^10:29Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny?⁵⁵ Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.⁵⁶^10:30Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. ^10:31So do not be afraid;⁵⁷ you are more valuable than many sparrows.

^10:32“Whoever, then, acknowledges⁵⁸ me before people, I will acknowledge⁵⁹ before my Father in heaven. ^10:33But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^10:34“Do not think that I have come to bring⁶⁰ peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword. ^10:35For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, ^10:36and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.⁶¹

^10:37“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ^10:38And whoever does not take up his cross⁶² and follow me is not worthy of me. ^10:39Whoever finds his life⁶³ will lose it,⁶⁴ and whoever loses his life because of me⁶⁵ will find it.

Rewards

^10:40“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.⁶⁶^10:41Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. Whoever⁶⁷ receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. ^10:42And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth,⁶⁸ he will never lose his reward.”

Read in Logos

Matthew 10:42: “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Footnotes

55 The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest items sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.
56 Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”
57 Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.
58 Or “confesses.”
59 Grk “I will acknowledge him also.” This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. On Jesus and judgment, see Luke 22:69; Acts 10:42–43; 17:31.
60 Grk “cast.” For βάλλω (ballō) in the sense of causing a state or condition, see L&N 13.14.
61 Matt 10:35–36 are an allusion to Mic 7:6.
62 It was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion for the prisoner to be made to carry his own cross. Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If the priority is not one’s allegiance to Jesus, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection.
63 Grk “his soul,” but ψυχή (psuchē) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.
64 If there is no willingness to suffer the world’s rejection at this point, then one will not respond to Jesus (which is trying to find life) and then will be subject to this judgment (which is losing it).
65 Or “for my sake.” The traditional rendering “for my sake” can be understood in the sense of “for my benefit,” but the Greek term ἔνεκα indicates the cause or reason for something ( 1).
66 The one who sent me refers to God.
67 Grk “And whoever.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
68 Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amēn), I say to you.”