Matthew 10:34-42

His Holy Ministry— Leads Us to Love God Above All!

³⁴“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. ³⁵For I have come to turn

“ ‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
³⁶a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’

³⁷“Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; ³⁸and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

⁴⁰“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁴¹Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. ⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”  (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

“I love….”  How would you finish that sentence?  If you’re talking with someone about what to have for supper, you might say “I love Steak!” or “I love fish!”  If you’re talking with someone about sports you might say, “I love football!” or, “I love baseball!”  If you’re talking about cars you might say, “I love my Honda!” or, “I love my Buick!”

There are many different ways to finish the sentence, “I love…” because there are many different things and many different people that we love in this world.  Where it can become much more complicated is when we try to finish the statement, “I love _____ more than _____.”  While it would be relatively simple to fill in those blanks when it comes to things, it is anything but simple to fill in those blanks when it comes to people.  For example, Who do you love more— your family or your friends?  Who do you love more — your children or your parents?  Hopefully we will never be put in a situation where we have to answer a question like that!

In our sermon text for today Jesus places before His disciples— including us!— a scenario which on the one hand we pray we will never face, but a scenario which on the other hand we need to be prepared to face.  Today, let’s see how:  His Holy Ministry — Leads Us to Love God Above All!

Our text includes the final portion of the instructions that Jesus gave to His disciples when He sent them out to proclaim God’s Word to God’s people.  Jesus had already instructed His disciples on the message they were to proclaim (10:7) and what they were to do.  (10:8-16)  Jesus had already warned His disciples that they need to be prepared for the fact that not everyone will welcome them or their message.  In fact, Jesus warned them that there will be some people who will have a very negative reaction to the message the disciples are proclaiming.  (10:17-20)  He warned them that there may even be members of their own family who will reject and ridicule them for what they believe and what they are proclaiming.  (10:21-25)

How were Jesus’ disciples to react to this rejection and to this ridicule?  Should they be quiet and no longer proclaim the message that Jesus had given to them?  Should they be afraid of the people’s reaction?  Not at all!  They were to boldly “proclaim from the rooftops” (10:27) the message of Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done!  And then, to impress upon His disciples the seriousness of what Jesus was sending them out to do, Jesus gave His disciples a sobering warning— a warning that we, Jesus’ disciples today— would do well to take to heart.  In the verses directly preceding our text Jesus says to His disciples, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven” (10:32, 33).

That brings us to the powerful words that open our text for today.  Jesus says to you and to me, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’”

At first glance these words sound “out of place.”  Think about it.  The prophet Isaiah described the Promised Messiah as the “Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).  Luke tells us that on the night Jesus was born, “Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests’” (Luke 2:13, 14).  Peace is something that this world longs for.  Peace is something that this world desperately needs.  Sadly, tragically, the sinful world does not want anything to do with the peace that only God can provide— the peace that is based on the forgiveness of sins.  Instead, we sinful human beings want to establish peace on our own terms.  In an effort to find some kind of peace we do everything we can to quiet a condemning conscience.  We soft-pedal our sins.  We try to convince ourselves that our sins are not really all that serious.  And yet, true peace eludes us because we don’t want to recognize that sin— any sin— every sin— separates us from God.

That reality is why Jesus says, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”  The disciples had already seen these words in action.  They had seen the real-life division that the “sword” of God’s Word, the “sword” of God’s Truth can cause.  Think back to when Jesus went home to Nazareth.  After reading from the scroll of Isaiah, after proclaiming the Truth to the people who watched Him grow up in their midst, after proclaiming to the people of His hometown, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” how did the people react?  Luke tells us, “They took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff” (See Luke 4:14-30).  Bringing it even closer to home, John tells us, “For even his own brothers did not believe in him” (John 7:5).

While we rejoice every time the “sword” of God’s holy Word, every time the “sword” of the God’s Truth “cuts through” the hardness of someone’s sinful heart and leads them to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness, we also need to be prepared for the times when the “sword” of God’s Truth exposes the division, the chasm that sin creates between a believer and an unbeliever.  Nowhere is that chasm more difficult than when it exists in our own family.  What do we do if or when this happens?  Do we do whatever is necessary to maintain “peace” in the family?  Do we turn the other way and pretend that this “division” does not exist?  Do we change what we believe?  No.  Jesus very clearly reveals to us what we need to remember if that type of situation arises.  Look at verses 37-39 of our text.  Our Savior says to us, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Let those words sink in:  “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  We need to make sure that we understand these words correctly!  Jesus is not saying that if our father or mother, our son or daughter does not believe in Jesus as their Savior we should not love them.  That misunderstanding of these words would go against the very essence of Who our God is!  The key word here is the word that is translated as “more.”  Very literally this word means, “over and above.”  If we were to put our love for our father or mother, if we were to put our love for our son or daughter “over and above” our love for our Lord, then we are violating the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods”  What does this mean?  Luther taught us, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”  If we were to allow anyone or anything to push our Savior-God out of first place in our heart then we are not “worthy,” we are not “deserving” of all the wonderful eternal blessings that only our Savior-God can give to us.

This portion of our text gives us our sermon theme for today:  His Holy Ministry—Leads Us to Love God Above All!   As you and I stay focused on the love that Jesus has for us, as you and I stay focused on what His love led Him to do for us (Pointing to the cross), that love is what motivates us to love Him “over and above” all things!  That love is what enables us to understand our Savior’s words, “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

The ”cross” that Jesus is talking about here refers to the suffering we are called upon to endure— because of our faith in Jesus!  If we refuse to carry this “cross,” if we set this “cross” down so that it is easier for us to live our life here on the earth, then we are jeopardizing our eternal salvation.  We need to stay focused on the fact that everything in this world is temporary.  We need to remember what the apostle John tells us in his first epistle, “Do not love the world or anything in this world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in this world— the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15-17).  We need to take up our “cross” and follow Him (Pointing to the cross) no matter what the earthly consequences might be.  We need to be willing to “lose” whatever this world offers to us so that we can receive the “reward” that our God promises to give to those who love Him “over and above” all!

That truth ties in well with the closing verses of our text.  Jesus says to you and to me, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me.  Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.  And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciples, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

The key word here is the word “reward.”  Could this word be understood as something we earn?  Only if you are willing to violate the central truth of Scripture, namely, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8).  What Jesus is talking about here is His “reward” of grace!  When we as members of His holy ministry put our love for God “over and above” everything else in our heart, then that will be evident in our life!  Our love for God will lead us to “receive” those who represent our Savior here on this earth.  When we “receive” them we “receive” Jesus.  When we “receive” Jesus we “receive” the heavenly Father.  This includes God’s “prophets,” that is, those who proclaim God’s Word to God’s people.  This includes a “righteous” man, that is, everyone whose life is adorned with the “robe of righteousness” that Jesus won for them on the cross!  (Pointing to the cross)  And to emphasize how completely our love for God permeates every facet of our life, Jesus reminds us that even something as simple as “giving a cup of cold water to one of these little ones” because they are a disciple of Jesus, will result in us receiving the “reward” that Jesus Himself will present to us, the “reward” that is summed up in those glorious words our King will speak to us, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

Before we close today we need to take a moment to recognize that this is the weekend when we celebrate our nation’s independence.  How can we as members of His holy ministry, how can we as people who love God “over and above” all, how can we show our love for our nation?  Let me give you two suggestions.  As people who love God “over and above” all, we can show our love for our nation by striving to be what He (Pointing to the cross) has called us to be— the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13).  With our words, with our actions, and with our prayers we strive to preserve our nation by striving to slow down the moral decay that we see taking place in our nation.  Second, as people who love God “over and above” all we strive to do what He has called us to do, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).  No matter what is taking place here in our country, no matter what anyone else is doing or saying, as members of His holy ministry we are to do what He wants us to do and to proclaim the Truth that He has given to us.

“I love….”  While there are a number of different ways to finish that sentence— depending on the context in which it is asked— the cross on Calvary’s hill reminds us that as members of His holy ministry, the first and most important way to finish that sentence is, “I love my Savior-God over and above all!”  May the good Lord grant that our love for Him will always be open and evident in every aspect of our life!

To God be the glory!

Amen