Saying 3 of 10
Do not fear people. Fear Him who can destroy body and soul.
Jesus told His friends not to be afraid of people who can only kill the body, but to fear God, who has authority over body and soul in Gehenna. In the next breath He told them how much God cares for them.
What Jesus said
Jesus was sending His disciples out to preach, and He warned them they would be opposed. Their persecutors could only kill the body. God has authority over the whole person, body and soul.
28Don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.
Matthew 10:28 (WEB) · context
4“I tell you, my friends, don’t be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
Luke 12:4-5 (WEB) · context
Fear and love together
The same passage goes straight on to sparrows and to the hairs on our heads: God sees and values every person. In the Bible the fear of God is not terror of a cruel master. It is reverence for the One who holds our life, and it sits side by side with His love.
29“Aren’t two sparrows sold for an assarion coin? Not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. 30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31Therefore don’t be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:29-31 (WEB) · context
10The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 9:10 (WEB) · context
Where Christians disagree
- Christians differ on what destroy means here. Many read Jesus' words, with Matthew 25:46, as eternal conscious punishment. Others (conditional immortality) read destroy as final, permanent destruction. Both views take hell as real, final and to be escaped only through Christ.
The good news
Jesus came to save you from this
God loves you and gave His Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish.