Expositor's Bible Commentary 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)

It is not enough for Jesus’ disciples to be opposed by Jewish and Gentile officialdom; they will be hounded and betrayed by their own family members (v.21; see further vv.34–39). Here Jesus alludes to Mic 7:6 (quoted in vv.35–36). “All men” (v.22) does not mean “all men without exception,” for then there would be no converts, but “all men without distinction”—all people irrespective of race, color, or creed. That the good news of the kingdom of God and his righteousness should elicit such intense and widespread hostility is a sad commentary on “all men.” The hatred erupts, Jesus says, either because one bears the name “Christian” (cf. 1 Peter 4:14) or, more likely, “on account of me” .

The one who exercises patient endurance will be saved; but he or she must stand firm “to the end.” This phrase is ambiguous, meaning either “to the end of one’s life” or “to the end of the age.” This is not to say that only martyrs will be saved; but if the opposition one of Jesus’ disciples faces calls for the sacrifice of life itself, commitment to him must be so strong that the sacrifice is willingly made. Otherwise there is no salvation. Thus from earliest times Christians have been crucified, burned, impaled, drowned, starved, racked—for no other reason than that they belonged to Christ.