Mathew 10_37_39 Jesus proper place

Mathew 10:37-39 “Jesus’ Proper Place”

In the Berlin art gallery is a painting only partially finished by the German painter Adolf Menzel. He intended to show King Fredrick the Great speaking with some of his generals. He 1st painted the generals, then the background, leaving the king until last. He outlined of the king in charcoal, but died prior to finishing the painting. Many Christians come to the end of life without ever having put the King into His proper place, center stage.

Christ must have center stage in our lives, As the apostle Paul put it, “for me to live is Christ.” I want to ask you a question “what has center stage in your life?” We are to love the Lord more than anything and with the totality of our being (Deut. 6:5)

CPS: The follower of Jesus must have Jesus center stage, loving Him supremely above everything else.

I. For Jesus to have center stage we must love Jesus more than everything, including our family. (37)

The mark of a true follower of Jesus is love (John 13:35). The disciple must love their spouse, family, friends, and even our enemies but we must love Jesus supremely!

Love (Loveth) is the Greek verb phileō, it means to love with a primary love not unlike agapaō, but it semantically favors a love based on a relationship. This is the love that the Father has for the Son (John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son, ) This is the love The Father has for us (John 16:27 “for the Father Himself loves you, ), and the love we have for Jesus (1 Cor.16:22 “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed.) This love is so great that Jesus uses it for the closest relationships on earth.

A. We must Love Jesus more than our parents.

The Jews were taught that love for your parents was to be a great love, the first horizontal commandment is to honor your father and mother (Ex. 20:12) so that your days will be long in the land. We are called to love Jesus more than our parents!

B. We must love Jesus more than our children.

Most of us would admit that our love for our children surpasses all love even that of our spouse. But a man is cling to his wife becoming 1 (Gen. 2:24). A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church laying down His life for her. Our love priorities are wrong, its Jesus, Spouse, Children.

ILL: I recall a conversation I had with two friends. Derek said I love Jesus more than anything even my wife but I can’t love Jesus more than my son and I don’t think God wants me to! But Jesus says otherwise. Luke 14:26-27 ““If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

There is not a man in this world that loves his children more than I love mine but my great love for Jesus should make my love for my family look like hate. We love Jesus or we are not worthy of being His.

Worthy is the Greek Adj. axios (3x)(7x chpt.) It means deserving. Jesus is teaching the disciples before He sends them out in twos. They were to inquire of a worthy person to stay with as they enter into a village and bless that home. If the house unworthy they were to take back their blessing and if any house or village refused to receive them they were to shake the dust off their feet and leave. They were Jesus’ emissaries, those who lost their presence lost the presence of Jesus, and those who do not love Jesus supremely are not worthy of receiving Him or being reconciled to God by Him.

For Jesus to have center stage we must love Jesus more than everything, including our family!

II. For Jesus to have center stage we must love Jesus more than everything, including our own lives (38-39)

We live in a “me” society, short conversation will reveal many phrases such as; “I think, I want, I wish.”

ILL: I recall a story about the L.A. Lakers complaining to Shaquille O’Neal about Kobe hogging the ball. Shaq tells Kobe “Their is no I in team” Kobe responded “But there sure is an m.e. in that mother.”

Our love for Jesus must surpass our love for our own lives and we must be prepared to die literally and figuratively for Jesus. The person unwilling to take up his cross and follow after Jesus is not worthy of belonging to Him.

Taketh is the Greek verb lambanō , it means to take a hold of. It literally means “SUFFER UNTO DEATH.” In the Roman world one condemned to death was taken to the very point of death by a skilled torturer, then required to take the cross beam on which he was to be crucified and carry it the longest possible route to his place of execution.

Followeth is the Greek verb akoloutheō, it means to go behind. This means “Wherever He leads I’ll go with a cross on my shoulders.

A. Dying Figuratively

All Christians are to die figuratively Romans 6:11 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” But here Jesus calls us to die to self. Taking up our cross means we have given over our individual rights to the king, together with any possessions, passions, pastimes, or people that might distract us from following him and serving Him whole heartily!

ILL: To the one who asked George Muller the secret of his service, he said “There was a day when I died, utterly died;” and as he spoke, he bent lower and lower until he almost touched the floor – “died to George Muller, his opinions, preferences, tastes, and will – died to the world, its approval or censure – died to the approval or blame of my brethren and friends – and since then I have studied only to show myself approved unto God”

To give Jesus His proper place we must die to ourselves.

B. Dying Literally

As Jesus sends out the 12 He tells them “I send you out like sheep among wolves” (Matt. 10:16), then explains that kings, governors, and judges will be against them, their friends and family will be against them and they will be handed over to be flogged and crucified. Jesus is pointing to His death but also prophesying the death of many of His followers. Of these twelve all died a martyrs death except for Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus and hung himself, and John who died of old age yet did not escape the trials and persecutions. He was flogged, boiled in tar, and exiled to Patamos yet he followed Jesus and persevered.

The Bible is full of people who gave their lives for Jesus, from Abel to James. Church History is full of those who died for Jesus, and there are Christians in the middle east this day suffering and dying for the Lord Jesus.

Our idea of persecution is a snide remark, a lost relationship, but the time is soon coming when we will lose our rights to worship freely and will have to choose between family and Jesus, physical life or Jesus. THIS IS THE CONTEXT OF THIS PASSAGE... the cost of discipleship!

Following Jesus is not free but costly; following Jesus is not easy but difficult. Jesus tells us that if we cling to our life on earth we lose our life in haven but if we lose our life on earth for Jesus’ sake we cling to life eternal in heaven!

When I think about taking up the cross and following Jesus I think of Simon of Cyrene, he gave up his will, being pressed into service He took up the cross that he might bear it after Jesus (Luke 23:26), and he took that cross to Calvary, following closely behind Jesus He saw what Isaiah prophesied and what Peter declared; 1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

Conclusion: Jesus is worthy of CENTER STAGE, Jesus is worthy of our Supreme Love, Jesus is worthy of our devotion and death. He is worthy because He is creator of heaven, earth, and all that is in them. Jesus is worthy because He is the sustainer who holds the whole world together, and He is worthy because He is Savior… God who allowed Himself to be crucified that we may have life eternal.

Application: Jesus is worthy of having your supreme love and Center Stage but how do we get to that point? For the Christian the love is already there, “for God has poured out His love into our hearts by giving us His Holy Spirit” (HYPERLINK "https://ref.ly/logosref/BibleNASB95.Ro5.5"Rm 5:5) but we must unlock that love and It is done by a deliberate and constant decision each day to love Him supremely and deliberately placing Him in His proper place.

As Becky and Donnie come forward to lead us in a hymn of invitation would you join me at this alter and make that deliberate and constant decision today?