16 “Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. 17 Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues. 18 For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. 19 When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. 20 For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 “People will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. 22 Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, run away to another one. I assure you that you will not finish your work in all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 “No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. 25 So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!
26 “So do not be afraid of people. Whatever is now covered up will be uncovered, and every secret will be made known. 27 What I am telling you in the dark you must repeat in broad daylight, and what you have heard in private you must announce from the housetops. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. 29 For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father’s consent. 30 As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. 31 So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows!
32 “Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my Father in heaven. 33 But those who reject me publicly, I will reject before my Father in heaven.
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the world. No, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 I came to set sons against their fathers, daughters against their mothers, daughters-in-law against their mothers-in-law; 36 your worst enemies will be the members of your own family.
37 “Those who love their father or mother more than me are not fit to be my disciples; those who love their son or daughter more than me are not fit to be my disciples. 38 Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. 39 Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it.
40 “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41 Whoever welcomes God’s messenger because he is God’s messenger, will share in his reward. And whoever welcomes a good man because he is good, will share in his reward. 42 You can be sure that whoever gives even a drink of cold water to one of the least of these my followers because he is my follower, will certainly receive a reward.”
Read Matthew 10:16-42 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During Jesus’ first big message directed at His closest twelve followers, Jesus shares some interesting ideas. As Jesus’ followers many centuries and generations later, focusing on what Jesus told His first followers has incredible relevance if we want to be as dedicated to Christ as they were after His resurrection.
Matthew, who was present for this big message as one of the twelve, wrote down this message, and included is a really significant statement: “No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master.” (v. 24)
In every area of life, this principle holds true. Teachers are responsible for their students, employers are responsible for their employees, masters are responsible for their servants/slaves, and parents are responsible for their children. The word “greater” in this context doesn’t necessarily mean that they are just responsible for someone else, but that the nature of each role places one person in a more significant position than another.
This principle sounds obvious, but when we place Jesus in the role of teacher and master, things seem to get tricky. While we are quick to point out the obvious truth that no one can be more important or significant than Jesus, when He tells us things that we don’t agree with, too often we discount or ignore Him as though He doesn’t know what He is talking about. We love the places that Jesus makes us feel good about His acceptance, but we shy away from the places He challenges us to obey and live differently.
Jesus follows this principle up with another statement that helps explain this idea further. Jesus continues by saying, “So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master.” (v. 25a)
This statement is the key for this entire concept. If someone called the master a horrible name, those under that master will also get horrible names thrown at them. This simple example emphasizes the point that as “students” and “slaves” of Jesus, there is no way we should think we could be greater than He is. Instead, we should focus on simply becoming like Him.
The role of a disciple was to become like the teacher. By following and living with the teacher, the disciple would learn all the details and nuances of how the teacher lived and incorporate those things into his/her life. Simply modeling Jesus should be enough to satisfy us. While Jesus hinted at His disciples doing even greater works than He did, this shouldn’t be our focus for joining the Christian movement.
Instead, the Christian movement should be filled with students who are simply trying to become more like Jesus, who is our Teacher and our Master – not with people who have a point to prove or a statement to make against someone else. Non-Christ-like actions have no place among those who call themselves Christians, Christ-followers, or disciples. If Jesus loved those who society, religion, and culture have rejected, then we are called to love them as well – regardless of whether they return love towards us. At its core, this is what it means to be like Jesus.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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