Losing To Win

Matthew 10:37-11:1

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Ok. I’ll be the first one to admit this doesn’t make sense. Much of what the Teacher says seems upside-down. That’s because it is!

Lose to win? What in the world is He talking about?

Exactly! The Teacher is not talking about how things are usually done in this world. He is literally bringing heaven’s rule to earth.

What is up has come down, and at first it doesn’t seem to fit very well down here. This is why much of what Jesus says sounds like a foreign dialect to us. It’s the language of the Kingdom of Heaven.

While we can’t always fully grasp the Teacher’s language, thankfully, everything is clear when we simply look at His life.

Jesus lived His message! He offered Himself in service to mankind. He gave up His life on the cross. By all the principles of worldly success – Jesus loses.

Not so fast! Didn’t God exalt Him to the position of highest authority in heaven and earth? Hey, this upside-down stuff really works!

Our Teacher won by losing! He's saying His students will find real and lasting life by losing theirs too.

No, it’s not one way for Jesus and different way for us. That’s why He’s the Teacher. And He says to His students,

Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me….

Be Afraid?

Matthew 10:26-36

Parents often calm a child’s unreasonable fear – There’s nothing to be afraid of. Mommy and Daddy are right here with you.

God doesn’t want His children to live fearful lives either. Perhaps that’s why the Bible gives so many reassuring messages - Fear Not! Your Heavenly Father is right here.

Here our Teacher encourages His students to be brave in the face of ridicule and pressure.

So do not be afraid of them… Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

So it comes as a bit of a shock when the Teacher actually turns around and tells us to be afraid!

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Does the Teacher really want us to be afraid, when in the very next breath He says:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don't be afraid.

What’s going on here? Perhaps, the Teacher is talking like parents sometimes do.

We warn our children not to do something wrong out of fear of what their peers will do to them. Then we remind them it’s more reasonable to be afraid of what Mommy and Daddy will do if they don’t!

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

Don’t be afraid! Be afraid! It makes perfect sense.

Tug of War

Matthew 10:17-25

You'd think doing the right thing would be easy. Everyone would encourage. None oppose.

But Jesus’ life shows this isn’t true!

Our Teacher faced violent hostility from infancy to the cross! Herod tried to kill Him. Religious leaders plotted His death. Pilate authorized the final blow.

He was despised and rejected my men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief!

The student will not be above His Teacher in this regard. Here Jesus bluntly warns His students about the kinds of rejection they also must face.

It doesn’t seem fair – this tug of war - as we attempt to do the right thing and others pull in the opposite direction. Isn’t it enough that we sometimes wrestle with our own human nature?

Yet, there it is. He warns that religious leaders may oppose! Hostile governments and even members of our own family may be against us.

Yet with these risks come the Teacher’s comforting promises.

He says don’t be anxious about what to do when you’re opposed. You’re not alone. The Spirit of God is within you!

He reminds us of a reward at the end of life if we don’t give up or give in. He should know. That’s how it worked out for Him.

Finally, the most encouraging words of all! Our Teacher tells us that when we suffer rejection we are following in His own footsteps.

Perhaps in times of rejection it is enough to know – even in this – we are like the Teacher.

Freely Give

Matthew 10:5-16

Freely you have received, freely give!

Remember Lucy in the Peanuts Comic Strip? Sometimes she would set up a funny little booth with a sign overhead: Psychiatric help – 5 cents!

I’m afraid Christianity may present a similar picture to many today.

It's easy to set up a little booth on Sunday. The sign over the building seems to beckon - If you want spiritual help, come and get it!

But Jesus didn’t merely set up a truth booth. He set out to meet the physical needs of people! This explains why so many were attracted to His message.

Students of the Teacher will pay close attention to this. Teaching spiritual truth should be accompanied by – How can I help you?

Here Jesus is sending out His students with the same mission - preach to the spiritual needs of the people AND meet their most pressing physical needs.

It isn’t easy.

It takes more effort than hiding behind a booth.

But it’s been said…

People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care!

Spiritual GPS

Matthew 9:35-10:4

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were
harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Crowds of people without guidance! No spiritual direction!

I wonder how many in the crowd that day would have agreed with Jesus’ assessment of them. Not many I suspect.

Don’t most of us think we are quite capable of directing our own lives, thank you very much! We are in control. We know what we are doing!

Of course, very often things don’t seem to be working out very well for us. That’s ok. We can usually manage to find an outside explanation for that.

Interesting isn’t it?

Like men drivers! We are never really lost. We may have gone 100 miles in the wrong direction, but somehow it’s not our fault! We had a poor navigator beside us in the front seat! Sorry ladies.

Of course, we’re never at a loss for direction if we have a GPS. The receiver in the car simply picks up the satellite signal and we know where we are and can easily navigate anywhere we want to go.

You already know where I’m going with all of this. It’s about our need for a spiritual GPS to direct our lives.

Of course, that's our Teacher – the very one who makes the judgment about us that says we’re all lost without Him.

Are we picking up His signals?

Last Option

Matthew 9:27-34

Now Matthew says – two blind men followed him.

So far Matthew has introduced us to many people for whom Jesus seems to be the last option. What about Jesus is so attractive to us when we are desperate, down and out?

Each in our own way knows the answer...

Imagine the determination required for these two blind buddies to follow along after Jesus. Somehow they kept up with Him and finally came into the house where He was.

Forgive me for the obvious – None of us has 20/20 vision when it comes to following Jesus either. We grope along, run into things, rely on our buddies, and ask for a lot of directions.

We forge on, because in the end, Jesus is our last option too! And just like the blind men, we sometimes cry out - Have mercy on us, Son of David!

And who is the first person they see when they receive the gift of 20/20 vision?

A day like that is coming for everyone who follows after this Teacher!

Dismiss The Mourners!

Matthew 9:14–26

Somewhere in the press of people, a frantic father searches for an opening. This desperate grieving man has one last outrageously hopeful plan.

There he is!

He pushes through the mass of people surrounding Jesus, falls on his knees and pours out his faith – My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her and she shall live!

Submissive, Jesus and his disciples follow him home.

When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy
crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at
him.

Jesus dismisses the mourners!

After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the
hand, and she got up.

It just has to end this way, doesn’t it? I don’t mean just for this man’s little girl, but for everyone who has faith in Jesus.

In the end, what benefit is a Teacher who can change our hearts to be more like His if it all ends in a grave?

By raising this little girl to life, Jesus foreshadows His intention to conquer death for every one of us. And in this dramatic scene demonstrates His power to do it!

Dismiss the mourners! This story is not over!