Carrying the Cross

Please turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 42.

Matthew 10:34–42

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Sean.

! I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church.

And it's my great joy and privilege to preach God's word to you this morning.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy you can have and use.

Looks like everybody has one.

We're in Matthew chapter 10, verse 34 to 42.

Matthew 10:34–42

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, thank you for calling us as your children.

And for giving us the privilege of following Jesus Christ, your son.

And we ask that as we open up your word together, that you would speak to us and impress deeply upon our minds and hearts the worthiness of Jesus Christ, the King.

That we might submit to him, pledge allegiance to him, and follow him at all costs.

Fill our hearts with thanksgiving and praise as we remember how you have used us to proclaim your gospel and to build up this local church, your body of Christ, the body of Christ.

Thank you, Father, for that privilege.

Be glorified in our midst.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Please stand if you are able to honor God as we read from his word.

Amen.

Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 42.

Matthew 10:34–42

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

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.

And a person's enemies will be those of his own 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 his cross and follow 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 him who sent me.

The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward.

And the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward.

And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple.

Truly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

There are several places in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus expressly states his purpose.

The purpose for which he came to earth.

We've seen two of those so far already in this series in Matthew.

In Matthew 5.17 Jesus said,

I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill them.

We saw it again in chapter 9 verse 13.

I came not to call the righteous but sinners.

And probably the most famous purpose statement that Jesus gives is in Matthew 20 verse 28.

Matthew 20:28

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So to recap why Jesus came to earth.

He came to fulfill the law.

To call sinners to himself and to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

To redeem a people for himself.

For God.

But there is one more.

I have come to fill in the blank statement in the Gospel of Matthew.

And that's the one we see here in our passage.

And this is probably the most surprising and shocking one.

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

Jesus came to earth to bring a sword.

Not a literal sword of violence.

But a figurative sword that slices apart even the most basic building blocks of society and family.

But wait isn't Jesus pro-family?

And aren't Christians supposed to be pro-family?

Yes we are.

But not at the expense of following Jesus.

The main point of this passage is that to follow Christ we must carry our cross.

Even the cross of losing our loved ones.

First let's talk about the cross of following Jesus.

And then lastly I'll talk about the reward of following Jesus.

Jesus' statement in verse 34 is shocking because it appears to contradict what we already know.

Scripture says elsewhere about Jesus' coming and his purpose.

For example later in Matthew 21 verse 5 Matthew cites an excerpt from a prophecy in Zechariah 9.9-10 to show that Jesus riding on a donkey into the city of Jerusalem is a fulfillment of the messianic prophecy.

Matthew 21:5

And that passage in Zechariah says that the Messiah would speak peace to the nations.

Isaiah 9.6-7 another famous messianic prophecy foretold that Jesus the Messiah would be the prince of peace.

And that of the increase of his government, his rule, there will be no end.

This is why when Jesus is born the angels proclaim him in Luke chapter 2 verse 14 saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

Luke 2:14

So how can Jesus say that he did not come to bring peace?

That he came to bring a sword?

The answer lies in this that Jesus did bring peace but that that peace is not for everyone.

The angels' announcement in Luke 2 verse 14 was on earth peace among those with whom God is pleased.

Luke 2:14

Remember earlier in Matthew chapter 10 verse 13 as he was commissioning, Jesus was commissioning his 12 apostles to go and proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

Matthew 10:13

He told them to as they go from house to house, neighborhood to neighborhood, to proclaim his peace.

And that their peace would come upon them.

But if those people would, if should they refuse them, refuse to receive them, show them hospitality and refuse and reject their message of the gospel,

then Jesus said that their peace would return to them and not rest on those people.

In other words, the peace that Jesus offers is for those who receive him as the messianic king and submit to him as subjects of his kingdom.

Those who reject Christ as their king do not get to enter into the kingdom of God.

That's the realm over which Christ reigns as king.

And if you're not in the kingdom of God, then you don't benefit from his reign.

You miss out on true peace for there can only be peace where the rightful king reigns from his throne.

Peace in biblical terms goes far beyond the mere absence of conflict.

It has in its background the Old Testament idea of shalom, which is the Hebrew word for peace.

It represents being in right relationship with God.

God says in Isaiah 54 verse 10,

Isaiah 54:10

When we are the objects of God's steadfast love and a recipient of his covenant of peace,

that's when we are whole.

That's when our lives are rightly ordered.

That's when we have true peace.

And that's why it is impossible to have peace apart from Christ.

As long as rebels exist who defy Christ the king,

Jesus does not bring peace to the earth, but a sword.

Jesus is not speaking here of his judgment and of waging war against his enemies.

Jesus will not do that.

He will not bring his final judgment until his second coming,

when he will subdue all the rebels and bring universal peace.

But until then, it's the time for his followers, his disciples,

to bear witness to Jesus, their king, and to take a stand for Jesus.

To tell people about Jesus and to give them an opportunity to repent.

To repent of their sins and follow Jesus themselves.

This necessarily means planting a flag on the ground.

It necessarily means drawing a line on the sand.

Saying, I belong to the kingdom of God.

I am with Christ, my king.

I have drawn the line on the sand.

And no matter what you do and no matter what people say,

I will not cross over to the other side.

You may join me here, but I am not going over again.

This is the reality that Jesus speaks of when he says,

I have come to bring a sword.

I've mentioned to some of you before that I was part of the largest naturalization ceremony in U.S. history,

which took place at Fenway Park here in Boston.

On September 14, 2010.

And when I took the oath of U.S. citizenship,

this is what I had to say with my right hand raised.

I hereby declare on oath that I absolutely and entirely

renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince,

patented state, or sovereignty,

of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen.

That I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America

against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

It seems kind of extreme at first,

very categorical language,

but if you think about it,

it's not extreme at all.

How can I be a citizen of the United States

while pledging allegiance to a foreign state or power?

That would make me a spy or an imposter.

The same principle applies in the spiritual realm.

How can we be citizens of the kingdom of God

and claim to serve Christ the King

if our loyalties are divided,

if we have multiple allegiances?

Jesus explains in verses 35 to 37,

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

and a person's enemies will be those of his own 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.

This is an allusion to Micah 7, 6,

which prophesied of family divisions,

not only during the time of Micah,

but also especially in the Messianic age.

It's important to note here

that Jesus is not commanding us

to reject or neglect our family members.

In fact, one of the Ten Commandments

is to honor your father and mother.

And 1 Timothy 5, 8 teaches us

that if anyone does not provide for his relatives

and especially for members of his household,

he has denied the faith

and is worse than an unbeliever.

As Christians, we ought to love our families

and take care of our families.

But nevertheless, Jesus says,

you must not love them more than you love Jesus.

If we are more loyal to our families

than we are to Jesus,

then we are not worthy of Jesus.

If our loyalty to our families

subverts our allegiance to Christ

and damages our witness for Christ,

then we are not worthy to follow him.

This is what,

this is the choice that my parents had to make

when they refused to participate

in ancestor worship in Korea

and were consequently shunned by their family members

and branded as those who bring dishonor to the family.

This is what Pastor Emmanuel,

that we had as a guest preacher

some months ago in this year,

experienced himself

when he converted to follow Christ in Nigeria

and then was subsequently disowned by his own father

and put in jail

because his father was an imam of a Muslim mosque.

The sword divided their families

because of people's refusal to acknowledge Christ as king.

It's fine to want to please your parents,

but you want to please them even more

than you want to please God.

When they oppose your decision to follow Christ

and serve him,

do you take a stand for Christ?

Are you open to marrying a non-Christian

even though that goes against the counsel of scripture

in 1 Corinthians 7.39?

Even though you're aware

that drawing nearer to that person

will necessarily mean drawing further away from God

and vice versa

because they do not share

your fundamental allegiance to the Lord.

What about children?

Do you love your children more than you love Jesus?

Are you more concerned about their health

and wealth and success in the world

than for their faith and obedience in Christ?

Is participation in a sports league

more important than their faithful attendance

and Sunday worship?

Are you willing to let your children risk

being mocked or bullied in school

for boldly sharing the gospel of Jesus with others?

Or would you rather them be silent?

Are you so preoccupied and consumed

with their well-being

that you give hardly any time

to your own relationship with God?

Do your life choices and priorities

revolve ultimately around Jesus,

the King,

or around your kids?

When our church planting team

was initially sent out by King of Grace Church

10 years ago,

we only had five adults in our church.

Steve and Lauren Miller, right there.

John Buckley.

Where's John?

Yeah.

And Hannah,

Hannah, my wife.

I think we did have one kid at the time, right?

Ine, the oldest.

Why did John and the Millers

leave their home church

and their houses

to join an unproven

recent seminary grad

still in his 20s?

It's probably not the smartest decision

they've made.

Not because I was special,

but because they were following Christ.

Because they wanted to establish

a gospel outpost in East Cambridge

where there wasn't one.

They have Christian parents,

so no sword had to divide their families,

but it was nonetheless

a real sacrifice

to move down here

to an expensive neighborhood

where they've never lived,

away from homes that they grew up

and taking on jobs

that they've never done

to support the work

of building Trinity Cambridge Church.

Are you willing

to make the same sacrifice?

Jesus himself endured this sword.

In Mark 3.21,

it says that even some

of his own family members

said of him,

he is out of his mind.

And later in that passage,

while his family members

are calling for him,

Jesus asks,

who are my mother

and my brothers?

And looking about

at the disciples

who sat around him,

Jesus said,

here are my mother

and my brothers.

For whoever does

the will of God,

he is my brother

and sister

and mother.

Jesus is here speaking

of the reality

of the spiritual family.

bought by the blood of Christ

and bonded together

by the spirit of God

which will outlast

any earthly family.

When we partake

in the life

of the local church,

when we work

to build up

a local church,

we do so as members

of the very family of God.

Note how starkly

Jesus puts this

in verse 37.

Whoever loves father

or mother

more than me

is not worthy of me.

When whoever loves son

or daughter

more than me

is not worthy of me.

There are no in-between

halfway options here.

There is no option C

for loving your biological family

and Jesus equally.

You must make a choice.

Unless we submit to Christ

as our king,

as the supreme ruler

of our lives,

we are not worthy of him.

Why?

Why does Jesus

have to be so demanding?

Why?

Because Jesus

is worthy

of that kind of worship

and obedience.

Because Jesus

is the king of kings

and lord of lords.

Because Jesus

is the son of God

and son of man.

And because Jesus

is the savior

and redeemer

of the world

who laid down

his own life

to save us

from sin and death.

Only those

who therefore

acknowledge

Jesus' true worth

and follow him

are worthy

to be called

one of his own.

In medieval

dubbing ceremonies

when a king

confers knighthood

on a loyal subject,

he lightly taps

the flat part

of his sword

upon the subject's

head or shoulder

to indicate

that that person

is now a knight

that carries out

the king's purposes

and priorities.

That is what Christ

has done

for every single Christian.

And that allegiance

necessarily brings

division

in this sinful world

that is in rebellion

against God.

And the sword

that King Jesus

confers

on his loyal knights

is a cross.

Jesus says

in verses 38 to 39,

whoever does not

take his cross

and follow me

is not worthy

of me.

Whoever finds

his life

will lose it

and whoever

loses his life

for my sake

will find it.

In the western world

we're so familiar

with crosses

and crucifixes

that this verse

loses its shock factor.

But we have to remember

that for the Greeks

and Romans

crucifixion

was a form

of cruel

and unusual punishment.

It was a form

of torture

and execution

wrapped up

in one.

The Romans

had several other

far more efficient

means of killing people

but crucifixion

is what they reserved

for special cases

for the low life

criminals

and enemies

of the state.

In fact,

Cicero,

the famous Roman

politician

and philosopher

himself denounced

the practice

of crucifixion.

He called it

a most cruel

and disgusting punishment.

He says,

quote,

the very mention

of the cross

should be far removed

not only from

a Roman citizen's body

but from his mind,

his eyes,

his ears.

The cross

was a stigmatized

shameful symbol

of humiliating defeat.

But this

public disgrace

did not begin

at the crucifixion.

It began

long before that

when the condemned

criminal

was forced

to carry

that heavy

cross beam

that he will

be nailed

to himself

to the place,

the location

of the execution

while bearing

the jeers

and the insults

of the crowd.

This is exactly

what Jesus endures

in Matthew 27

and this

is the glorious

prospect

that Jesus

lays out

in front of

all of his

potential followers.

Do you want

to be found

worthy

of Jesus?

Then you must

take up

your cross

and follow

Jesus

in his

footsteps,

meaning

into

betrayal,

rejection,

suffering,

persecution,

possibly even

death,

martyrdom.

This is

what Jesus

confers

on us,

not a mighty

sword with which

to slay all

of the wicked,

but a cross

by which

we are

to be slain

by the wicked

as sheep

in the midst

of wolves.

When following

Christ means

being shunned

by the world,

will you

follow Christ

still?

When following

Christ means

losing your job,

when following

Christ means

loss of security,

when following

Christ means

disrepute and

disrespect among

your peers and

colleagues,

will you still

follow Christ?

if out of

the desire

to preserve

our own

lives,

our wealth,

our reputation,

our career,

we refuse to

acknowledge Christ

before men

and bear witness

to him,

as we saw

in the previous

passage,

you might

succeed in

preserving your

life for a

time,

but you will

lose something

much bigger,

your eternal

life.

This is what

Jesus means

when he says

in verse 38,

whoever finds

his life will

lose it,

and whoever

loses his life

for my sake

will find it.

If you try

to gain your

life in the

kingdom of

this world,

you will lose

it in the

kingdom of

God.

Jesus adds

in Matthew

16,

26,

for what

will it

profit a

man if

he gains

the whole

world and

forfeits his

soul?

Or what

shall a

man give

in return

for his

soul?

It is

folly to

forsake

your eternal

soul to

gain this

temporary

world that

is just

passing away.

following

Christ is

not merely

a matter

of life

and death.

It is

much more

important than

that.

But this

cross of

following

Jesus also

comes with

a great

reward.

Jesus says

in verses

40 to

41,

whoever

receives

you

receives

me,

and whoever

receives

me receives

him who

sent me.

The one

who receives

a prophet

because he

is a

prophet will

receive a

prophet's

reward,

and the

one who

receives a

righteous

person

because he

is a

righteous

person

will

receive a

righteous

person's

reward.

When we

go out

in Jesus'

name to

proclaim the

good news

of the

kingdom of

God,

those who

receive us

and receive

our message

receive Christ

himself.

Why is

that?

Because we

are representatives

of Christ,

ambassadors of

Christ.

Envoys are

extensions of

the king's

will and

authority,

and for that

reason,

the envoys

are to be

received with

honor the

way you'd

receive a

king.

For this

reason,

in 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10,

when the

Ammonites

shame King

David's

envoys by

shading off

half their

beards and

cutting off

half their

garments and

make them

walk back

in shame,

it leads

to an

all-out war

between King

David and

the Ammonites

because to

insult and

mistreat the

envoys of

the king is

to insult and

mistreat the

king himself.

1 Corinthians

12, 27

teaches us that

all Christians

are individually

members of the

body of Christ.

We are united

to Christ our

Lord by faith,

and therefore,

to receive or

reject us is

to receive or

reject Christ

himself.

Later in

Matthew 25,

Jesus speaks of

what the final

judgment will

look like in the

end of days.

And King

Jesus will be

sitting on his

glorious throne,

and he will say

to the righteous,

come you who are

blessed by my

father, inherit the

kingdom prepared for

you from the

foundation of the

world.

For I was hungry

and you gave me

food.

I was thirsty and

you gave me drink.

I was a stranger

and you welcomed me.

I was naked and

you clothed me.

I was sick and you

visited me.

I was in prison and

you came to me.

Then the righteous

will answer him

saying, Lord, when

did we see you

hungry and feed you

or thirsty and give

you something to

drink?

And when did we

see you a stranger

and welcome you or

naked and clothe you?

When did we ever

see you sick or in

prison and visit you?

And the king will

answer them, truly I

say to you, as you

did to one of the

least of these my

brothers, you did it

to me.

This world will be

judged according to

the way they treated

the disciples of

Christ.

Whether they receive

them and their

message or not,

because to reject

the envoys of the

king, to reject

their gospel message

is to reject

Christ himself.

But that's not all.

Jesus also says,

and whoever receives

me receives him who

sent me.

The chain of

representation goes up

even further.

Those who receive the

disciples of Christ

receive Christ himself.

And those who receive

Christ receive God the

Father himself.

Brothers and sisters,

that's the kind of

backing we have when

we go out as witnesses

of Jesus Christ and

share the gospel.

That's the kind of

authorization we have.

Jesus continues in verse

42, and whoever gives

one of these little

ones even a cup of

cold water because he

is a disciple, truly I

say to you, he will by

no means lose his

reward.

Jesus calls all of his

disciples little ones.

It's very affectionate,

isn't it?

I love how our children's

ministry volunteers refer

to the kids sometimes

at littles.

Jesus is speaking of the

spiritual reality that

all of his followers are

adopted children of God.

God.

This is why Jesus taught

us to pray in Matthew

6, 9, to cry out to our

Father in heaven.

We are God's little ones.

And God the Father, like

any good father, takes

very seriously how his

children are treated.

I've mentioned this to

some of you before that

when my family, we travel

to Seattle to visit my

parents, we get treated

like royalty out there.

These people from the

church that my dad

pastors, you know, take

us out to restaurants to

eat, they buy and

slaughter an entire black

goat, which is like a

delicacy, and they prepare

it for us to eat.

They buy expensive

Dungeness crabs, which is

unique to the Pacific

Coast, straight off the

boat and steam them and

feed us, even though I

don't really like crabs.

They even give allowances

to my kids.

I'm like, who are these

people, you know?

Like, why are you doing

this?

Why do they do this?

Not because they think

we're so great.

They barely know us.

They see us, we see them

once a year.

They do it because they

love my parents.

they feel indebted to

them.

This is their way of

loving them and serving

them.

It's the same with God,

our Father.

He says, if you give one

of my little ones, even a

cup of cold water, a cup

of cold water is the very

least thing, the smallest

thing you can do for

someone in this, as an

expression of hospitality.

Even if all you can do in

receiving one of my little

ones, my disciples, my

emissaries of Christ, is to

give them a cup of cold

water, God says, you know,

that's not much, but it's

enough.

You receive them, you

receive the message of the

gospel, and I will reward

you.

God promises heavenly

rewards to all those who

receive the followers of

Christ because to receive

them is to receive Christ's

Christ himself.

And to receive Christ, God's

son, is to receive God the

Father himself.

I want to remind all those

who are part of our original

team, Hannah, as well as all

those who left their homes and

were sent out by their local

churches early on in our ears

to build this church.

If you're listening, you might

not be here, but you're

listening to the message.

This is what Jesus says in

Matthew 19, 29.

And everyone who has left

houses or brothers or sisters

or father or mother or

children or lands for my

name's sake will receive a

hundredfold and will inherit

eternal life.

And I also want to thank all of you

who are here now as members, but

also all those who have been

church members over their years

because without your work of

faith and labor of love and

steadfastness of hope in our

Lord Jesus Christ, this local

church would not be the local

church that it is today.

All those times you've greeted

our guests, all those times

you've shared the gospel with

unbelievers, all those times

you've played music, watched the

children and taught them in

children's ministry, all those

times you've hosted community

groups in your homes or invited

believers, other believers in

the church out for coffee or

lunch, all those times you pray

for one another, all those times

you have worked quietly in the

background to set up the sound and

to move the slides and set up the

chairs and the projection, all

those times you've updated the

church website or sent out

announcements on posts on Slack

or social media, everything you

have ever done for Christ matters

forever.

Because Jesus promised us whoever

gives one of these little ones

even a cup of cold water because

he is a disciple, truly I say to

you, he will by no means lose his

reward.

Jesus is such a kind Lord and King.

He says in Hebrews 6, 10, for God

is not unjust so as to overlook your

work and the love that you have

shown for his name in serving the

saints as you still do.

What do you expect to hear when God

says, when this Bible says, for God

is not unjust so as to overlook,

overlook your sins.

Maybe in our guilty consciences we

think of our sins.

God is not unjust so he will not

overlook your sins.

That's not what it says.

God is not unjust so as to overlook

your work and the love that you have

shown for his name in serving the

saints as you still do.

You know what God does overlook?

Our sins.

Romans 4, 7 to 8, blessed are those

whose lawless deeds are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the

Lord will not count his sin.

How can it be that our Lord will not

overlook a single smallest thing we do

in his service and he will overlook

every sin and every offense and every

failing and shortcoming?

That's the kind of Lord we serve

because Jesus gave his own life

and died on the cross for our sins

so that he can not count our sins

against us and yet count everything

we do in faith for his namesake.

He will count them all

and reward us all richly.

It's the greatest honor to serve him.

Let's pray together.

Lord God, there is no one like you.

No one saves like you do.

And no God is merciful, gracious like you.

Oh Lord Jesus, there is no king like you.

Lord Jesus, there is no king like you.

And we want to follow you.

And we want to follow you to the ends of the earth.

We want to follow you to our dying breath.

We want to pick up our crosses

and walk and run after you.

So Lord, fill us with your spirit.

Empower us to do it.

Because you are worthy.

You are worthy.

Be glorified.

Continue to be glorified in our midst.

In and through our church.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.