Bible Study series: Matthew 10:34-39. It’s time to count the cost, in Jewish and Muslim families.
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In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 10:34-39
34 Do not think that I have come to lay down peace on the earth. I have not come to lay down peace but instead a sword, 35 for I have come to divide
a man against his father,
And daughter against her mother,
And daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
36 And a person’s enemies shall be those of his own household. [Mic. 7:6]
37 The one loving father or mother more than me is not deserving of me; and the one loving son or daughter more than me is not deserving of me. 38 And so anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not deserving of me. 39 The one finding his life will lose it, and the one losing his life because of me will find it. (Matt. 10:34-39)
Comments:
Matthew 10:34 Contrasted with Quran 9:123
34:
Luke version says “division” instead of “sword.” Please don’t pick up your sword and hit people with it because they refuse to convert. Verse 35 says what the sword is for: to divide people, not literally cut them. It is a metaphorical sword.
2. The Gospels: Was Jesus a Pacifist?
3. Were the Early Christians Pacifists?
“lay down”: I sometimes believe that Jesus had in mind “throw down the gauntlet” to challenge the world. Let’s face it, before his Second Coming, people will always be divided by the gospel of the kingdom. Either they join it or they don’t. If they don’t, they will be the eternal loser (v. 39). If they do, they will be the eternal winner (v. 39). Pick a side. Don’t be a fence sitter.
35-36:
“daughter-in-law” has the connotation of a bridal daughter-in-law, or one who just married a mother’s son. What happens if the new bride were to convert? Apparently, she would feel the wrath of the mother-in-law!
In Israel at this time, thousands of Jews converted to the Messiah in Jerusalem and Judea (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 6:7; 21:20). Then the persecution hit hard, mostly by Saul (later Paul) (Acts 7:8-15; 8:1; 9:1-2). No doubt households were divided. And no doubt fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law did betray each other. So it is very important that no one deny the Lord before people or Jewish synagogue tribunals (vv. 8-9, 11-12).
Sometimes one hears of reports which say that Jewish parents throw out a converted son or daughter from their household. That is one of the main themes (though watered down) of the musical Fiddler on the Roof.
Further, this rejection happens in Muslim households. Sometimes a son or daughter who converts is dragged before a shariah court and is punished in some way. A daughter may be “honor-killed” for giving her life to Christ.
In first-century paganism, a son or daughter had to pour a libation before household gods or walk in procession to a local temple, yet a convert to Christianity could not do this in good conscience. So his or her parents would be infuriated (Osborne, comment on 10:35).
During the decades when the old Soviet Union dominated eastern Europe, reports escaped from behind the Iron Curtain that said Christians were being betrayed by other members of their household. It is happening in China now, with the rise of new and severe persecution.
Let’s pray regularly for the persecuted church.
37:
The Greek word for loving is the verb phileō (pronounced fee-leh-oh), which has the connotation of love, yes, but also of friendship. In a culture that did not welcome converts to the Jesus Movement, his converts must not value friendship or love for a mother or other family member over their friendship or love for Jesus himself. If people do value earth-bound friendship more than friendship with Jesus, then this person is not worthy or deserving of the Lord. Now in our culture, often people don’t have to make this difficult choice. Back then, however, they did.
38:
Do we really want to follow Jesus? If we do, then we must die (Luke 9:23 says “daily”). Die to what? Die to our old sin nature, our shortsighted desires and blinded will. And people better not think that their desires and will can lead them to a full life. Their own untamed, unsurrendered desires and wills can lead them only so far, but at the end of their lives, they will come up empty. They will discover that after they were climbing the ladder of success and got to the top, the ladder was leaning against the wrong building.
39:
A paradox takes place when you join two seeming contradictory statements, yet they can be resolved, in a startling way.
Which statement is the paradox?
1.. You gain your life by your own power, drive, and ambition.
2.. You gain your life by surrendering and giving it to God through Christ Jesus.
The world chooses the first one every day. It is not the paradox.
Jesus calls us to the second one. You win by giving up; you win by losing. That’s the paradox.
Now let’s allow Jesus to unpack what he means.
This verse may be the most important down-to-earth verse in the Gospel of Matthew for followers of Jesus. Theological truths are good and necessary, but it is difficult to follow a theology, and easier to follow a person. Many follow a theology and will even die for it. But are they willing to follow Jesus, even to the point of dying to themselves? It is better to follow a person than a theology. However, a word of warning: false doctrines about Jesus have arisen, and false Messiahs will come and deceive many, so be sure to stick close to the biblical Jesus (Luke 21:8). But once you have the biblical Jesus, be ready to give up everything for him.
One has to say something like this every day: “Lord I surrender my life to you. Not my will, but yours be done.” Do you trust him that his will is best? If you do trust him, then you are on your way—his way! It’s an adventure. If you do not, then you will stumble around and get easily angry and frustrated and lose your way.
If you find your life—do as you please—you shall lose it. If you run and manage your life, then eventually you will lose it, despite your best effort to preserve it. When you climb up your self-built ladder, you will have to climb down again or you might come crashing down, depending on how fast and furiously and carelessly you climb.
People nowadays are into “finding themselves,” and to do that they have to avoid or misinterpret the clear teachings of Jesus. Someone even went so far as to leave her husband and get into a lesbian relationship. Apparently, she believed (falsely) that she was being “authentic” to her true self or life or soul. However, she drifted from her anchor—Scripture. She was deceived.
But when you give your soul or life to him, he will give it back to you repaired and even brand new by his miracle. You can be born again.
“life”: it is the noun psuchē, and see v. 28 for more detail.
“lose”: it is the verb apollumi, and see v. 28 for further comments.
GrowApp for Matt. 10:32-39
1. In our Western culture, we don’t suffer persecution from family members as they do in some cultures today. But have you seen people in your circle of friends and family mock you or put you down for your faith? How did you respond?
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1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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