Question from a reader:
All people, myself included, have done things in life we regret and are ashamed of. In several places in the Gospels, Jesus mentions that hidden things will be revealed (Matthew 10:26, Mark 4:22, Luke 8:27, Luke 12:2-3). Does that mean we’ll know each other’s hidden secrets on the New Earth?
Answer from Doreen Button, EPM staff:
It’s always imperative to read Scriptures in context. If you pull a verse out from among its peers, it can appear to say things God never intended. For example, the bulk of Matthew 10 comprises Jesus’ instructions to His twelve special followers about how they are to live out His calling to them to go out on their mission to the Jews preaching His word. He told them how to accept hospitality, how to respond to people who treat them badly or pretend to be followers but aren’t. He continues in the verse you mentioned and beyond to encourage them not to be afraid of those who persecute them. Nothing that is done to them will go unnoticed by or, if necessary, punished by God. Luke 12 is a parallel passage.
Mark 4 and Luke 8 are parallel passages and have a slightly different setting in that Jesus is teaching His followers the meaning of the parable of the sower, followed immediately by the example of someone being ridiculous and hiding a light under a bed (especially problematic if your bed is straw!). Luke 8:17 says “there is nothing that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.” We can’t hide our thoughts or actions from God.
None of these passages refer to Heaven or the New Earth. In Matthew 12 Jesus mentions that everyone will give an account to God on the day of judgment for the idle words they’ve spoken. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that we will give an account to the rest of humanity for our deeds. And I certainly can’t picture anyone in Heaven or on the New Earth even wanting to hear what amounts to gossip (sharing about another with someone who is neither part of the problem nor part of the solution) about our lives. Jesus died to wipe away our shame and replace it with His righteousness. The scenario you’ve suggested makes me think of us walking around Heaven still clothed in our ‘filthy robes’ instead of in Christ’s righteousness.
Remember what Romans 8:1 says: “there is, therefore, NO condemnation [not from God and therefore not from His followers in the afterlife] for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
God bless you in your journey of learning more about how to follow Him well.
