10. Confession and Denial; history of the kingdom of God, and judgment of the world.
Fifth warning and comfort. Mat_10:32-33
32Whosoever therefore [Every one, therefore, who] shall confess me before men, him will I confess also [also confess,
êἀãþ
] before my Father which [who] is in heaven 33[in the heavens]. But whosoever [whoever] shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which [who] is in heaven [in the heavens].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Mat_10:32. Every one, therefore, who shall confess [acknowledge] Me;
ὁìïëïãÞ óåéἐíἐ ìïß
,—literally: confess in Me. “This corresponds with the idea of
ἐí ×ñéóôῷ åῖíáé
.” So also in Luk_12:8. [The
ἐí
is not equivalent to in behalf of Me, as Owen explains, but it shows the ground or root of the confession, namely, a living union with Christ. He does not mean a mere outward confession of the mouth, but a genuine and consistent confession of the whole life. “He will not confess the confessing Judas, nor deny the denying Peter,” because the confession of the former was hypocritical, the denial of the latter a transient weakness, followed immediately by the deepest repentance.—P. S.]
[Him will I also confess … him will I also deny, etc.—It is worthy of notice, as Alford suggests, that both here and in the Sermon on the Mount, Mat_7:21-23, the Saviour, after mention of the Father, describes Himself as the Judge and Arbiter of eternal life and death.—P. S.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Every genuine and earnest testimony for Christ is a confession, while every unchristian deed is a denial. “The world, in its indifference and hesitation between heaven and hell—or, rather, in its antagonism to God, under the pretence of morality—condemns only two things: secular crimes and heavenly virtues, or the manifestations of faith; nay, the latter incur its special ire, as it considers them the worst of crimes. Hence our testimony for Christ must always be in face of the opposition of the world, which readily seizes upon it and treats it as a crime; thus converting our profession into a confession.” Let it, however, be also remembered, that every genuine confession is not merely concerning Christ, but in Christ—concerning all revelation, and concerning the new state of matters which this revelation is designed to inaugurate.
2. This confession of Christ on the part of His people indicates the contrast between the import of the judgment of the world and the cause of Christ. On the other hand, the confession of His people on the part of Christ before the Father, marks the contrast between the humble estate of Christians here, and the glory to which they are called. In both instances, the contrast is infinite; but it is the faith of His people on the one hand, and the love of the Saviour on the other, which influences the confession.—Again: Denial on the part of Christ, implies denial of the kingdom of heaven, of love, and of life. Accordingly, this virtually implies the judgment. Substantially, it is equivalent to the verdict, “I never knew you,” Mat_7:23; only with increased intensity, since it applies to His messengers and witnesses, who were specially commissioned to make confession of Him. Any Christian element in such persons shall be utterly ignored, since it had not led to that true confession which is the victory over the world. They are unregenerate, and hence remain unacknowledged.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The glorious presence of God in Christ, the ground on which Christians are called to make confession: 1. It is a revelation which brings everything to light, and hence fills the Christian with joy in the word; 2. by it the whole life of believers is preserved and completed; accordingly, they are also encouraged wholly to own Jesus.—The kingdom of God and the Christian life as summed up in the word confessing. 1. Our course here may be summed up as either a confession or a denial of Christ; 2. so also the judgment to come,—it is either a confession or a denial on the part of Christ.—As Christ is to us before men, so shall we be to Him before His Father in heaven.—Unutterable cowardice and vileness of the man who attaches greater value to the judgment of men than to that of our Father in heaven.—A genuine confession is a confession both in the Lord and of the Lord.—A genuine confession must be in accordance with what we confess: 1. It is an outward manifestation which must also increasingly appear in the life; 2. it is a life which ever proves a manifestation of the faithfulness of God.—The administration of God will be sealed and confirmed by this, that Christ shall confess His own before His Father.—The great promise attaching to Christian faithfulness.
Starke:—Christ is not only denied with the lips, but also by an ungodly life.—Zeisius: Woe to all apostates.
Heubner:—The judgment of Christ alone is decisive.
[Quesnel:—To confess Jesus Christ is to follow His precept and example; to suffer for His sake; to love, teach, and practise His doctrine.—We refer this great truth to the times of the martyrs, because we will not ourselves be martyrs for the truth. It belongs to all times and all believers, every one in his proper way.—To appear before the tribunal of God without having Christ for our Advocate, and, on the contrary, to have Him there as a witness and a judge, how can we think of it and not expire with horror!—P. S.]
Footnotes:
Mat_10:32.—[
Ðᾶò ïὖí ὅóôéò
, Lange: Jeder nun, der; while in Mat_10:33 we have simply
ὅóôéò
, without
ðᾶò
.—P. S.
Mat_10:32.—̓
Åí ôïῖò ïὐñáíïῖò
both here and in Mat_10:33.
[De Wette and Alford: A Hebraistic or rather Syriac mode at expression for, shall make Me the object of his acknowledgment among and before men.—P. S.]
[Dr. Adam Clarke (Com. on Mat_10:33) appropriates the last sentence from Quesnel literally, without any acknowledgment.]
