Luke 12 - Indepthbible.org

2519(...continued)10.26 Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing having been covered up which willnot be uncovered, and hidden which will not be made known. 10.27 That which I say to you peoplein the darkness, speak in the light; and that which you are hearing in the ear, proclaim uponthe rooftops. 10.28 And do not be afraid of those who are killing the body, but are not able to destroythe innermost being; but even more (be afraid of) the One being able to destroy the innermostbeing and body in Valley of Hinnom. 10.29 Are not two tiny birds being sold for a coppercoin? And not one of them falls upon the earth without your Father. 10.30 But then even thehairs of (your) head have all been counted. 10.31 Therefore, do not be afraid: you people aresuperior to many tiny birds. 10.32 Therefore everyone who will confess (faith) in Me before thehuman beings, I, I also will confess (faith) in him before My Father, the One in [the] heavens.10.33 But then whoever may deny Me before the human beings, I, I also will deny him before MyFather, the One in [the] heavens.6.26 evmble,yate eivj ta. peteina. tou/ ouvranou/ o[ti ouv spei,rousin ouvde. qeri,zousin ouvde.suna,gousin eivj avpoqh,kaj( kai. o` path.r u`mw/n o` ouvra,nioj tre,fei auvta,\ ouvc u`mei/j ma/llondiafe,rete auvtw/nÈ6.26 You people, look at the birds of the heaven--that they don't plant (seed), nor harvest(crops), nor gather together into barns--and your Father, the Heavenly One, feeds them. Are notyou people far superior to them?We will point out the individual differences as we comment on each verse. But here wegive some overall observations concerning the comparison between the two passages as awhole. Matthew 10:26-33 contains some 137 words, while Luke 12:2-9 contains some 146words. It seems obvious that this material has been taken from "Q," i.e., from a second majorsource used by Luke and Matthew in addition to their primary source, Mark. The same order ofsubjects is followed by both--but each in its own way, with some marked differences. The Gospelwriters are themselves copyists of earlier written documents, but as the comparison of these twopassages makes abundantly clear, they are not mindless, exact copyists of the tradition, but rewordand re-state that tradition in ways that seem appropriate to them. The end result of this isthat we can no longer know exactly what Jesus said; we can know the kind of teaching He gave,His overall themes, His warnings and His hopes--but not the exact word for word sayings.For verse 2, as compared with Matthew 10:26, we note the following differences: Matthewbegins with the overall statement, "Therefore do not fear them," which is missing in Luke.Thus while Luke unites this teaching of Jesus with the warning against the hypocrisy or playactingof the separatists, for Matthew the teaching is part of the instructions to the twelve (thethentire 10 chapter of Matthew), instructing them not to be afraid of the opposition that theywill encounter in their mission. We think that Luke's setting is just as appropriate as that of Matthew.The fact that everything covered up or hidden is going to be made fully known is a verygood reason to refuse to be "play-actors." All masks are going to come off. The followers ofJesus must be willing to openly and publicly proclaim their loyalty to Jesus as the Christ!1221(continued...)