Jesus Tells the Truth – Matthew 10

A text – Matthew 10:24-39

10:24 “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;
10:25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
10:26 “So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
10:30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
10:31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
10:32 “Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;
10:33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
10:35 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;
10:36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.
10:37 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;
10:38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
10:39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

A reflection:

Jesus is instructing his 12 disciples in this passage. They are about to go out 2 by 2 to towns Jesus will be going to. Or by some accounts they have just returned from this mission with many questions. Jesus is telling them the truth: ministry for the sake of God’s love for the world is challenging work. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be perfect – just do what I do and things will go well.

And lest the disciples be too intimidated to go out as Jesus is sending them, Jesus says he will support everything they do, and Jesus will advocate and acknowledge all their acts before the Father in heaven.

And lest the disciples have a too-rosy picture of what will ensue when healings and miracles take place, Jesus says that besides the joy and wonder of miracles there will be the questioning and jealousy and resentment of miracles, and that people will react very differently to the Kingdom of God coming so near to them. The disciples will really need to believe in Jesus as the Son of God more than they believe in anything else, in the same way Abram had to believe in God’s promises more than anything else when he moved his whole household to a different country. When you are the chosen ones of God, you are given strengths and gifts in order to use them for others and in order to be used up.

Our Jesus today is sometimes very small. Our God, even, can become domesticated. But The Holy Trinity is bigger than we can imagine. Much bigger. It has to be if our eternal life and salvation depend upon it. Blessed are you, oh God, creator of the universe, they prayed every morning and evening. Blessed, indeed. And big.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for sending out the 12, and the many thereafter, so that we might know you, too. Help us to recognize that you are sending us, too, into the world you love, to work wonders and encounter challenges.  Amen.