Is Matthew
10:37 too
difficult to obey?By
Jack Kettler
In
this study, the meaning of “He that loveth
father or mother more than me is not worth of
me” will be considered. Alternatively, as Luke
puts it, “and hate not his father and
mother….”
“He
that loveth father or mother more than me is
not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
(Matthew 10:37)
“If any man come to me,
and hate not his father, and mother, and wife,
and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea,
and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
In
Matthew and Luke, Christ is talking about his
disciples.
What is a disciple?
The
simplest definition of a “disciple” is someone
who adheres to or follows the teachings of
another. In the Christian case, the disciples
follow Christ.
Since Luke appears to be
the stronger warning, consider:
From Gill's
Exposition of the Entire Bible
commenting on Luke:
“If any man come to
me.... Not in a corporeal, but in a spiritual
way; nor barely to hear him preach; but so,
come, as that he believes in him, applies to
him for grace, pardon, righteousness, life,
and salvation; professes to be his, submits to
his ordinances, and desires to be a disciple
of his;
and hate not his father
and mother, and wife and children, and
brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple: not that
proper hatred of any, or all of these, is
enjoined by Christ; for this would be contrary
to the laws of God, to the first principles of
nature, to all humanity, to the light of
nature, to reason and divine revelation: but
that these are not to be preferred to Christ,
or loved more than he, as it is explained in
Matthew 10:37 yea,
these are to be neglected and forsaken,
and turned from with indignation and
resentment, when they stand in the way of
the honour and interest of Christ, and
dissuade from his service: such
who would be accounted the disciples of
Christ, should be ready to part with their
dearest relations and friends, with the
greatest enjoyment of life, and with life
itself, when Christ calls for it; or otherwise
they are not worthy to be called his
disciples. The Ethiopic version inserts, ‘his
house’, into the account.” (1)
(underlining and bolding emphasis mine)
In Deuteronomy, there is
a similar passage:
“Who said unto his
father and to his mother, I have not seen him;
neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor
knew his own children: for they have observed
thy word, and kept thy covenant.” (Deuteronomy
33:9)
Deuteronomy
refers to the Levites.
Consider Keil and Delitzsch’s Biblical
Commentary on the Old Testament
regarding the Deuteronomy passage:
“In these temptations
Levi had proved itself “a holy one,” although
in the latter Moses and Aaron stumbled, since
the Levites had risen up in defence of the
honour of the Lord and had kept His covenant,
even with the denial of father, mother,
brethren, and children (Matthew 10:37; Matthew
19:29). The words, “who says to his father,”
etc., relate to the event narrated in Exodus
32:26-29, where the Levites draw their swords
against the Israelites their brethren, at the
command of Moses, after the worship of the
golden calf, and execute judgment upon the
nation without respect of person. To this we
may add Numbers 25:8, where Phinehas
interposes with his sword in defence of the
honour of the Lord against the shameless
prostitution with the daughters of Moab. On
these occasions the Levites manifested the
spirit which Moses predicates here of all the
tribe. By the interposition at Sinai
especially, they devoted themselves with such
self-denial to the service of the Lord, that
the dignity of the priesthood was conferred
upon their tribe in consequence. - In
Deuteronomy 33:10 and Deuteronomy 33:11, Moses
celebrates this vocation: “They will teach
Jacob Thy rights, and Israel Thy law; bring
incense to Thy nose, and whole-offering upon
Thine altar. Bless, Lord, his strength, and
let the work of his hands be well-pleasing to
Thee: smite his adversaries and his haters
upon the hips, that they may not rise!” The
tribe of Levi had received the high and
glorious calling to instruct Israel in the
rights and commandments of God (Leviticus
10:11), and to present the sacrifices of the
people to the Lord, viz., incense in the holy
place, whole-offering in the court.
“Whole-offering,” a term applied to the
burnt-offering, which is mentioned instar
omnium as being the leading sacrifice. The
priests alone were actually entrusted with the
instruction of the people in the law and the
sacrificial worship; but as the rest of the
Levites were given them as assistants in their
service, this service might very properly be
ascribed to the whole tribe; and no greater
blessing could be desired for it than that the
Lord should give them power to discharge the
duties of their office, should accept their
service with favour, and make their opponents
powerless. The enemies and haters of Levi were
not only envious persons, like Korah and his
company (Numbers 16:1), but all opponents of
the priests and Levites. The loins are the
seat of strength (Psalm 69:24; Job 40:16; Job
31:1; 17). This is the only place in which מן is used before a finite verb,
whereas it often stands before the infinitive
(e.g., Genesis 27:1; Genesis 31:29).” (2)
The
Levites were set apart and consecrated by God
in service to administer the types and shadows
of the sacrificial worship system that pointed
forward in history to the redemption of the
New Covenant found in Christ. Like the Levites
of old, Christ’s disciples are called and
sanctified in service to Christ.
It
is possible to some extent to see discipleship
and sanctification as overlapping or
synonymous. Furthermore, discipleship is
impossible without sanctifying grace.
Being set apart in
sanctification can be described as a calling
and takes many forms. For example:
“For as we have many
members in one body, and all members have not
the same office.” (Romans 12:4)
In addition:
12 “For as the body is
one, and hath many members, and all the
members of that one body, being many, are one
body: so also, is Christ.
27 Now ye are the body
of Christ, and members in particular.
28 And God hath set
some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after
that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
governments, diversities of tongues.
29 Are all apostles?
are all prophets? are all teachers? are all
workers of miracles? (1 Corinthians 12:12;
27-29)
It
can be ascertained from the above passages
that there are many calling in the body of
Christ. These callings can be diverse,
encompassing spheres such as callings within
the church, business, the arts, civil service,
family, etc.
Not
surprisingly, the majority of Christ’s
disciples are not working in full-time church
work. There are a limited number of pastors,
elders, deacons, evangelists, and
missionaries.
What
does it mean for Christians today to be
disciples in their calling? Most believers are
employed or self-employed. Nevertheless,
regardless of one’s station or vocation in
life, all Christians are to be disciples. All
Christians follow Christ and His teachings. At
work, Christians follow Christ and bear
witness to His truth verbally or by applying
His teachings in events throughout the day.
Discipleship is not monasticism.
We
are to be in the world, advancing the cause of
Christ.
Consider:
“Luther's return from
the cloister to the world was the worst blow
the world had suffered since the days of early
Christianity.” (3)
What is the relationship
between discipleship and sanctification?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in
his “The Cost of Discipleship,” has
something to say about discipleship and
sanctification:
“The
otherworldliness of the Christian life ought,
Luther concluded, to be manifested in the very
midst of the world, in the Christian community
and in its daily life. Hence the Christian's
task is to live out that life in terms of his
secular calling. That is the way to die unto
the world. The value of the secular calling
for the Christian is that it provides an
opportunity of living the Christian life with
the support of God's grace, and of engaging
more vigorously in the assault on the world
and everything that it stands for. Luther did
not return to the world because he had arrived
at a more positive attitude towards it. Nor
had he abandoned the eschatological
expectation of early Christianity. He intended
his action to express a radical criticism and
protest against the secularization of
Christianity which had taken place within
monasticism. By recalling the Christians into
the world, he called them paradoxically out of
it all the more. That was what Luther
experienced in his own person. His call to men
to return to the world was essentially a call
to enter the visible Church of the incarnate
Lord.” (4)
Believers
are in the world but not of it. As Abraham
Kuyper noted:
“There is not a square
inch in the whole domain of our human
existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign
over all, does not cry, Mine!” (5)
“Sanctification
means that the Christians have been judged
already, and that they are being preserved
until the coming of Christ and are ever
advancing towards it.” (6)
For
Bonhoeffer, discipleship is a lifelong how-to
question, a question that must be asked daily
by believers. Bonhoeffer’s belief regarding
discipleship was that Jesus calls believers to
follow Him in life’s mundane and intricate
realities. In other words, in the world but
not of it, always seeking to be faithful
adherents of Scripture.
The
means of grace is inescapably intertwined with
the Reformed idea of discipleship. Christ
disciples us through the ministries of the
church, i.e., pastoral ministry, elder
visitations, Christian education classes, and
exhortations through the fellowship of the
brethren.
Chapter XIII. Of
Sanctification
I. They, who are once
effectually called, and regenerated, having a
new heart, and a new spirit created in them,
are further sanctified, really and personally,
through the virtue of Christ’s death and
resurrection, (1Co 6:11; Act 20:32; Phl 3:10;
Rom 6:5-6); by His Word and Spirit dwelling in
them, (Jhn 17:17; Eph 5:26; 1Th 2:13): the
dominion of the whole body of sin is
destroyed, (Rom 6:6, 14); and the several
lusts thereof are more and more weakened and
mortified, (Gal 5:24; Rom 8:13); and they more
and more quickened and strengthened in all
saving graces, (Col 1:11; Eph 3: 16-19); to
the practice of true holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord, (2Co 7:1; Hbr
12:14).
II. This sanctification
is throughout, in the whole man, (1Th 5:23);
yet imperfect in this life, there abiding
still some remnants of corruption in every
part, (1Jo 1:10 Rom 7:18, 23; Phl 3:12);
whence ariseth a continual and irreconcilable
war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh, (Gal 5:17; 1Pe
2:11).
III. In which war,
although the remaining corruption, for a time,
may much prevail, (Rom 7:23); yet, through the
continual supply of strength from the
sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate
part doth overcome, (Rom 6:14; 1Jo 5:4; Eph
4:15-16); and so, the saints grow in grace,
(2Pe 3:18; 2Co 3:18); perfecting holiness in
the fear of God, (2Co 7:1).
In closing:
As
seen from the Scripturally-based Westminster
Confession on sanctification, the beginning
question regarding Christ’ Words, are these
words too hard to obey; it can be said
absolutely no. Sanctification is a work of
grace in the life of believers. With the
sinful nature being changed, Christ is their
first love for believers.
Finally,
“Discipleship
is commitment to Christ. Because Christ
exists, he must be followed.” - Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, Discipleship
Therefore,
“Be ye therefore followers [imitators] of God,
as dear children.” (Ephesians 5:1)
“Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1.John
Gill, Exposition
of the Old and New Testaments, Luke,
(Grace Works, Multi-Media Labs), p. 387.
2.Keil-Delitzsch, Commentary
on the Old Testament, Deuteronomy,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans
Publishing Company, Reprinted 1985), p. 502.
3.Bonhoeffer,
Dietrich. The Cost
of Discipleship (p. 48). Touchstone.
Kindle Edition.
4.Bonhoeffer,
Dietrich. The Cost
of Discipleship (p. 265). Touchstone.
Kindle Edition.
5.Kuyper’s
famous “square
inch” slogan accurately reflects his
vision of what it means to be a disciple of
Jesus Christ. It comes from his inaugural
address, “Sphere Sovereignty,” at the
opening of the Free University of Amsterdam in
1880.
6.Bonhoeffer,
Dietrich. The Cost
of Discipleship (p. 279). Touchstone.
Kindle Edition.
Mr.
Kettler has previously published articles in
the Chalcedon Report and Contra Mundum. He and
his wife Marea attend the Westminster, CO,
RPCNA Church. Mr. Kettler is the author of
books defending the Reformed Faith. Books can
be ordered online at www. Jack Kettler .com