Tag: Matthew

Red Letter Year: 4/5

Matthew 10:32-42

32 “Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

34 Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. 35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

37 If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

40 Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. 41 If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. 42 And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

Comments

This passage is strongly worded to say the least. It is also prone to serious misinterpretation, which is usually characterized by a person regarding their calling, their ministry, as of such importance that even family must be sacrificed for it, that nothing can stand in between you and the cross you have to bear. It is further characterized by a misunderstanding of that “cross” as something abstract, like a particular organization or church or career. Those things are abstractions to the extent that they are not focused on the people they have to do with. You can be really busy working for a church and yet have little contact with the actual people who make up that church. This leads directly to the serious misinterpretation because the entire point of the cross is sacrifice for other people. Bonhoeffer said, “the church only exists when it exists for others.” (from his Letters and Papers from Prison) This applies here because your calling, ministry, cross is only ever service rendered for other people. You can’t privilege family in such work (Jesus didn’t just die for his mother and siblings). Some people will oppose what you are doing, often people close to  you who would rather see you adhering to the world’s standards for work and life style. Jesus addresses both those here. But he does not in any sense give license to run rough shod over people in order to carry your cross. We’re supposed to carry our crosses, not run around swinging them wildly. The burden we bear should not become the occasion for wounding other people. That gets this badly wrong. Carrying our crosses, carrying out our callings, should take on the same characteristics as Jesus’ example in bearing the cross on our behalf.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Red Letter Year: 4/4

Matthew 10:16-31

16 Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. 17 But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. 18 You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. 19 When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. 20 For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

21 A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. 22 And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. 23 When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel.

24 Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. 25 Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

26 But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 27 What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!

28 Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Comments

The first promise here is one of my favorites (especially for me on this day), that the Holy Spirit will give you what to say in those moments when what you are specifically trying to communicate is the Gospel of Jesus. I have experienced this sort of thing and it is rather powerful. I have also experienced moments when I became aware that I was saying quite a bit more and other than what the Spirit was trying to communicate. It’s very frustrating when you catch yourself working contrary to God and unfortunately it is all too common. But that’s because we are not perfect creatures and we have a tendency to make messes. Don’t let those moments stop you. Keep trying. Keep sharing. With practice, listening to the Spirit and sharing well gets easier (though messes still happen). And as Jesus said here, they demonized him – the One who didn’t make messes, so you can expect the same treatment. Don’t let that stop you either, even when they exploit your messes to put you down. Take courage and have confidence in the God who cares for little birds and keeps a count of the hairs on your head (quite a feat for some of us). God will help you in those sharing moments and in those attacked moments and in all the moments in between.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.