I tell you,
everyone who acknowledges me before others
the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.
If we will acknowledge Jesus before the people in our lives in this age then Jesus will reciprocate in the angelic realm in the age to come. It isn't a matter of quid pro quo. Rather, he takes our willingness to be associated with him seriously. If we deny him before others he takes that as a sincere signification that we don't really want to be with him. Then when it is time to see if we belong in his kingdom with his angels we will have demonstrated whether or not we desire it. After all, if we live a life here below in which we give no sign that we have met Jesus or been touched by his grace, what hope do we have to discover that in his kingdom we belong or feel at home?
Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven
Jesus did understand that there would be pressure to speak against the Son of Man, such as the pressure Peter felt during the trial of Jesus before the cock crowed. He knew that even those who did desire his friendship and who would, at most times, broadcast their association with him from the rooftops, might also cave under pressure. But this did not necessarily define the ultimate trajectory of their lives just as it did not for Peter. In many cases it would be possible to be forgiven as Peter was, somehow made an even more believable witness precisely because of his demonstrated human weakness. It was in some ways precisely because Peter had failed that he was suitable to strengthen his brethren once he had been restored (see Luke 22:32). Peter's life before his hour of trial was one in which he tried to respond to the grace of God, not always succeeding, but learning from his failures. This disposition helped him have a heart that was ready to hope again even when he denied him during his hour of greatest need.
but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
will not be forgiven.
Mercy was possible for Peter. This was something that the Holy Spirit led his heart to realize. He had failed beyond his human capacity to hope again. But led by the Holy Spirit he did once again embrace his hope and his trust in Jesus himself. No doubt this same grace, to repent and be forgiven, was offered even to Judas. But Judas apparently rejected that grace as impossible, denying that even the Holy Spirit could have any effect on a heart such as his. And such a denial became a self-fulfilling prophecy. By refusing to believe that there was hope or the possibility of help for him that very possibility was excluded. Judas thus serves as a cautionary tale of our very real capacity to reject the mercy of God. If we refuse to believe that he can reach us in our situations we may prevent him from doing so. But if we will allow ourselves to hope in him then mercy is certainly always possible.
When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities,
do not worry about how or what your defense will be
or about what you are to say.
If we have a defense that is planned in advance we risk sounding lifeless and unpersuasive. We may sound like a textbook, well sourced and researched, but without human warmth or connection to real life. It is good, as Peter said to always be "prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (see First Peter 3:15). But we can't force this reason to fit into a preplanned speech or a flowchart. We must be sufficiently well acquainted with the Gospel message that the Spirit is able to dynamically lead us to share it with specific emphasis as appropriate for a given situation. We aren't meant to go in unprepared. But we aren't meant to be so over prepared that we give the Holy Spirit no room to move.
Paul understood the hope that belonged to God's call and for this reason could not resist speaking about Jesus and encouraging others to come to know him. If we too open ourselves to this spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we come to have our hearts enlightened then we too will find ourselves filled with the grace to acknowledge Jesus in all of the circumstances of our lives.
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