courage, to greater love and zeal, and to raise us up. Therefore He addresses all people in general, and not only the disciples here… ‘You have gained more for yourself,’ says the Lord, ‘when you were the first to confess Me. I will enrich you still more,’ He says, ‘when I give you what is ineffably greater—when I confess you there.’ Do you now see that both rewards and punishments are prepared there? Why then do you worry and become troubled? Why do you seek recompense here, when you can be saved solely by trusting in God? Therefore, if you do something good and do not receive a reward for it here, do not be disturbed; in the age to come a double reward awaits you. If you do something evil and remain without punishment, do not become careless. There punishment will overtake you if you do not change and become better. There rewards will be given for good deeds and punishments for evil ones; thus those who deny the Lord will suffer both here and there—here, by living with an evil conscience, for if they have not yet died, they will certainly die; and there, by being subjected to final punishment. Others, on the contrary, will benefit both here and there—here, by conquering death and becoming more glorious than all the living, and there, by enjoying ineffable goods. God is not ready only to punish, but also to reward; indeed, He is incomparably more ready to reward than to punish.”
Saint Gregory Palamas draws attention to a very important fact: that our struggle and confession of God is not merely a matter of the determination of our own will, but that God’s help is indispensable for such a thing. Accordingly, this great intercessor of our Church writes: “See how He speaks to the fainthearted (the fearful) and to those who have betrayed piety: ‘But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven’ (Matt. 10:33). He did not say, therefore, ‘whoever denies Me in Me,’ for the one who denies denies God and is deprived of His help. Why is such a person abandoned and forsaken by God? Because he first abandoned God, having loved temporary and earthly goods more than the eternal and heavenly goods that God promised. … Since, according to the words of Christ’s beloved Theologian, the one who loves God abides in God and God abides in him, then the one who truly loves God rightly makes confession in God; for God abides in the one who loves Him, and as he abides in God, so God will also accomplish confession in him.”
Saint Nicholas of Ohrid, in his interpretation here, at the same time offers an answer to a statement we have all likely heard, such as: “Why should I go to church? God is in my soul,” or any similar claim that denies the necessity of our life in the Church. This is how Bishop Nicholas writes concerning these verses: “First comes the reward for the good and faithful soldier who endures and perseveres; and second comes the punishment for the evil and unfaithful soldier who wavers, doubts, and surrenders to the enemy. Can there be a greater reward for a person than that the Lord Christ Himself, in the Kingdom of Heaven, before the heavenly Father and before the countless host of angels, should acknowledge him as His own? To inscribe him in the eternal book of the living; to crown him with ineffable glory; and to place him at His right hand in the immortal heavenly assembly? And can there be a greater punishment for a person than that the Lord Christ Himself should deny him, saying to him before the assembly of all angels and all peoples, in the presence of the heavenly Father: ‘I do not know you; you are not Mine; you do not exist in the book of the living; depart from Me!’ And that it is absolutely necessary to confess and acknowledge the name of the Lord Jesus publicly, just as it is necessary to believe in Him with the heart, is also stated by the Apostle Paul: ‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, you will be saved’ (Rom. 10:9–10). This means that we are obliged to confess the Lord Jesus both with soul and with body. For man is composed of soul and body, and therefore it is necessary that the whole person confess Him who came to save the whole person.”
The following verse, 34:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
The holy Apostle Paul speaks clearly of Christ in the Epistle to the Ephesians, saying: He is our peace. How, then, are we to understand these words of Christ? Saint John Chrysostom removes the perplexity that may arise from a superficial reading of these words of Christ. This is how Chrysostom explains them: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. How, then, did Jesus Himself command the apostles, when entering every house, to wish peace? Why did the angels likewise sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace’ (Luke 2:14)? Why did all the prophets proclaim the same? Because peace truly reigns when that which is infected by disease is cut off, when that which is alien is removed. Only in this way can the earth be joined to heaven. For a physician saves the rest of the body when he cuts off an incurable limb. Thus it was also at the building of the tower of Babel: an evil peace was destroyed by a good disagreement. In the same way, Paul sowed division among those who had conspired against him (Acts 23:6). Unanimity is not always good; even robbers are of one mind. Therefore, the struggle was not the result of Christ’s intention, but partly of the will of people themselves. Christ Himself desired that all should be of one mind in piety; yet, because people divided among themselves, conflict arose. Nevertheless, Jesus did not speak in this manner. How does He speak? ‘I have not come to bring peace’—thereby consoling them. ‘Do not think,’ says the Lord, ‘that you are to blame for this; I do this because people are so disposed. Do not be troubled as though this struggle had arisen unexpectedly. For this very reason I have come—to bring about conflict; such indeed is My will. Therefore, do not be disturbed that there will be struggles and evil designs on earth. When the worst is cut off, then heaven will be united with what is best.’ Christ says this in order to strengthen the disciples against the slander that would arise among the people against them. Moreover, Jesus did not say ‘war,’ but something far more dreadful—a ‘sword.’ If this seems excessively harsh and terrifying, do not be surprised. Jesus wished to train the apostles’ hearing to endure harsh words, so that they would not waver in difficult circumstances. Therefore the Lord employed such a manner of expression, lest anyone say that He persuaded them by flattery, concealing difficulties from them. For this reason, what could have been expressed more gently, Christ presented in a more fearful and terrible way.”
Venerable Nilus of Sinai offers another explanation of the word sword, saying that it refers to the preaching itself, which, as we know, even today can introduce division even among members of the same family. Venerable Nilus writes: “I have not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword”—calling the word of preaching a sword. For just as a knife separates what has grown together and cuts the body into parts, so too the word of preaching, when it enters a household, cuts those who are united in evil through unbelief away from one another, separating son from father, daughter from mother, and daughter-in-law from mother-in-law. By cutting through nature itself, the preaching revealed the purpose of the Lord’s commandment.”
The following verses:
“For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”
Chrysostom speaks of the intensity of the struggle that will arise as a consequence of hearing Christ’s preaching, saying: “Jesus declares that not only fellow citizens and friends, but even relatives themselves will rise against one another, and that division will arise among people of the same blood. ‘For I have come,’ says the Lord, ‘to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.’ Thus the struggle will occur not only among members of a household, but even among those bound together by the closest ties and sincere love. This especially demonstrates Christ’s power, for the disciples, upon hearing such words, both accepted them and persuaded others. And although Christ was not the cause of all this—human malice was—nevertheless Jesus says that He Himself does this. Such a mode of expression is characteristic of Scripture. Thus, in another place it is written that God gave them eyes so that they might not see. In the same way Christ speaks here, so that the disciples, having become accustomed to such a manner of expression, may not be troubled amid humiliations and insults.”
Saint Hilary of Poitiers understands the sword also as the transformation brought about in the faithful by the sword of divine grace: “When, by the power of God the Word, we are renewed in the waters of Baptism, we are separated from original sin and its progenitors, and the sword of God within us eradicates attachment to father and mother. And when we have put off the old man with all his sins and unbelief, having renewed soul and body by the Spirit, we must come to hate the customs of ancient sin.” Blessed Jerome notes that the words cited by the Lord Jesus Christ are also found in the book of the prophet Micah, in the seventh chapter. He emphasizes one important point: when an Old Testament testimony is cited as confirmation, one must always examine whether it accords with the meaning of the event it illuminates, or whether it merely repeats the same terms.
Abba Justin, in his interpretation of these verses, says the following: “By His very person, His teaching, and His deeds, He calls people to a decisive and clear choice: whether they are for Him or against Him.” Saint Justin continues, writing in the name of Christ: “A person’s enemies are those of his own household when they turn him away from Me. Whoever is a friend to Me is also a friend to himself. But a person can never be a friend to himself unless he first becomes a friend to Me.”
On the basis of patristic interpretations, adapted for the contemporary reader by: Stanoje Stanković.
