Matthew 10:28: “Whom Should You Fear?”
- Edward D. Andrews
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matt. 10:28) Jesus was not teaching superstition, and He was not using fear to manipulate. He was placing fear in its proper moral location. The wrong fear paralyzes obedience and makes people compromise to protect comfort. The right fear is reverent dread of displeasing God, a sober awareness that Jehovah alone holds ultimate authority over life, judgment, and future prospects. (Prov. 1:7; Luke 12:4-5)
This statement is also a direct blow against the popular idea that man has an immortal soul that cannot be destroyed. Jesus explicitly speaks of destruction of “both soul and body” in Gehenna. If the “soul” were an indestructible conscious entity, Jesus’ warning would collapse. Instead, His words fit the consistent biblical teaching that a human is a soul, that the soul can die, and that death is the cessation of life until resurrection. (Ezek. 18:4; Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 9:5, 10) Jesus is warning that there is a kind of judgment beyond ordinary death: a final destruction that removes any hope of resurrection. That is why the fear of God is weightier than fear of man.
What Jesus Meant By “Body” And “Soul”
In Matthew 10, Jesus is preparing His disciples for persecution as they preach. He tells them they will be opposed, hated, and dragged before authorities. (Matt. 10:16-22) In that setting, “those who kill the body” refers to human persecutors who can take your present life. They can harm you physically. They can end your current breath. They can silence your voice in this world. But they cannot reach beyond the boundary Jehovah has set for them. They cannot decide your ultimate standing with God, and they cannot prevent Jehovah from restoring life by resurrection. (John 5:28-29; Acts 24:15)
When Jesus uses “soul” (Greek psuchē), He is not speaking of an immortal ghost inside the body. In Scripture, “soul” often means life, the living person, or the full set of life prospects that make up a person’s identity before God. Jesus Himself used psuchē in that way: “Whoever wants to save his soul will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 16:25) The meaning is not “whoever wants to save his immortal part.” It is whoever clings to this present life at the expense of loyalty to Christ will lose life, while whoever lays down life for Christ will receive it back, ultimately in the resurrection and in the Kingdom. That is why Jesus can say persecutors cannot kill the soul: they can kill your body now, but they cannot erase your future if Jehovah intends to resurrect you.
The Hebrew Scriptures agree. Adam did not receive an immortal soul; he “became a living soul” when Jehovah formed him from dust and gave him breath. (Gen. 2:7) The soul is the living person, not a separable immortal entity. Jehovah then warned that disobedience would result in death. (Gen. 2:17) Ezekiel states it plainly: “The soul who sins will die.” (Ezek. 18:4) That is destruction of the person. The hope beyond death is resurrection, not the continued conscious existence of an immortal soul. (Dan. 12:2; John 11:11-14)
What Gehenna Is And Why Jesus Used It
Jesus names Gehenna (Greek geenna), which refers to the Valley of Hinnom southwest of Jerusalem. The Hebrew Scriptures associate that location with detestable idolatry, including the burning of children in worship to Molech. (Jer. 7:31) Jehovah condemned those practices and foretold judgment tied to that valley, with dead bodies becoming food for birds and beasts, an image of shame and destruction. (Jer. 7:32-33; 19:6-7) By the first century, Gehenna served as a powerful symbol for complete disposal, not for rehabilitation and not for endless conscious torment. When Jesus uses Gehenna, He is drawing on a known picture of total removal.
Jesus’ wording is decisive: Jehovah “is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matt. 10:28) The key verb is “destroy.” Scripture uses that language for perishing, being ruined, being put to an end. Jesus did not say, “fear him who is able to preserve you forever in torment.” He said destroy. That aligns with the Bible’s consistent contrast between eternal life and destruction. (Matt. 7:13-14; John 3:16) The punishment is eternal in its result, because the destruction is final, not because the process is an endless torture. The Bible calls this final outcome “the second death.” (Rev. 21:8) Death in Scripture is not a conscious life in another realm; it is the end of life. The “second death” is the irreversible end, with no further resurrection.
This is why Jesus separated “soul” from “body” in the warning. He is emphasizing that Jehovah’s judgment reaches beyond the present physical life. A persecutor can kill you and still fail to touch your future. Jehovah can judge a person as unrepentant and wicked, removing all life prospects permanently. That is a fear that cleanses foolish bravado and produces sober obedience. (2 Cor. 7:1)
Fear That Produces Courage, Not Panic
Jesus begins the verse by saying, “Do not fear those who kill the body.” He is not telling His disciples to pretend danger is unreal. He is telling them to value Jehovah’s approval above survival. That is the same perspective He teaches elsewhere: “Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words… the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him.” (Mark 8:38) Loyalty to Christ matters more than extending present life by compromise.
This kind of fear of God is the foundation of courage in evangelism. If you fear man most, you will shape your message to avoid rejection. If you fear Jehovah most, you will speak truthfully with gentleness and respect, refusing to dilute the good news. (1 Pet. 3:14-16) The apostles modeled this when commanded to stop teaching: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) That is not arrogance; it is proper alignment of authority. Men can punish the body. Jehovah judges the person.
Jesus immediately follows this teaching with assurance of Jehovah’s care: not a sparrow falls without the Father’s awareness, and the disciples are worth more than many sparrows. (Matt. 10:29-31) So the fear Jesus commands is not the fear of a cruel deity. It is reverent fear of the Holy One who is perfectly just and who must be taken seriously. When that fear is in place, it drives out the lesser fear that makes people shrink back from obedience. (Prov. 29:25) It also reinforces the seriousness of repentance. If a person treats sin as entertainment and refuses correction, he is not merely risking “consequences.” He is setting himself against the God who can destroy in Gehenna. (Gal. 6:7-8)
Let This Verse Reorder Your Priorities Today
Matthew 10:28 forces a decision about what you value. If you value comfort most, fear will govern you. If you value Jehovah’s approval most, fear will be purified into reverence, and reverence will become strength. The Scriptures tie the fear of Jehovah to wisdom, hatred of evil, and clean conduct. (Prov. 8:13; 16:6) That fear does not make you hide; it makes you steady. It makes you careful with speech, careful with entertainment, careful with associations, and careful with conscience, because you refuse to trade eternal life prospects for temporary approval. (Ps. 101:3; 1 Cor. 15:33)
This also protects your view of death. Christians grieve, but not as people without hope. (1 Thess. 4:13-14) Death is real, but it is not ultimate for those who belong to Christ. (John 11:25-26) Persecutors can take present life, but they cannot steal the resurrection from Jehovah. That is why Jesus’ warning is both sobering and strengthening: it tells you whom to fear, and it tells you whom not to fear.
About the Author
EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored over 220+ books. In addition, Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV).
Comments