Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 10:21

"And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child: and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death." — Matthew 10:21 (ASV)

And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

Read the martyrologies, and see that it was exactly as our Lord foretold it would be. In martyr times, people often burst all the bonds of natural affection, and betrayed even their own fathers or children to death. Yet the saints did not shrink; they were content to let every earthly tie be snapped so that the tie of their heavenly and eternal relationship might be confirmed. So may it be with us also!

Unnatural hatreds have arisen from religious bitterness. The old serpent not only endeavors to poison the relationship of the creature to the Creator, but even that of child to parent, and parent to child. Brothers can become unbrotherly and all other relations unnatural, when under the dominion of religious bigotry.

In times of persecution, we may not expect love for ourselves from those who do not love God. It might have seemed impossible that blood relations should be willing to assist in bringing about the death of each other, but history has abundantly shown that our Lord’s words were certainly not too strong. He knew human hearts and forewarned His disciples of the pitiless tempest that would beat upon them as a result of human enmity to the truth.