In the Fulness of Time/Part 65

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Finding or Losing: Challenge of Dedication. Matthew 10:37-39

Mt. 10:37-38 “He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

It is never easy to disrupt a family, and the Lord Himself advocated love for one another as He loved us (John 13:34). But there comes a time when loyalty to parents must be superseded by loyalty to Christ. Is the family drawing you away? Then you will not be willing to dedicate your life to Christ and follow after His leading. There is a teaching that a Christian young person, for example, should not go away from his parents to prepare for the ministry unless and until the parents agree to it. Christ’s teaching is to the contrary; the chain of command does not stop with the parents, it stops with Christ. This is made clear in Matthew 8:8-12, and now Jesus reinforces His challenge with the added statement, repeated no less than three times, “he is not worthy of me.” We must be ready and willing to break natural ties in order to be dedicated to spiritual responsibilities. Nowhere does Jesus intimate that a person must wait for parental approval before following Christ’s command to go and preach the Gospel. To the contrary, such waiting would be absolute disobedience to Him!

The statement in verse 38, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me” is used twice in each of the Synoptic Gospels, in slightly different forms with three different emphases.

Severing family ties: Matthew 10:38. “He that loveth” a family member more than Christ is not worthy of Him. Luke 14:27 “If any… hate not” a family member, which is just the negative way of saying that you love them more than you love Christ.

Denying selfish desires: Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:23 all say, “let him deny himself,” which might include ambitions apart from the will of God.

Breaking the hold of material possessions: In Mark 10:21 Jesus faced the rich young ruler with following Him, but he went away sad because he had great possessions.

Mt. 10:39 “He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

In four of the six occurrences, taking up the cross is associated with “finding” (eurasei), “saving” (sose), or “losing” (apolesai) one’s life, and the word “life” is always psuche, which is sometimes translated “soul.” It has reference to denying oneself; and Christ says it is “for my sake” in four of the six passages.

In summary then, anyone who takes up his cross and follows Christ will be involved in one or more of these choices: severing family ties, denying selfish desires and breaking the hold of material possessions. This is not meant to exclude persecution or other suffering which may accompany the true follower of Christ, as Paul affirms in Philippians 1:29: “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake.” It does not refer to some individual weakness or burden one endures, such as migraine headaches, or a disagreeable acquaintance; rather, it is the larger picture of the challenge of dedication to Christ. Only by letting go do we gain! You can be sure that this kind of dedication will be rewarded “in the fulness of time.”

Read Part 66