SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/12/2021 9:34 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “A Disciple Forsakes His Family”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:34-37
Message of the verses: “34 “Do not think that
I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 “For
I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 “and ‘a man’s enemies will
be those of his own household.’ 37 “He who loves father or mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me
is not worthy of Me.”
We begin by looking at another figure of destruction
as Jesus said “I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were
already kindled!...Do you suppose that I came to grant peace to the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from
now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two, and
two against three” (Luke 12:49, 51-52).
Verse 53 tells us “"They will be divided, father against son and
son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against
mother-in-law."
We now move to the OT book of Micah and look a 7:6 “For
son treats father contemptuously, Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his
own household.” I believe that this is
the passage that Jesus quoted. MacArthur
writes “In the ancient rabbinical writings, we find a paraphrase of that
passage, which indicates clearly that they recognized the messianic age would
involve conflict even within the family:
‘In the period when the Son of David shall come, daughter will rise up
against her mother, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. The son despises his father, the daughter
rebels against the mother, the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law, and a
man’s enemies are they of his own household.’”
The
word “Against” is from dixazo, and
this means to cut in two, to rend asunder, and is used only here in the
NT. MacArthur writes that “It denoted
complete and often permanent separation.
Sometimes the rift between believers and unbelieving relatives is lifelong
and irreconcilable. Yet a true disciple
must be willing to pay the price. The
Gospels report at least two would-be disciples who did not accept Jesus’ call
to follow Him because they were unwilling to sacrifice their family ties. One wanted to wait for his inheritance before
following the Lord, and the other wanted to delay obedience until he had
settled everything with his family. Of
such halfhearted, divided commitment, Jesus said, ‘No one, after putting his
hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke
9:57-62),”
We
have talked about how certain people will not come to Christ because they will
offend their families, and certain people come to Christ and their families are
so offended that they will have a funeral service for them declaring them
dead. Now as we look at the phrase “is
not worthy,” we can see that it identifies the person who will not come to
Christ because of other intimate and meaningful relationships that might be
affected. There has been many times when
a person comes to the Lord which has caused great trouble for them in their
family, or perhaps their jobs, and yet in the long scheme of things coming to
Christ is the best thing that a person can ever do, for that is the difference
of spending eternity in heaven or hell.
We
will close with a story that MacArthur writes in his commentary: “I once talked to a young girl at a Christian
conference who told me she had been raised in a pagan family and that since her
conversion her father had refused to speak to her. She said, ‘I can understand why he objects to
my decision, because he knows nothing of the gospel and believes all religion
is superstition. But you would think he
would at least be happy that I am not an alcoholic, drug addict, prostitute, or
a criminal. I have never had such joy in
my life, and I have never loved my father so much; yet he has cut me out of his
life.’ Like many others, she had
experienced the sword and fire the gospel sometimes brings.”
11/12/2021 9:59 AM
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