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Matthew 10:32-37
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
KJV Commentary
Confess me, i.e., acknowledge that you belong to Me. In reality, secret discipleship is a practical impossibility. Jesus constantly called for an open confession of Himself by His followers. We must be willing to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour, with all that those terms imply. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity. The warning, Whosoever shall deny me, is in the aorist tense, referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter's), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ which shall never cease. Therefore, it is not a single act of denial which makes one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all that eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Think not that I am come to send peace, temporal peace and outward prosperity; they thought Christ came to give all his followers wealth and power in the world; "no,’’ says Christ, "I did not come with a view to give them peace; peace in heaven they may be sure of, but not peace on earth.’’ Christ came to give us peace with God, peace in our consciences, peace with our brethren, but in the world ye shall have tribulation. Note, They mistake the design of the gospel, who think their profession of it will secure them from, for it will certainly expose them to, trouble in this world. If all the world would receive Christ, there would then follow a universal peace, but while there are and will be so many that reject him (and those not only the children of this world, but the seed of the serpent ), the children of God, that are called out of the world, must expect to feel the fruits of their enmity.
[1.] Look not for peace, but a sword, Christ came to give the sword of the word, with which his disciples fight against the world, and conquering work this sword has made (Rev. 6:4; 19:21), and the sword of persecution, with which the world fights against the disciples, being cut to the heart with the sword of the word (Acts 7:54), and tormented by the testimony of Christ’s witnesses (Rev. 11:10), and cruel work this sword made. Christ sent that gospel, which gives occasion for the drawing of this sword, and so may be said to send this sword; he orders his church into a suffering state for the trial and praise of his people’s graces, and the filling up of the measure of their enemies’ sins.
[2.] Look not for peace, but division (v. 35), I am come to set men at variance. This effect of the preaching of the gospel is not the fault of the gospel, but of those who do not receive it. When some believe the things that are spoken, and others believe them not, the faith of those that believe condemns those that believe not, and, therefore, they have an enmity against them that believe. Note, the most violent and implacable feuds have ever been those that have arisen from difference in religion; no enmity like that of the persecutors, no resolution like that of the persecuted. Thus Christ tells his disciples what they should suffer, and these were hard sayings; if they could bear these, they could bear any thing. Note, Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost. 2. They are here told from whom, and by whom, they should suffer these hard things.
32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
KJV Commentary
Confess me, i.e., acknowledge that you belong to Me. In reality, secret discipleship is a practical impossibility. Jesus constantly called for an open confession of Himself by His followers. We must be willing to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Saviour, with all that those terms imply. That our confession is to be before men clearly indicates that a public confession of true Christian faith is a virtual necessity. The warning, Whosoever shall deny me, is in the aorist tense, referring not to one moment of denial (such as Peter's), but to an entire lifelong resistance to Christ which shall never cease. Therefore, it is not a single act of denial which makes one unworthy of being a disciple, but a refusal to confess Christ at all that eliminates one from being a true follower of Jesus Christ.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Think not that I am come to send peace, temporal peace and outward prosperity; they thought Christ came to give all his followers wealth and power in the world; "no,’’ says Christ, "I did not come with a view to give them peace; peace in heaven they may be sure of, but not peace on earth.’’ Christ came to give us peace with God, peace in our consciences, peace with our brethren, but in the world ye shall have tribulation. Note, They mistake the design of the gospel, who think their profession of it will secure them from, for it will certainly expose them to, trouble in this world. If all the world would receive Christ, there would then follow a universal peace, but while there are and will be so many that reject him (and those not only the children of this world, but the seed of the serpent ), the children of God, that are called out of the world, must expect to feel the fruits of their enmity.
[1.] Look not for peace, but a sword, Christ came to give the sword of the word, with which his disciples fight against the world, and conquering work this sword has made (Rev. 6:4; 19:21), and the sword of persecution, with which the world fights against the disciples, being cut to the heart with the sword of the word (Acts 7:54), and tormented by the testimony of Christ’s witnesses (Rev. 11:10), and cruel work this sword made. Christ sent that gospel, which gives occasion for the drawing of this sword, and so may be said to send this sword; he orders his church into a suffering state for the trial and praise of his people’s graces, and the filling up of the measure of their enemies’ sins.
[2.] Look not for peace, but division (v. 35), I am come to set men at variance. This effect of the preaching of the gospel is not the fault of the gospel, but of those who do not receive it. When some believe the things that are spoken, and others believe them not, the faith of those that believe condemns those that believe not, and, therefore, they have an enmity against them that believe. Note, the most violent and implacable feuds have ever been those that have arisen from difference in religion; no enmity like that of the persecutors, no resolution like that of the persecuted. Thus Christ tells his disciples what they should suffer, and these were hard sayings; if they could bear these, they could bear any thing. Note, Christ has dealt fairly and faithfully with us, in telling us the worst we can meet with in his service; and he would have us deal so with ourselves, in sitting down and counting the cost. 2. They are here told from whom, and by whom, they should suffer these hard things.
