Anchor My Faith

The Seriousness of Denying Jesus

Scripture: Matthew 10:29-30, 32-33; Luke 12:6-7, 9

In the previous lesson Jesus instructed us to not fear what man can do to our bodies but to fear God who has the authority to cast our soul into hell. In this lesson we will learn about our value to God.

^{Lk 12:6} “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. ^{Mt 10:29} And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ^{Lk 12:7} Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

In the harmonization process, the first part of Luke 12:6 was selected over the first part of Matthew 10:29. In the Matthew account “two sparrows sold for a penny. It is clearly a better deal to purchase five sparrows for two pennies than to obtain two sparrows for a penny; the benefit is an extra sparrow but that is not the point of the lesson.

In that day the sparrow was considered one of the smallest creatures and the penny one of the least valuable Roman coins. The penny is used in Matthew 5:26 ESV: “Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” The penny, used here, was a Roman copper coin that was worth about 1/64 of a denarius, which was a day’s wage for a laborer. The penny, even today, is our smallest coin in worth.

If one of the smallest creatures that was worth so little, would not be forgotten before God in that not one can fall to the ground apart from the Father knowing it, we know then that God is sovereign over even the most insignificant events. Jesus points out that even the hairs on my head are numbered (a number that seems to continue to decrease as age increases) and known by God. If God is so aware of sparrows and the hairs on my head and concerns himself about these, then surely, he will also care for his disciples, who have greater value, in their mission to proclaim the gospel to others.

^{Mt 10:32} “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I, ^{Lk 12:8} the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, ^{Mt 10:32} [and] my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven [and] ^{Lk 12:9} before the angels of God.”

Jesus has commanded us to ¹⁹ “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 26:19 – 20), and as we go we will most likely face some form of persecution. That persecution can be avoided if we don’t go and if we deny that we are a Christian when asked, but the consequences could be worse than the suffering we might receive for going and being truthful.

A true disciple will not fear those who can kill the body but will fear God who can send the soul to hell. If we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then he will acknowledge us before the angels and the Father who is in heaven. If we choose to deny Jesus before men, then Jesus will deny us before the Father and before the angels of God. The eternal consequences for those who deny Jesus Christ will be much worse that the temporal suffering we sought to avoid.

Listed below are several verses that relate to denying Jesus that show how serious a matter it is.

“For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38 ESV)

“Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.” (1 John 2:22 – 23 ESV)

“If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (2 Timothy 2:122 ESV)

Conclusion

Do you feel shame when the topic of Jesus comes up when you are among strangers? If they were to ask you if you were a Christian, how would you respond? How would you respond if they might beat you up? If you deny Jesus to protect your body, how might you suffer afterwards and what might this reveal about your relationship to Jesus and your witness for him?