Worthiness

Jesus said to his Apostles: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's enemies will be those of his household.

"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; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple – amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."

When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns. (Matthew 10:34-11:1)

Strange Gospel reading, at least at the beginning.  Jesus is to bring a sword, not peace, according to Matthew.  People of all sorts will turn against one another, even within families, and one's enemies will be those of his household. Why?  

The short answer is that Jesus will split families, sort of the cleaving that has happened in the United States with families divided on political candidates and their behaviors/beliefs.  I suspect most of us can relate to that.  Incivility has crept – no leaped – into our culture with “wars” of us versus them intensifying with no letup in sight.  Tragic and so anti-Christian!

Jesus, according to Matthew, is extremely demanding: "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; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”  I sometimes wonder if Jesus said these words or did Matthew put them into Jesus’ mouth.  After, Jesus didn’t write down what he said, and we must rely on the Gospel writers’ accounts.  

None of these authors were part of his 12 disciples; however, we Christians have been led to believe that at least two were: Matthew and John.  Nevertheless, these two gospel accounts are vastly different from one another in their descriptions of Jesus’ life and who he was; for example, that he is divine, as well as human.  

Jesus’ “whoever statements” emphasized the seriousness of his demands and the real consequences for those who followed him.  That was then when he introduced himself to “his world.”  Today we are faced with the same dilemma about being his followers.  Are we worthy of him? We are not when we are uncivil to one another.  We are not when we brandish swords intended to wound the other.  Let's not forget our words can be sharp as swords, and they can cut deep - even cleave.

Deacon David Pierce