Matthew 10:34-42 English Standard Version (ESV) LISTEN: https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.10.34-Matt.10.42 Not Peace, but a Sword 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Rewards 40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” While Jesus did come to bring peace between God and Man in His first coming, He did not come as the rider on the white horse that would be the conquering king that would bring peace throughout His kingdom so that the lamb would lay down with the lion. This is what many of the Jews were expecting from Jesus and Jesus was up-front with them that He wasn't there to make everything restored to the point where there was no conflict in our relationships--in fact, He was going to create much conflict and be the center of much conflict. People would have to decide who they believed He was and what to do with His message and it would divide families--some of the strongest love that we know because we are made of the same flesh and blood. But Jesus said that unless we love Him even more than we love our family and are willing to abandon them (and everything else we hold dear) for the sake of the call (listen to the song that I posted on my Facebook page today to go along with this passage), then we do do not deserve to be called His disciples because if we are following after Him, He left everything in heaven behind for us because of the sake of His calling--to be born and live as a man to ultimately die on the cross. For those that can't see my Facebook profile, here's a LINK to the video.
Some of us will be asked to die for Him, but how many of us are willing to live for Him in front of our friends and family and co-workers and be unwilling to buy into the argument that worship is not just something that you say or sing when you are inside the four walls of a church building, but it is how you live your life each and every moment in light of the God who gave so much for you. The next part of the passage reminds us that those who accept us are accepting Christ and those who reject us are rejecting Christ and they will each receive their reward(s) accordingly. Some people may accept us for different reasons though--not all will accept us because they see us as disciples of Christ. Like Jesus, some will simply see us a a morally righteous person or as a prophet who speaks God's words to men, and those who accept us that way will receive some reward--don't miss it that it seems like those who receive these "rewards" from men because that's what they were seeking have received their reward in full. Jesus will make this quite clear in other places in the gospels and there were always people trying to get close to Him for all the wrong reasons. This is why Jesus first included the part about how life as His disciple meant giving up everything. The best reward discussed here is for those who show the selfless love of Christ to those who could never offer them anything in return--like giving a cup of cold water to a child in the name of Jesus. These are the people who will receive their reward not from men (as implied in the first part of the passage), but from God Himself--an eternal reward. that is imperishable and impossible to lose So the question then is one of what kinds of rewards do we seek? The applause of men or do we "perform" for an audience of One who will one day say, "Well done may good and faithful servant."?
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Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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