“The Basics: Who Is Teaching Who?”

Scripture: Matthew 10:24-39

Jesus’ teachings were never obvious, never politically correct! And this is one of the things in secular society that causes the most heartburn today. Our language and the terms we use in conversation are constantly under scrutiny, and whether we are speaking the truth or not, there are certain topic and issue thresholds that must never be crossed – at least in the minds of some! For many, truth is subjective and relative, and is never absolute. They believe that everyone has their own truth and they must be allowed to live that truth without challenge.
But for Christians, there is only one truth, and one reality, and one life, and we can only come to understand this through the teachings of Jesus.

John Cobb, author and Christian theologian, writes:
If we trust Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have no reason to fear that truth from any source will undercut our faith. Indeed, we have every reason to believe that all truth, wisdom, and reality cohere in him.
--John Cobb, Being a Transformationist in a Pluralist World, Christian Century, 10-17 August 1994, 749.

All truth, all wisdom and all reality come together in Jesus Christ. And with that hope and promise, we go to Jesus’ teaching for today.

Read Matthew 10:24-25

First, some background on this passage. Jesus is preparing the 12 to go out in mission to the people of Israel. This would be the first time that they would step out in ministry without the Lord leading them. Verse 1 tells us that Jesus had given them all “authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” He gives them specific direction as to who they are to minister to, where they are to stay, and what they are to do in his name. He also warns them of the hazards they will encounter – arrest, flogging, and all kinds of persecution.
And now he offers a few more truths for their lives and ministry. The first is that, as his students and disciples, they are also under his example. “Do what I have taught you, do what you have seen me do – and that will be enough!” Jesus is reinforcing the importance of the relationship that they have with him. He isn’t only their teacher, he is also their master. If they wish to do his will, if they intend to follow his instructions, if they want to truly cast out demons and heal every disease, they had better be living their lessons well! Not only must they have learned the lessons, but they must be willing to follow and obey the Lord’s teachings.

This thought should give us all a great deal of pause! It isn’t enough to have many passages from scripture memorized - even though that may be very impressive! We also have to understand what each one means, what they will produce in us, and we must be willing to live them out, no matter what may come from them.
Jesus even prophesies to the time when the Pharisees will refer to him as Beelzebub, or Satan, because he was commanding demons to leave a person (Matthew 12:22-30). He wants to remind the 12 that because he will be called Satan, those who follow him will also be demeaned. And how would Jesus respond to the Pharisees? He simply tells a parable that shows that, first, Satan would never conquer his own minions, and second, it takes more power to defeat evil than exists in evil itself.
Jesus never retaliated with hateful accusations – he simply exposed his accusers to the truth, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Now there’s a lesson for us all to learn and live!

Read Matthew 10:26-33

Once again, Jesus is telling his followers that simply believing in him, even though that is critically important, is just not enough. We must be intentional in our proclaiming him to others, and we must continue to do the same things that the Lord always did. True faith is not just a condition of the mind and heart – it is also a state that controls the things our hands and feet and voice are always doing. The love we have for Jesus in our hearts must be so great that it overflows into all of our actions. James 2:26 – “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”

And Jesus tells his disciples that fear can never become a limiting factor in our ministry to the world. “Speak it in the daylight” and “proclaim it from the rooftops” seems to be pretty descriptive of how we are to share the Lord with others. He is telling us to be obvious and intentional in our witness, that we are to shout it out to all who will listen. Don’t hesitate. Don’t soften the message. Don’t let threats and persecution stop you. Nothing can be done to you that won’t bring glory to the Father.
Now, that may not be a comforting thought for you – that God just might allow you to suffer physical harm! But I don’t think that this is exactly the thought that Jesus was trying to convey. He’s telling us that if we are living and acting and speaking in the will and way of Almighty God, there is nothing that should ever worry us. And even if physical harm does come our way, the Holy Spirit is going to be with us and we will be able to deal with it all – we are loved and valued that much by our Lord.

But what if we do hesitate, or retreat, or cease our mission in Christ’s name? What if fear does begin to rule our life, and our witness suffers because of it? Remember Peter’s journey across the water toward Jesus? (Matthew 14:22-33) His steps were sure and strong – until, that is, he began to turn his eyes away from Christ and onto the waves. Fear grabbed him, and faith began to leave him, and the waves began to overcome him. He was doing very well, until he allowed fear to creep into his life, and it was then that his chances of a powerful walk in faith came to a screeching halt!
Turning away from the things that Jesus taught us is never a very good choice! If we proclaim him as “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:1-7) to the people of earth, and that means not just those in the Church, we will bring honor to him, and in return, he will bring honor to us. But if we refuse to lift up his name at all times and in all places, we will quickly find ourselves in the same “boat” that Peter was in on the night when Jesus was arrested (John 18:25-27), and his failure to acknowledge the Lord wouldn’t be resolved until it was nearly time for Jesus to return to Glory (John 21:15-19).
Peter very nearly fell into ruin, and we have to be very careful to avoid the “Peter Syndrome”.

Read Matthew 10:34-39

We think of Jesus as the Prince of Peace, and rightly so. But he isn’t the peace that we would like him to be. The “peace” of Jesus is more like a blessing, a comfort, and assurance, a future promise, than it is a dismissal of human conflict. We see that this is true by the news reports that come our way, almost on a daily basis. We see it in the Christian woman, Meriam, who is currently under arrest and sentenced to death in Sudan, simply because she will not renounce her faith in Jesus; we see it in the many men and women in Islamic countries who have been executed for their Christian faith; we see it in the persecution that is running rampant in India and China, and other nations. It all tells us that “peace”, at least in our context, is nearly nonexistent!
Families and neighbors and friendships have been broken to pieces, because others reject the message of Jesus Christ. But then, why should the world treat us any different than the way they treated the Lord? They don’t understand the words that our Lord has given us, and they fear that part about taking up our cross to follow him, and that declaration that we have to give up our life to find him. Even though there have been, and will be, those who will suffer physically and whose lives have and will be taken from them, this isn’t the crucifixion, the life that Jesus was talking about. It is our old way of life that must die if we want to live in him. In Galatians 2:19-20, Paul writes “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” The old life must die before the new life can live. Nicodemus didn’t understand that “new birth” that Jesus told him about, and he would have liked the thought of dying with Christ even less. (John 3:1-21) But there is no room for both lives – the one of earth and the one of glory. The “old” must leave us before the “new” can fill us.

This is the teaching that Jesus offers us. Some of it is hard and some of it is wonderful, but it all reveals the glory that the Lord is prepared to cover us with. Of course, there are some folks who try to soften the message by ignoring the difficult passages and emphasizing the peace and love of Christ. They are simply unwilling to proclaim the fullness of his truth from the rooftops, aren’t they!

We need to know just who the teacher is and who the student is; who the Lord is and who the disciple is; who it is that gives life and who it is that needs that life; who it is that provides the message and who it is that is to simply share it.
Have you shown your old life the exit door and entered into the Glory of Jesus as a new creation in him? Have you been born again in the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Almighty God? “Whoever gives up his old life for my sake will discover an entirely new one in me.” That life is waiting for you today!