Matthew 10:34-39
Notes
Transcript
Psalm
Psalm
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Prayer
Prayer
Include he Children of each person here
The country, president, police officers
Intro
Intro
Open your Bibles to Matthew 10 starting in verse 34.
Why did Jesus come to earth? Why would God be born as a man? - In this we remember Jesus was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. But why would God want to live on earth as a man?
Most of us read Luke 2 with our families at Christmas.
14 Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
Good will toward men.
From this, many believe Jesus came to bring peace to the world. But if we read it in the ESV, we get a more accurate understanding of this verse.
14 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
In the ESV, we see that Peace is not promised to the earth, but peace is promised to those with whom he is pleased - Namely believers in our Lord, Jesus Christ.
But what about Jesus’ Title as the Prince of Peace from Isaiah 9?
6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
You see, Jesus does come to bring peace, but not the whole world benefits from His peace.
What do we read about this in Matthew 10?
Matt 10:34-39
Matt 10:34-39
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.
Matt 10:34
Matt 10:34
As we read in verse 34,
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Jesus did not come to bring peace.
The only other place that Matthew mentions peace is in 10:13.
13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
This verse uses peace in a different context. Matthew doesn’t show Jesus as the bringer of peace tot he world.
There is, of course, a most important sense in which he came to bring peace. But the peace he came to bring is not simply the absence of strife; it is a peace that means the overcoming of sin and the bringing in of the salvation of God.
And that means war with evil and accordingly hostility against those who support the ways of wrong. So it is as Jesus says that he does not come to bring peace, he comes to bring a sword, that is, conflict.
The sword is not, of course, meant literally, but it is an obvious symbol of conflict. It is a stern reminder of the fact that to follow one whom his followers delight to call the “Prince of peace” (Isa. 9:6) sometimes means disunity and conflict.
“A sword divides; so does the truth which Jesus came to bring. It is more important than family unity” (Argyle).But, of course, his coming presents a challenge to which people respond differently. And emotionally, for some who oppose Jesus do so passionately, as do those who become his followers. And where strong and opposed feelings are held, conflict is inevitable.
Have you ever noticed how people (with the exception of some that claim to be Christians) are rarely luke-warm about Jesus. People are love Jesus and can’t spend enough time learning about Jesus and spending time with Jesus.
OR people are violently opposed to Jesus and want to destroy anything Christian.
1. How many people are trying to remove any christian symbols from anywhere they can see them?
We saw this in Germany where Hitler mandated replacing the cross with his picture.
We see this today in China where they are removing Crosses and religious symbols on churches.
2. How many people do we see trying to wipe out Christians not because the Christians have done anything wrong, but because the Christians believe what everyone knows is the truth, even when they don’t want to admit it?
We saw this as Saul watched over the stoning of Stephen.
We saw this as each of the disciples were persecuted and many of them martyred.
We saw this as Christians throughout the ages were martyred.
We saw this with the Rise of Islam where they sought to extinguish Christianity. We still see this in Islamic nations today as they persecute and murder Christians. Many are forced to leave with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
We see this in China where they have been putting pastors in prison again over the past few weeks. In many parts of the world, it is illegal to evangelize and yet, people do.
In america, governments are forcing churches to close under the guise of a virus while separating believers from one another and isolating them. We all know that isolated Christians are easier for the demonic forces to pick off.
Jesus did not call us to get along...
Jesus did not call us to get along...
Jesus did not command us to all get along. and go along with the things of this world.
“Do not think I have come to bring peace to the earth.”
To those who welcome him, he does offer eirēnē or “peace” which comes from the Hebrew concept of shālôm.
Such peace brings the wholeness of restored relationships with God (Rom 5:1) and interpersonal reconciliation within the community of believers (Eph 4:3).
We see this in Romans 5:1
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Jesus Christ - Through His blood we have been justified and have peace. It is not of our own doing, but it if from God. Remember that in Romans, Paul is writing to believers. HE is not giving this peace to all people, but to believers. To those whose live have been given over to God. For those who love God with their hearts, souls, and minds.
We also see this peace in Eph 4:
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
This passage is is about the relationship between believers as they bear with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
This peace comes from from the Holy Spirit and exists among believers. Romans 12:18 teaches is that “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” This verse uses the same Greek word for peace. We are to live in peace, but we also know that we cannot live in peace if we are all-in for Christ.
Jesus’ peace does not preclude wars between nations, conflicts among unbelievers, or the persecution of Christians which Jesus had already predicted and we studied over the past few weeks.
In fact, not only does Jesus not come to eradicate all human conflict but he actually promises hostility (v. 34). His ministry proved so confrontational that he either attracted people to himself or visibly repelled them. The “sword” of v. 34 is therefore metaphorical.
Matt 10:35
Matt 10:35
You see, This verse cannot stand alone. If you take this verse alone, you can twist it to justify many evil things. No, It stands with God’s entire council in His word.
And we can start with the next verse to provide additional clarity to What Jesus means by not bringing peace, but the 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.
Why did Jesus pick out these 3 relationships and not more?
Is there any significance to this?
First, The Father is the head of the household. He is the respected patriarch of the family and the entire family was loyal to him. In the Jewish household, his word was law.
[INSERT RESEARCH FATHER IN JEWISH CULTURE]
The Mother was the most important woman in the household. She was responsible for all of the women in the house.
Together, the mother and Father were the highest position in the household. All of their children, including their spouses, and grandchildren would have held them in high regard. No Human could have a higher position in the household.
The Mother-in-Law was so important because her son’s wife would leave her household and move in with his family. Often it would be in a room built onto the house by the new groom. Essentially, the new bride would be cut off from everyone she knew as she joined the Husband’s family. The word here for daughter-in-law specifically refers to the new bride, the young wife. If she stood for Christ, she would stand alone.
Defining Set
Defining Set
When verse 35 in the ESV uses the words “to set” it means to set a variance or literally to divide in 2. - Make them to separate entities, disparate from each other - Meaning having no common ground.
An example of this would be when God sets the sheep apart from the goats. We will be spending more time on this concept when we get to Matthew 25. But in Matthew 25, when the Son of man comes in His glory and all of the nations will be gathered before Him, He will separate the people as one separates the sheep from the goats with the sheep on his right and the goats on the left.
This is how a son will be sent against his father. I have mentioned Al Fadi in the past. He was a Muslim who became a christian. There was a point in his spiritual journey when he needed to tell his parents that he was no longer a Muslim. When the time came for the conversation, he called his father and respectfully told him that he no no longer a Muslim. He had learned about Jesus and had become a follower of Jesus.
That conversation set father against son. His father tried to convince him he was wrong. He disowned him as a son. He even put a bounty on his head that exists to this day. He loves his parents and the rest of his family, but there is this separation separating him from his family and making his enemies those of his own household.
Husband and Wife
Husband and Wife
It is interesting how it does not say anything about husband or wife, just mother or father.
Maybe this is because Paul deals with this in a couple places.
The first place we see this is in 2 Cor 6 starting at verse 14, we read
14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God;
If this is true in business, how much more is this true in marriage.
It is important to remember that some of us become believers while we are married and this verse does not give us permission to divorce the unbeliever.
But for those of us who are not married, we must not marry an unbeliever. I would go so far as to say we must marry someone on the same track as we are. If you are sold-out for God (as we all should be) and God is leading you to the mission field, you have no business marrying someone who is committed to working in business and has no plans to ever leave the US.
To the married, we can look to 1 Cor 7 to see what God commands,
- Paul teaches in verses 10-11 That a wife not separate from her husband and the husband should not divorce his wife.
In verses 12-14 and 16, God command the new believer not to leave their unbelieving spouse for how does the new believer know if their love for God will bring their unbelieving spouse into a relationship with the living God?
God is clear that if the unbelieving spouse wants to leave, the believing spouse is commanded to let them leave and they are not bound by the marriage.
Although Matthew 10: 34-36 doesn’t specifically address husbands and wives, verses 37-39 are applicable to all people, husbands and wives included.
Matt 10:37
Matt 10:37
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.
Even what should be the best and closest of human relationships, in the family, ought never stand in the way of serving God (v. 37).
We cannot love our father or mother - our husband or wife - our son or daughter more than we love God. This doesn’t mean that we abandon out familial relationships as we pursue God.
In Mark, we read about Jesus condemning the practice of giving what we would have used to support our parents as Corban - or a gift to God.
In 1 Timothy 5:8, Paul instructs believers that “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
God is NOT telling us to abandon our family. But God is telling us that He must come first. Part of loving Him is loving our family.
When God called me to Honduras, My parents could not understand why I would leave a perfectly good job and move to a third-world country. While I needed to listen to them and understand their point of view, Ultimately, I needed to follow God because I love Him more than I love my parents. If I raise my children to love God more than me, they I will have succeeded in parenting. But listen closely - I am not saying that the love to do God’s work more, but that they truly love God more than me and serve Him in all they do.
They will still love me if they love God and they will have their priorities correct.
Matthew 10:38-39
Matthew 10:38-39
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.
His cross - This was no Jewish proverb, crucifixion was not a Jewish punishment.
When Jesus uses that phrase here, his disciples may have wondered at it’s meaning that would not become clear until much later in his ministry. Jesus uses the phrase anticipatively, in view of the death which he himself was to die.
This was one of those sayings described in John 12:16, which the disciples understood not at the first, but the meaning of which was revealed in the light of later events. The figure itself was borrowed from the practice which compelled criminals to bear their own cross to the place of execution.
His cross - For each person has his own cross. All are not alike. There are different crosses for different disciples. The English proverb runs: “Every cross hath its inscription”—the name of him for whom it is shaped.
What does your cross look like?
For some, it may be being the only Christian in your family.
For some, it may be dealing with abusive parents or children?
For some, it may be being the only christian in your place of work.
For some, it may be health problems that make it difficult to serve God where he has called you.
For some, you may be wired towards addictions and you are fighting those addictions every day.
For some, you may be a single parent doing the best you can to serve God and raise your children along.
For some, it is staying true to God and spend time with him when those close to you are not believers.
For some, you may be growing older and not be able to serve God like you used to. It may be a struggle to remember what you have learned.
God has designed each of us differently. Some of our struggles are due to bad choices we have made. Other struggles are not of our own making. irregardless of your past, God has a cross for your to bear.
Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus?
Are you worthy of Jesus - only those who are willing to take up their cross are worthy of Him. This is about being all-in. We are not part-time Christians. We are full-time Christians.
What comes out of our mouth is the overflow of our hearts. Is the overflow a love For christ that drives all we do or is the overflow a love for ourselves?
If you desire to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life, for Jesus’ sake, you will find it.
Are you trying to save your life or are you willing to lose it?
We can either live for ourselves and lose eternity. Or we can live for Jesus and have eternity.
This comes back to the concept that we have, but 2 choices. We can travel on the wide road that leads to hell or we can travel on the narrow road that leads to heaven.
The wide road is easy. On the wide road, no one will bother you. This road is focused on ourselves and what we enjoy. This road may be focused on our family and putting them first in our life. The wide road may mean that we have intimate relationships with someone we are not married to. It may mean that we get involved with pornography. It may mean that our language is not pleasing to God or that we gossip. The wide road is about me and what I enjoy.
The narrow road is about God. It is about serving Him in all that I do. It doesn’t mean I don’t sin, I still do. But it means I repent of my sin. If I am having an intimate relationship outside of marriage, I stop. I repent to God and I I change. I turn my eyes and my heart towards God. If I gossip, I repent and I renew my love for God.
Sometimes it means I put hedges in my life. It may be that I don’t spent time alone with a member of the opposite sex so that I don’t have temptation and can keep my thoughts pure.
I will end with this thought. Who are you living for? Yourself or God? If it is for yourself, you will lose your life and spend eternity in Hell. But if it is for God, you will spent eternity with Him in heaven.
Let us Pray
prayer
prayer