Third Sunday after Trinity, Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 10:24-39 — part 2

This post concludes my exegesis on Matthew 10:24-39, the Gospel reading for the Third Sunday after Trinity (Year A), June 25, 2023.

Readings for Year A can be found here.

As this is quite a heavy-hitting series of our Lord’s teaching, don’t miss the first part. These are truths which are often glossed over in today’s happy-clappy, entertainment-based Christianity.

The Gospel reading is as follows (emphases mine):

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.

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

In 2015, I wrote an exegesis based on Matthew Henry’s commentary for Matthew 10: parts 1 and 2, which may also be of interest.

Today’s post looks at the family relationships described in verses 34 through 39.

Jesus told the Apostles — and is telling us — that He did not come to bring peace to the earth; He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (verse 34).

Allow me to get to the nub of this verse now. The Prince of Peace — Jesus Christ — came to bring us a personal peace with God our Father.

John MacArthur says:

The apostle Paul, in Romans, at least three places, talks about the peace that God has given us. Well, there is peace in the heart of the one who believes. But as far as the world is concerned, there is nothing but division.

Yes, He brought peace to the heart of a believer, the peace of God, peace with God, peace from God. And someday there will be a kingdom of peace. But the Old Testament didn’t see a different between the first coming and the second coming. Didn’t see that time in the middle. He first coming brought a sword; the second coming will bring ultimate peace.

I began with MacArthur’s conclusion. Here is the detail behind this powerful verse:

A true disciple forsakes the family … Now, this is a most dramatic statement …

The very fact that some confess Christ and some deny Christ indicates the coming of Christ causes divisions. And so, Jesus builds on that reality.

Now, the Jews pretty well had figured out, from the Old Testament, that when the Messiah came, He was coming to bring peace. And we understand that. That’s part of it. They were aware of that. They were aware that Isaiah 9 said that He was to be the Prince of Peace.

MacArthur cites several more passages from the Old Testament about the Messiah bringing peace.

The Apostles, MacArthur says, were already experiencing a personal peace by being with Jesus — probably apart from Judas, I might add:

And as Jesus is speaking to the disciples, you see, they had already begun to experience the peace in their hearts that came in being with Jesus. And they may have been anticipating that this bliss would just extend to everybody; that as they were sent out to preach, the whole world would fall at their feet. That the Messiah had arrived, and that He was a King of peace, and they were experiencing this euphoria of being with Him. And everybody would just respond, and it would all be a wonderful, peaceful kingdom.

But they didn’t want to be just isolated to that view. That wouldn’t be the real picture …

… this is, in a sense, a paradox. The Lord is saying, “On the one hand, I’m a Prince of Peace. On the one hand, I’ve come to bring peace. But on the other hand, you have to realize that there’s going to be a sword.” And the Old Testament saw both of these things, in a way. The Old Testament saw the fracturing; it saw the breaking asunder.

The Jews were also aware of the fracturing to come:

In some of the rabbinical writings, we find this statement, “In the period when the Son of David shall come, a daughter will rise up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The son despises his father, the daughter rebels against the mother, the daughter-in-law against a mother-in-law, and a man’s enemies are they of his own household.” End quote. That is in the rabbinical writings.

So, they knew on the one hand the Messiah would come for peace, but on the other hand, He would come to cause a division. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “It’s just going to be the division that you’re going to see for the moment.” The intervention of God in history through the incarnation of Christ is going to split and fracture the world into segments, into parties that’ll be pitted against one another.

That is still true for believers until our Lord’s Second Coming:

So, don’t be under any illusion, as you go out as a disciple, to think the whole world’s going to fall at your feet. You’re going to go rushing home and tell everybody you’ve become a Christian. You’re going to tell everybody in school. You’re just – and everybody’s going to wonderfully line up to sign on the doubted line. It’s not going to happen.

In fact, Martin Luther said, quote, “If our Gospel were received in peace, it wouldn’t be the true Gospel.”

… The Gospel does that. It is the refiner’s fire that consumes. It is the shepherd’s separation of the sheep and the goats. It is the husbandmen’s fan when he throws the grain into the air and chaff is blown away. There’s a separation. The entrance of Christ splits, tears apart. IF Christ had never come, the earth would have gone on in unity to hell, doomed. But when He came, a war broke out.

Jesus then said what the aforementioned rabbinical writings said, ‘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’ (verse 35), and ‘one’s foes will be members of one’s own household’ (verse 36).

MacArthur reminds us of the parallel version in Luke 12:

In Luke chapter 12, we see something of this in verse 49. “I am come to send fire on the earth,” He said, “and what will I, if it’s already kindled?” Verse 51, “Suppose you that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division. And from henceforth there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. And the father divided against the son, and the son against the father; and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; and the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law.”

This is how the KJV expresses Matthew 10:35-36:

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.   36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

MacArthur discusses these verses in light of our closest, earliest relationships and tells us what ‘at variance’ means:

… what He’s really going to say here is this, “If you’re a true disciple, you’ll be willing to even create a division in your own home,” which goes against the grain of your nature, doesn’t it? Because that’s the place you want the peace. That’s the place you want to keep intimacy; that’s the – those are the people you love. You don’t want to be at odds with them, but you will be true when you commit yourself to Jesus Christ with such commitment to His lordship that even if it fractures your home, you’re willing to pay the price.

Look at verse 35, and here’s how He expresses it, “I am come to bring a sword, even to this extent, that I would set a man at variance against his own father.” By the way, the word “at variance” is a rare word used only here in the New Testament. It means to cut asunder. “I will cut a man off totally from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and the daughter-in-law against a mother-in-law.” And He extends it from that very immediate family to the family by marriage. “I’ll fracture families every way possible.” It’s just the way it’s going to be.

Now, this is the worst rending that occurs. I mean it’s not so bad when you’re at odds with your neighbor, or your boss, or your friend, or your acquaintance. But when it gets into the family, and your commitment to Jesus Christ means that you are set at variance against your family, that’s where it really begins to rub. It goes against your affection and your love for them. It goes against the harmony that you have to live with, but it’ll come right to that level.

And being a Christian and following Jesus Christ may mean that you have created a division in your own home. But that’s the mark of a true disciple; he’s not going to hang onto those relationships to the extent that he will not commit himself to the lordship of Christ.

Recall the young man who thought he wanted to follow Jesus but couldn’t put away his family obligations:

Remember the ninth chapter of Luke, verses 61 and 62. This guy came along, and he was going to follow Jesus. “And he said, ‘I want to follow you, but first let me go home and bid farewell to my family.’”

“And Jesus said, ‘No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom.’”

Jesus said, “I’m not going to accept you, because you’re too attached to your family. You’ll never make the break. You’ll never pay the price.” There are wives that will not come to Christ for fear of separation from their husbands. There may be husbands who will not come to Christ for fear of separation from their wives. There are children who will not come to Christ for fear of their fathers or mothers – vice versa and etcetera. People who will not take stand for Christ because they want to maintain that family thing.

But Jesus said, “The true disciple will forsake his family.” Now, it doesn’t have to be that way. I thank God that I didn’t have to forsake my family to be a Christian. But when it comes, this will be the test. You see? If it comes.

MacArthur met a young woman who was deeply disappointed that her father did not rejoice at her conversion. Instead, he rejected her:

I talked to a girl, two weeks ago, in Hume Lake, who said she has become a Christian from a totally pagan family. And she said, “My father will not speak to me. He will not have anything to do with me. He will not even talk to me if I call him on the phone; he hangs up.” And then she said, “I would think that he would be happy that I’m not an alcoholic, I’m not a drug addict, that I’m not a criminal, I’m not walking the streets like a prostitute, that I’m not – I haven’t been in some terrible accident, crippled or injured. I’ve never had such joy in my life, and he won’t talk to me.”

And I said, “That’s because of the sword.”

Here is another example, that of John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress. Unlike the girl whose father rejected her, Bunyan and his family were all believers, yet he had to leave them behind when it came to serve the Lord in painful circumstances:

They told John Bunyan to quit preaching. But he said “I cannot quit preaching because God has called me to preach.”

And they said, “If you preach, we’ll put you in prison.”

And so he said to himself, “If I go to prison, who cares for my family? But how can I close my mouth when God has called me to preach?”

And so, he committed his family to the care of God and was obedient to the call of God and preached. And they put him in prison. And since then, he’s blessed millions of families, because it was there he wrote Pilgrim’s Progress.

But listen to what he said, “The parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me, in this place, as the pulling of the flesh from my bones. And that not only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I should have often brought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants that my poor family was like to meet with should I be taken from them, especially my poor, blind child who lay nearer my heart than all I have besides. Oh, the thought of the hardship I thought my blind one might go under would break my heart to pieces.

“But yet, recalling myself, thought I, ‘I must venture all with God, though it go to the quick to leave you.’ Oh, I saw in this condition I was a man who was pulling down his house upon the head of his wife and children, yet thought I, ‘I must do it; I must do it.’”

Jesus reworded those two verses saying, ‘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’ (verse 37).

MacArthur explains:

“You can’t receive the salvation I offer if your family means more than I do.” You must make that break.

Jesus did not stop there, however. He went on to speak of the value we have for our own lives: ‘and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me’ (verse 38).

Matthew Henry’s commentary offers us a rather philosophical reflection on the price we pay to follow Christ:

Men hesitate not at those difficulties which necessarily attend their profession, and which they counted upon, when they undertook that profession; and they will either cheerfully submit to those fatigues and troubles, or disclaim the privileges and advantages of their profession. Now, in the Christian profession, they are reckoned unworthy the dignity and felicity of it, that put not such a value upon their interest in Christ, as to prefer that before any other interests. They cannot expect the gains of a bargain, who will not come up to the terms of it. Now thus the terms are settled; if religion be worth any thing, it is worth every thing: and, therefore, all who believe the truth of it, will soon come up to the price of it; and they who make it their business and bliss, will make every thing else to yield to it. They who like not Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril. Note, It is very encouraging to think, that whatever we leave, or lose, or suffer for Christ, we do not make a hard bargain for ourselves. Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this persuasion, that it is well worth what we give for it. The terms are, that we must prefer Christ.

MacArthur has more:

You might want to be willing to take Christ and lose your family, but would you be willing to take Christ and lose your life? Now you’re getting right down to where I live. Right? I mean I might say okay to the family deal. And so, the Lord goes one step further, and talks about giving up your life. Now we’re getting serious about who’s a Christian, aren’t we? …

… it is to stress total self-denial to the point of death. Now mark this; total self denial to the point of death. The Lord is really zeroing in on who is a true question: one who is not afraid of the world; he is not intimidated by the world; one who favors the Lord and confesses Him no matter how hostile the forces may be; one who says, “I love You more than I love the people that are closest to me in this world; and if it comes to that, I’ll choose You over them.” And now it says, “I love death for your sake better than life for my sake.” Now you’re getting down to who’s real.

MacArthur explains our Lord’s use of ‘the cross’ in that verse. It related to a real-life incident of which the Apostles would have been aware. It is not related to our Lord’s crucifixion, but rather another event:

I’ve even heard people say, “Well, they were viewing Calvary.” They didn’t view Calvary; they hadn’t even heard about Calvary. They didn’t even know Jesus was going to die on a cross. I mean after He told them, they still didn’t understand it. They don’t see Calvary here. This isn’t some weird, mystical deal about the cross they don’t understand, and it isn’t some devotional thing about some person or object in their life.

When He said, “Take up your cross,” they knew immediately what He was talking about. He was talking about dying. Just plain old dying. How did they know that? They were from Galilee. With the exception of Judas Iscariot, all 11 others were from Galilee.

And very recently there had been an insurrection in Galilee led by Judas of Galilee. And Judas had gathered a band together and decided to throw the Romans out. And the Romans won. And the Romans crushed Judas and his insurrection. And the Roman general Varus – V-A-R-U-S – wanted to teach the Jews a lesson. So, he crucified over 2,000 Jews. And he put their crosses up and down all the roads of Galilee so everywhere the people went, they saw them hanging on these crosses along the roadside. And every Jew that was crucified carried the crossbeam for his own execution on his back as he marched to the cross.

And these Galileans had seen all of that. And Jesus is talking to them in historical context. And He is saying, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after Me is not worthy of Me. You need to be willing to die,” He says, “rather than deny Me.” This is a symbol of painful, tortuous death – the most excruciating death man has ever invented is crucifixion. It’s slow. And it – the slumping of the body on the wounds that are created by the nails not only causes excruciating pain at the point of the wound, but eventually suffocates the internal organs.

And He’s saying, “You take up your cross. You must be willing to go to the most excruciating, painful, tortuous death imagined.”

Now, I’m telling you, He really has the standard up there. I mean Jesus isn’t somebody you say [about], “Yeah, man, I’d like to have Jesus; so, I’ll just say a little deal, a prayer, and add it to the rest of my life.”

Committing your life to follow Jesus Christ means you would not only forsake your family, if need be, the people closest to you that you love the most; you’d lose your life. That’s the mark of genuineness. And you’re never to be intimidated by the world; you’d confess Christ in the most hostile environment. It’s the mark of your genuineness.

And they understood that He meant death. They understood that to take up the cross means abandoning myself to the lordship of Christ if it means I pay with my life. You see, the love of Christ has to overrule the normality of family love. And the love of Christ has to overrule the instinct of self-preservation.

Further to this point Jesus said that whoever finds his life will lose it, and those who lose their life for His sake will find it (verse 39).

MacArthur explains. Here I learned something new about the first half of the verse. I thought it was a rewording of the second half of the verse, but it has to do with denial of Christ:

Finding his life means securing his physical safety by denying Christ under pressure. Boy, if you’re trying to hang onto your life and make sure that you don’t ever get in too hot or in too deep – “Boy, I’m not willing to make that sacrifice. Boy, I’m not going to give my life for the Lord. I’m not going that far, man; I’m going to bail out. I’m not going to do that. I’m going to recant. I’ll say, ‘Hey, forget it. I just became a non-Christian. Don’t throw me to that lion. I mean I’ll be anything. I’ll be a – I’ll worship anybody; just don’t put me in there.’”

In finding your life, in securing your life physical life, you just lost your soul. But, “If you’re willing to lose your life for My sake, you’ll really find eternal life in the end.” It doesn’t mean you get saved by being a martyr. It just means if you’re a genuine Christian, you’re willing to do that.

When the issue is between the Lord and me, whether I live for me or die for Him, that’s the ultimate test. The confessor who suffers death, the one who confesses Jesus Christ and dies for it is far better off than the apostate who escapes death by denying Christ and receives eternal damnation. That’s the issue.

John Bunyan was an example of this fidelity to our Lord:

Bunyan was brought before the magistrates when they put him in prison. And he said, “Sir, the law of Christ hath provided two ways of obeying. The one to do that which I in my conscience do believe I am bound to do actively. And where I cannot obey it actively, there I am willing to lie down and suffer what they shall do unto me.”

Bunyan remained in prison in Bedford (England) for 12 years, although there were occasions when he was let out on day release to visit his second wife Elizabeth (his first wife had died) who was minding his four step-children and to preach locally. Elizabeth bore him at least one, if not two, more children during that time. The younger was born after his release from prison.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Once he was released from prison in 1672, he took up preaching full time. Pilgrim’s Progress was not published until 1678. It was an immediate success.

Bunyan died of fever at the house of a friend in the City of London (the capital’s oldest district, now one of the world’s financial centres) on August 31, 1688. He lies buried in Bunhill Fields in Islington, just north of the City.

I digress, but it was to show that Bunyan believed throughout his ordeal, which was, oddly enough, based on a religious disagreement between the Church of England and non-conformists — Protestants of other denominations. Having been an Anglican, Bunyan became a non-conformist. Oh, the irony.

Next Sunday’s Gospel will conclude Matthew 10.

Forbidden Bible Verses returns tomorrow.

End of series