Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 10:21-22

"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. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name`s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." — Matthew 10:21-22 (ASV)

Glossa Ordinaria: After offering comfort first, He adds the more alarming dangers: “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.”¹

St. Gregory the Great: Wrongs we suffer from strangers pain us less than those we suffer from people whose affection we had counted on, for in addition to the physical suffering, there is also the pain of lost affection.²

St. Jerome: We often see this happen in persecutions, and there is no true affection between those whose faith is different.

St. John Chrysostom: What follows is even more dreadful: “you will be hated by all men.” They sought to exterminate them as common enemies of the whole world. To this is added the consolation, “for my name's sake,” and to cheer them further, “but the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

For many are passionate and zealous in the beginning but later grow cool. For these, He says, I look to the end. What is the benefit of seeds that only sprout at first? Therefore, He requires sufficient endurance from them.

St. Jerome: For virtue is not in beginning, but in completing.

Remigius of Auxerre: And the reward is not for those who begin, but for those who bring it to completion.

St. John Chrysostom: But so that no one could say that Christ accomplished everything in His Apostles—and that it was therefore no wonder they became who they were, since they did not bear the burden of these things themselves—He says that perseverance was their own work.

For although they were rescued from their first perils, they were preserved for even harder trials. These, in turn, would be followed by others, and they would be in danger of snares as long as they lived. He subtly implies this when He says, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Remigius of Auxerre: That is, he who does not let go of the commands of the faith, nor fall away in persecution, will be saved; he will receive the reward of the heavenly kingdom for his earthly persecutions.

And note that “the end” does not always mean destruction, but sometimes perfection, as in the passage, “Christ is the end of the law” (Romans 10:4). So the meaning here may be, “Whoever endures to the end”—that is, in Christ.

St. Augustine of Hippo: To endure in Christ is to abide in His faith, which works by love.³

1. ap. Anselm
2. Hom. in Ev., xxxv, 3
3. City of God, book 21, ch. 25