Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday after Pentecost

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Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matt 10:27–33)

We read that the Lord was not accustomed to making pronouncements at night or teaching in the dark. In fact, every word of His is darkness to carnal persons, and His word is night to unbelievers. Whatever He has said must be spoken with a freedom of faith and confession by each one. For this reason, He commands that those words spoken in darkness should be proclaimed in the light. Whatever the Lord entrusted to their hearing in secret, let it be heard on the rooftops, and the speaker’s declamation may be heard from on high. For the knowledge of God must be faithfully announced, and the teaching of the Gospel’s hidden depths must be revealed in the light of the apostolic preaching. We do not fear those who, though they possess bodily abilities, have no law over the soul. Rather, we fear God who has power of destroying both soul and body in Gehenna.

Bringing anything together in order to count it has to be done carefully with diligence and solicitude. So too, counting things that will perish is not a worthwhile task. So that we may know that we are not going to perish, because we are worth much more than many sparrows, the Lord states that the very number of our hairs is counted. Because we are going to be completely saved, whatever is innumerable in us must be preserved so that by his favor and power, it may be counted. We need not fear the fall of our bodies, nor should the destruction of our flesh give us any reason for sorrow. Once the body has been dissolved in keeping with the condition of its nature and its origin, it will be re-established in the substance of a spiritual soul.

Once we have been confirmed in this teaching, we may rightfully possess a steadfast freedom in our confession of God. The Lord comments also about our situation: He will deny before the Father in heaven the one who has denied Him before men on earth. Whoever personally acknowledges the Lord before men will be acknowledged by Him in heaven. Whatever sort of witnesses to His name we have been before men, the same testimony will be used before God the Father about us.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 10.17, 20–21