Context No. 2374 of 4322 · Matthew
Context · Reflection
Matthew 10:34-42: in context
34“Don’t think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn’t come to send peace, but a sword. 35For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36A man’s foes will be those of his own household. 37He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me. 38He who doesn’t take his cross and follow after me isn’t worthy of me. 39He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. 40“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. 41He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. 42Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.”
Jesus tells the disciples he did not come to bring peace but a sword, and that his coming will set members of a household at odds, a man's foes becoming those of his own family. Whoever loves father or son more than him is not worthy of him; whoever loses his life for his sake will find it. Then, abruptly, he ends on something small: whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water will not lose his reward.
The sword is not one he swings; it is the division his claim provokes when loyalty to him outranks every other tie, including the closest. He is honest that following him can fracture a home. Yet the passage turns, at the last, not to grand sacrifice but to a cup of cold water given in his name. The same devotion that may cost a person their family peace also notices the small kindness done to the least. Both the dividing edge and the tender detail belong to the one call.
Am I willing to let loyalty to Christ cost me even a measure of peace at home, and do I still bother with the cup of cold water for the least?
Sources
- Matthew 10:34: Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.
- Matthew 10:39: He who seeks his life will lose it; and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.
- Matthew 10:42: Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, he will in no way lose his reward.