ACKNOWLEDGING JESUS

We often see news reports exposing celebrities for various moral lapses. Who they are behind the scenes does not match their public image. So it is too with the Pharisees, though their faults were different. Whatever form our personal hypocrisy takes—and it’s worth reflecting on that—it cannot escape God’s searchlight on judgment day. What makes us pretend to be something we’re not? Often it arises from fear of what people might think of us. Jesus addresses such fear by the reminder that the One to fear is God, not the threats of fellow humans. Along with that reminder is another: when believers are under threat, God has not forgotten or abandoned them.

Sparrows, a poor person’s meat, were literally two for a penny (Matt. 10:29). Yet you could buy four and get one free (6). The fifth was thrown in because it was worth so little—except to its Creator. How much more valuable is the child of God who is faced with persecution at whatever level.

So—no hypocrisy, no masks! Rather, a trustful and courageous acknowledgment of allegiance to Jesus. The Pharisees had been accusing Jesus of being in league with Beelzebub. They looked at the grace and power of God and called it the work of the devil (Luke 11:14–20). That put them outside the reach of forgiveness, because they rejected the saving presence of God in Jesus. The deliberate and persistent denial or repudiation of Jesus is unforgivable because he is the very means of forgiveness. Later in Jesus’ ministry, however, Peter’s failure reminds us that a temporary lapse can indeed be forgiven (Luke 22:54–62; 24:34; John 21:15–19), If you are seriously worried that you may have committed the unforgivable sin, you can stop worrying right now! Meanwhile, when faced with threats or jeers because you believe, you are promised that the Holy Spirit will help you to make a faithful confession.

How do you feel knowing that one day everything done in secret will be revealed?