Matthew 10:27
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. Matthew 10:27
“What I tell you in the darkness, you speak in the light, and what to the ear you hear, proclaim upon the roofs!” (CG).
In the previous verse, Jesus assured his apostles that there is nothing covered that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be known. Next, He says to them, “What I tell you in the darkness, you speak in the light.”
The word skotia , darkness, is introduced. It can refer to literal darkness or be applied figuratively to spiritual darkness. In that case, it would be a brand of moral obscurity that is missing when a lack of faith obscures the light of God.
Jesus instructs them that the words He speaks in private should not be withheld in public. In Matthew 13, it says –
“All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, 35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
‘I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.’” Matthew 13:34, 35
Later, in Mark 4:34, it notes that when they were alone, He explained these parables to them. When the apostles spoke about what Jesus cryptically passed on to the people, it meant that the people had to be willing to listen to their message. It is not unlike the Bible today.
The word of the Lord came to people. It was then recorded. Now, we must decide to read it, accepting that it is the word of the Lord. Jesus’ instruction to His apostles is telling them that they are a part of the process of transmitting what He has set forth for them to know what God is doing. As such, He continues with a parallel thought, “and what to the ear you hear, proclaim upon the roofs!”
Two more new words are seen here. The first is ous , a primary word signifying the ear. It is the faculty of perception which speaks not just of the physical process of hearing, but also the assimilation of what is heard by processing it and understanding it. This is reflected in the thought, “He who has ears, let him hear.”
One can hear without assimilating, or he can hear and also assimilate and process the information he has heard. The second new word is dóma , a roof. In the Middle East, even to this day, the roof is a flat area, often used for sitting outside, sleeping, and even having parties. It is also a suitable place to make a proclamation, being elevated above others.
Jesus is probably speaking to these men quietly, giving them their instructions to go out into the field. Likewise, they would sit around a house or some other area and discuss things. This was what they would hear in their ear. They were to then take what they heard and make it public, symbolized by proclaiming it from the roofs.
Life application: Jesus is instructing his apostles on the importance of His message. It may or may not be that the apostles actually went up on the housetops to speak. The point isn’t that they or we must do so.
In other words, we use the same type of thought when we say, “Shout it from the mountaintops.” Nobody really expects us to go up on a mountaintop and start shouting whatever message we are told to shout out.
Instead, it is a way of saying that something is to be made public and not held back. The apostles will later speak in open areas. This is recorded throughout Acts. Likewise, we have a message that the world needs to hear. We shouldn’t timidly withhold it, but be willing to proclaim it as if we were on the rooftops.
If the Beatles can do a concert from the rooftops to share music that few listen to anymore today, why can’t we be willing to proclaim the word of God openly and publicly? It is an eternal word from the Creator concerning our damaged relationship with Him and how it can be repaired. Let us not hold back this wonderful message of hope.
Glorious God, help us to be responsible with our time as we interact with others. There is coming a time when we will not see those around us again. People move, get new jobs, and die. Once the separation is permanent, our last chance to tell them about Jesus will be gone. May we speak while there is time. Yes, help motivate us to do so, O God. Amen.
