made known. Whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places,
will be proclaimed from the housetops. I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who put to death the body and after that can do no more. But I will
tell you whom to fear: Fear the One who, after killing you, is able to throw you into hell. This one you must fear. Don’t you get five sparrows for
two pennies? Yet not one of them has been forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your head have been numbered. Don’t be afraid! Are you less worthy
in the eyes of God than many sparrows?
Reflection
In this gospel, the disciples are worried that they have
no bread. Yet Jesus is talking of something else, the yeast
that makes the bread rise. But in this particular passage, it
is not the physical yeast but that which puffs up the
Pharisees. It is their pride as leaders, who fail to respond
to their people’s needs. And Jesus further instructs them
not to be intimidated by these kind of leaders. They
may have temporary power over life and death here on
earth, but that is fleeting and transitory. Their reach
is limited. They can do harm to the body but is impotent
beyond the realm of material things. There only God is
powerful. There, God can right the wrong and punish
the evil doers. So in the end, we must fear only God, and
Him alone. This fear is not a psychological fear but a
heart that does not want to be wrong in front of a dearly
beloved. For only God has dominion over the living and
the dead.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2021