Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Matthew 10:28-31  

Jesus taught: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.” 

As I said yesterday, I am a coward, especially around someone who could kill my body! I would be terrible under tortuous interrogation; a strongman could just snap some pliers near my fingernails, and I would spill the beans. But today Jesus says that we should not be afraid of such people; rather we should fear someone who could destroy us in hell—the devil. 

Now, I am not thinking about a little red sprite with horns poking me with a pitchfork—would satan be so easy to identify! Remember, Lucifer started as an angel in heaven, but he wanted to rule in God’s place. Finally, God gave him and the demons what they wanted: a kingdom far removed from heaven where the presence of God did not dwell. (Weird…I can hardly imagine such a place since we experience God everywhere!) 

Today Jesus teaches what Paul would later write in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because Jesus is with us—Emanuel—we need not fear anything. 

God has claimed us as his children—satan cannot snatch us from his hand. God knows when a bird or a butterfly dies; he has counted the numbers of hairs on our heads. We are loved and protected and encouraged and sustained, even when we walk through hell here on earth. 

– Pr. Elizabeth

God, there is nothing that is going to happen today that you and I cannot face together. Amen