Luke 12:8-9

Another special preface indicated the certainty and importance of what followed (cf. Luke 12:4-5). Confessing the Son of Man (i.e., Jesus as the divine Messiah) publicly or denying Him publicly were the disciples’ options (cf. Luke 9:26). Confessing (Gr. homolgesei) and denying (Gr. arnesetai) are polar expressions. In polarization extreme terms stress the alternatives. The disciples had to make a choice. Their choice would determine God’s acknowledgment or lack of acknowledgment of them before the angels and the Father (cf. Luke 7:28; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 11:11). The time of God’s action will evidently be when He evaluates their lives as they stand before Him. For Christians this will be at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-15). More or fewer rewards are in view. Jesus appears to have been viewing the totality of a disciple’s witness, not every instance of it since He spoke of a final heavenly evaluation.