Not a Hair will Perish

16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. – Lk 21:16-19

Jesus tells His disciples that the time would come when they would be delivered over to their enemies by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. Their relationship with Him would cause even those closest to them to turn against them. He tells them that they would be hated for their faith in Jesus Christ. He even predicted that some would be put to death after being handed over to authorities by relatives and friends. Jesus does not apologize for this. All who commit themselves to Him must put Him first in their lives. 

What is surprising to note here is that after telling His disciples that they would be delivered over to authorities and some of them put to death for their faith, Jesus goes on to say:

18 But not a hair of your head will perish.

The question this brings up immediately is this: How can people be persecuted and lose their lives and yet not a hair on their head perishes?

To answer this, first, compare what Jesus says here with the words of 1 Samuel 14:45:

 45 Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. – 1 Samuel 14:45

Observe the phrase, “not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground.” Clearly, this was an expression used in that day. In the case of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14, the people were not concerned for the hair on his head but were saying that they did not want the least harm to come to him. We would do 1 Samuel 14:55 an injustice to think that all the people were thinking about was Jonathan’s hair.

Jesus is using the same expression here. In saying “not one hair of your head will perish,” He is not primarily concerned for our hair but is conveying that we will be protected and secure in His hands.

Second, consider the Christian understanding of the physical body in light of what Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 5:

4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, – 2 Corinthians 5:4-6

Paul compares the physical body to a tent. Our earthly body is merely a dwelling place for the spirit and soul. He tells us that when we are living in this earthly body, we are away from the Lord. To shed this body is to be in His presence. 

Consider these two thoughts then in light of what Jesus says here. He uses an expression, well understood in that day, to say that He would protect us so that no harm came to us.

We focus so much on this earthly body that we have come to believe that this who we are. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This body is merely a temporary dwelling place for our soul and spirit. It is not eternal and we will not take is with us into the presence of God. We identify each other by the house we live in but that is not who we are. While our earthly tent might be destroyed, our spirit and soul will be preserved entirely to be forever in His presence.

So in the words of the psalmist we can confidently say:

The Lord is on my side, I will not fear; What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triujmph on those who hate me. – Psalm 118:6,7