Matthew 10:32-33 "So everyone who acknowledges me before me, I also will acknowledge..."

"So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32-33 RSV).

Question:

This verse has always made me feel that I will be punished and condemned to hell if I mess up with God. How can I be sure that I am not "denying" God before men?

Comment:

Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew concerns Jesus' instructions to his disciples as he sent them out to carry his teachings forward. (Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Luke expresses much the same message.) Matthew was written at a time of intense resistance to the message of Jesus, so it is not surprising that the emphasis in his version is on Jesus warning that his message—which the disciples are to carry—would not be gladly received. He warns them that many will be resistant—after all, some people are accusing Jesus himself of being in league with the devil, so they will surely react even more strongly against his disciples. The only thing that matters is the message itself—the “good news” that we are innately One with the Power of God. Jesus is speaking as the embodiment and full expression of the Christ—the indwelling Presence of God—when he tells his disciples that it is only through embracing the Christ—the Presence of God in each of them, and in all sentient beings—that they can fully experience the Allness of God. He makes the same point in the Gospel of John when he says, “No one can come to the Father but through me.” He is not speaking as Jesus of Nazareth, but as Jesus Christ. Our only path to the new consciousness that is the kingdom of heaven lies in fully embracing our spiritual Oneness. If we “deny” the Christ—if we insist on holding to a belief in separation and limitation—that denial will block us from kingdom consciousness.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed