Fear no one. Do not be afraid. Be afraid. Jesus says all three of these in rapid succession in our gospel today. When I first looked at the phrase “be afraid,” I thought it was about the devil. But there’s a footnote in the Bible that took me to a verse in the letter from James. It reads: “there is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or destroy.” Clearly, this is not about the devil, but God.
This, along with many other verses from the different Gospels, the church uses to remind people that there is a hell. And that there is a risk that we could be there.
Too many people in our world today want to dismiss the idea of hell because they think that God is a loving God and therefore would never send anyone to hell permanently. That somehow, eventually, everyone will end up in heaven. That is not what the Scriptures teach.
In this section of the gospel, Jesus is urging his disciples to shout about the gospel from the housetops. Part of the reason for that is because the Lord does not want anyone to be in hell. And he has left it up …read more
Source:: Fr. Frank Jindra’s Homily Podcasts
