Matthew 10:16-11:1
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. (v. 35) Note what is not said here – a son-in-law against his father-in-law. It seemed strange to me not to have this fourth relationship listed until I thought about the world back then. When a daughter married she went off to live with her husband’s family. Think of Rachel and Leah leaving their father Laban to go hundreds of miles to Jacob’s family. So the other three relationships existed (while the daughter was unmarried), but the son-in-law had little to do with his father-in-law. Interesting.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (v. 39) Occasionally I “worry” about my current life. I have it pretty easy. I stay busy – even “busy” with spiritual things – but I am not persecuted, I am not fearful for my life or my family or my possessions. I often think of Mark Bruner in Czechia and the difficulties that he and Tommie encounter so often. Or the stories that I’ve heard from when the Soviets took over in Czechoslovakia in 1948 (see my comments in the first link below) and Christians suffered such persecution – and that only one average-age lifetime ago! Have I really, truly lost my life for His sake? Or what can it mean for us to lose our lives for His sake? My consolation comes in an earlier verse: So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father Who is in heaven… (v. 32) That I’ve done; I’ll just trust Jesus for the rest.
See also: May 10 / Matt. 10:16-31; May 11 / Matt. 10:32-11:1
In today’s lesson, Jesus is telling his disciples exactly what to expect, and how to keep themselves alive in the face of a violent reaction to their preaching; sheep have no chance against wolves, and they must keep their heads down and slip away to another town (like snakes). He warns them of being dragged before the authorities and that flogging and imprisonment may be in their future.
No doubt, they had to be thinking, “I didn’t sign up for this.” This revolution that Jesus suggested was going to put family member against family member, and for Jesus to incite such insurrection, the apostles must have been thinking this war of His was not going to end well.
This is the test that all Christians have faced for centuries, and still face today. To be “out front” with one’s Christianity puts us in uncomfortable situations in our “civilized” society, but in other countries and cultures, one’s life is in danger for Christian belief. Not only do I find it difficult to express my Christianity with others, I’m not certain — either in the time of Jesus’ persecution or presently in places where Christians are subjected to violence and possibly death — that I would pass the test. Difficult to admit, but that is the truth.
I think of the peace that Jesus brings is the peace of God, that by faith and following Jesus, we are reconciled or at peace with God. This is one of the most moving hymns:
https://hymnary.org/text/they_cast_their_nets_in_galilee#fulltexts
Whether it is losing our life physically for Jesus or losing our self-focus to take on God’s heart through our actions and words, either way, we find life.