Fellow-Redeemed in Christ Jesus,
Birds get a bum rap. Do you like it if someone calls you a “birdbrain?”What if you worked hard to prepare a presentation, or cook a meal, or draw a picture and the recipient said, “This is for the birds.” It is not a compliment when someone calls you a “dirty bird.”
Such negativity toward God’s creatures is unnecessary and uncalled for. God loves his birds. He has created them with good instincts that make them fly away from danger, find food and build nests, and head south for the winter and not get lost. In fact, St. Matthew wrote, nothing happens to them even death apart from God’s will. That same will applies to the very hairs on our heads.
Jesus was sending his twelve apostles out into the world. They would carry out his will. They would preach his message. They would do his work. If people received them, they received him. If people rejected them, they rejected him. Three times Jesus tells them not to be afraid. In an argument from the lesser, the birds, to the greater, the apostles, Jesus teaches them and us that all will be according to his will in his work.
God’s Will is for the Birds. So, there is no reason to fear those who oppose us. So, there is every reason to acknowledge Christ.
The disciples must have been disheartened by Jesus’ words that Matthew recorded in the verses preceding our text. We can summarize those words with v. 16, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.”
The Teacher was sending out his students. They could fully expect that enemies would treat them as poorly as they treated Jesus. How could they expect otherwise? “A student is not above his teacher, or a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.”
What an honor for others to treat us as they treated our Lord. It is enough, or satisfactory, to be like our teachers. I think about how some treated harshly my professors at the seminary when they were in the parish ministry. I could not expect those who oppose our work to treat me any better. It is in fact a privilege to have that opposition for the sake of the truth they experienced.
Jesus’ enemies even accused him of being in league with Satan, Beelzebub. The disciples could expect no less as members of the household of the kingdom of God. Yet, because God’s will rules even the birds and the hairs of our head, there is no reason to fear those who oppose us.
It is a temptation to look at opposition to Christians, such as we see often in the news today, as an aberration, or the exception. Just the opposite is true. It is the exception that we do not suffer severely for our faith. We do not grow discouraged because it seems that Christ’s enemies succeed in their evil ways and that I am doomed to failure in my witness. The Lord, who cares even for the birds and the hairs on my head, is powerful enough to guard and protect us until the Last Day. Then God will reveal all.
Now God’s plans are hidden, concealed, but then he will reveal them all. Even now, the deep things he has revealed to his people, we reveal to others. We publicly proclaim from the rooftops, natural pulpits in Jesus’ day, the truths that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He is the way of salvation for all of you and the entire world.
There is no reason to fear those who kill the body. Even if I lose my life, I have lost nothing because I gain eternal life in heaven. Man cannot kill my soul neither can the devil. This passage applies only to God who alone has the power to send body and soul to hell in eternal death because of impenitence and unbelief.
God’s will is for the birds so his will even more takes care of me and my life and death. So, there is no reason to fear those who oppose us. It is an honor to be mistreated, as our Master was mistreated. So, there is every reason to acknowledge Christ.
Jesus closes his words here with a great promise and comfort. He battles our fear in confessing his name. “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before me, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.”
A bold confession of Christ has caused the death of many a faithful confessor. Today we are seeing this around the world. But for those willing to pay this price, Jesus gives the promise that on the Last Day he will acknowledge them before the Father. Who would exchange the approval of the Father for the approval of men? Why would we let the abuse of men keep us from obtaining the glorious reward that comes to the faithful?
There is a warning here for our sinful nature, and a promise for our New Man. There is also this, that nothing happens to birds or the hairs of our heads apart from God’s will. There is every reason to acknowledge Christ. Men cannot really hurt us. God sends us out on our mission. He is with us and protects us. Jesus will acknowledge us to his Father, our Father, as we remain faithful.
God has called every one of us Christians to witness for Jesus. To be a witness is a serious matter. The Lord’s attitude toward us will correspond with our attitude toward him in the world. By a bold confession in word and action, and an open proclamation of the gospel, we prove that we truly are the Lord’s and his forever.
Jeremiah practiced this trust in his ministry. Jesus’ disciples did as well. Many believers in history and today paid the price. God will give us the strength to do so also by the power of his Word. Take to heart Jesus’ threefold imperative, “So, do not be afraid.” Amen. <SDG>