Hard Words for Disciples (June 25, 2023) Mt. 10.24-39

Jesus is speaking to his disciples what is now known as the Mission Discourse in the Gospel according to Matthew. The first discourse was the Sermon on the Mount and this one is no less powerful. In it, Jesus is telling his disciples where they are to go and the message they are to take to those areas. He is telling them that they will have troubles but that they will be accompanied by the Spirit who will give them comfort and the words to speak. He is preparing them for the times ahead of them.

And the disciples were probably listening to this with trepidation and excitement. Excitement that the teacher was sending them out to do the work of the kingdom, trepidation that the teacher was sending them out to do the work of the kingdom. It would be like sending a college student to his or her first assignment as a student teacher. There is the excitement of being in the classroom and doing what one has been taught. But there is also the trepidation of how the students will learn from them.

Jesus also told them that there will be trouble in the future. The disciples will be persecuted and have those who are in power against them. They will know what it is like to be betrayed by those close to them and what it is like to be hated. But they will also know that if they endure what is coming, then they will be saved.

Now Jesus turns to even more hard words. He tells those listening that they are not above the teacher like a slave is not above the master. No, they will be like the teacher or the master. For where the teacher or the master is, there those who follow are of the same group or household. And if the one who is in charge is said to be in league with Beelzebul, then those who follow are a part of that as well. To be in league with this character is in short to be in league with the devil, a characteristic one does not want to be a part of in any way.

But they are to not have any fear of them, “…for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.”[1] They are to not keep quiet. They are not to be good little citizens who do not rock the boat and make sure that what they have heard is to live inside their hearts, but they are to, as the text says, shout it from the rooftops. A rooftop would be a perfect place to shout from as it was flat, and one could stand above the noise that was below and the people would hear them.

And there is comfort here. They are not to fear the ones who could kill the body. These would be the officials who would want them to be quiet as they would rock the status quo. These would be the officials who would hear sedition in the words about another kingdom. These would be the ones who would hear these words and not want them said. Jesus tells the disciples to not fear these, but rather to fear the one who could kill the body and the soul in hell. Now, some would say that this is God who rules over everything. But this is not God who is to be feared. Yes, there is a fear of God, but that is to respect and love God for what God did for the people and would do later. Rather this is the one who is in opposition to the words that are being shouted from the rooftops, the devil. This is the one who can kill the soul and the body. Doesn’t sound too comforting, does it?

But here is where the comfort comes. Jesus tells them “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”[2]Sparrows are not big birds. They were sold to the poor who could not afford a larger bird to eat. In fact, they were sold for what amounted to an hour’s wage. They were so small as to be like the people who bought them, inconsequential. Yet not a one will be out of the care of the Father. Good news. And even the hairs on the heads of the disciples are counted by the Father so that one will not fall without the Father’s knowing. That hyperbole would have come as a relief to some. It still does today for those who are…folically challenged. God knows what is happening to the smallest of the small and to the hair on the head. If God knows this and cares about these things, then how much more will God care for those bringing the news of the kingdom?

Jesus states that all those who acknowledge him before others he will acknowledge before the Father. Those disciples who continue in the face of opposition of those who want them to be quiet, Jesus will say that they are his own, ones who are like the teacher. But anyone who denies Jesus, he will deny that he knows them as well. Disciples must decide where their loyalties lie. Do they lay with the teacher who is teaching them the ways of life and that the kingdom of God is near or do they state that they are not really a part of this group who is bring this hard to swallow message? One must decide one way or the other according to Jesus. There is no middle ground.

The next words spoken by Jesus are the hardest ones yet. He comes not to bring peace. Instead, he comes to bring a sword. Now sword would be what the disciples would be expecting a messiah to bring. A sword would be in keeping with the expectations of one who would come and rescue Israel and put her back at the top of the heap. But this kind of sword is not what Jesus is bringing. Jesus quotes Micah 7.6 when he says, “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; and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”[3]What does Jesus have against families? These are not the family values that candidates speak of today, though there are many families who live like this. What is Jesus saying? He is saying that when God does a new thing, there will be those who are upset that the status quo is being disrupted. And they will be upset with those who are following the path of the new way. They will call out those in the new way and tell them it is either one way or the other. Again, there is no middle ground.

Finally, Jesus ends this discussion with more hard words: “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; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”[4]Honoring ones parents is one of the Ten Commandments which Jesus has said that he came to fulfill not to abolish. So, what is this about not being worthy of Jesus unless one loves him more than ones parents or sons or daughters. Jesus is not saying that one should not love parents or family but rather that he should have the top spot in ones life. If there is opposition to this by the family, then there is a choice to be made and one must make it. It is not any easy choice, but it is one that must be made.

But the following words are even harder. Taking up a cross meant that one would take up a literal cross to carry to ones crucifixion. There would have been the weight of the cross, the pain from a beating that came before, the jeering of the crowds gathered to see this. Then there would have been the crucifixion itself, a form of execution that has no rival. Jesus says that unless one is willing to take up this, then one is not worthy of following him. But if one is willing to do this, to lose ones life rather than to find it and keep it, then there life will be found. Hard words and ones that Jesus might have added, “So, think about this before you go. There will be hard times, and much will be demanded of you. Are you ready to go the distance?”

These are hard words for us today. We like our comfortable lives and we like to think that we are doing all the right things. But are we? Are we willing to give up all and follow Jesus? Are we willing to risk everything, our comfort, our livelihoods, our families, our lives to follow Jesus where he leads?

St. Francis of Assisi was a wealthy noble. He had riches, status, everything that one could want. Then he read Jesus’ call to give up everything and follow him. He took this seriously and began to follow in the way Jesus taught. His father, a wealthy merchant, was furious. He told Francis to get his head out of the clouds and come back to the real world. Francis’ reply was to strip naked in the town square and to go out and begin to teach and beg for his food and sustenance like Jesus told his disciples. We do not know if he ever reconciled with his father.

Are we willing to take the hard words of Jesus? Are we willing to be like Francis and give up everything for the Gospel? The hard words look us straight in the face and ask the question: Are you willing? Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.