“And he that taketh not HIS cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39 KJV)
MATTHEW 10: Instructions For Service As Disciples
Up until Matthew 10, the disciples have learned the Gospel message and seen the miracles of Jesus. Now they are about to experience this for themselves. Jesus sends the Disciples out to preach the good news of the Gospel. He sends them to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel”. Jesus knows the threats they will face. He knows the fear they will have in proclaiming the good news to the Jewish people He is sending them to. He is sending them with the message of the Gospel that the Messiah has come and that Jesus from Nazareth is the foretold Messiah that would come and save them from their sins. To share the first hand account of the miracles performed by Jesus even to rising people from death back to life.
The fear in proclaiming the Gospel to the Jewish people is because the teachings of Jesus went directly against the grain of what the Pharisees taught. The nation of Israel at that time, from the religious leaders down to the people themselves, were believing in following the Law of Moses (which was 613 Laws which included the Ten Commandments given to Moses) in order to gain righteousness before God. Jesus’ teachings were threatening this belief and the people were following Christ more and more. The Jewish Pharisee leaders felt threatened about losing the power they had over the people. As Jesus taught, they were all about the ‘letter of the Law’ but ignored the ‘heart of the Law’. Jesus proclaimed that He is the foretold Messiah and that He forgave sins and many called His saying this as blasphemy. Jesus told the Jewish people and Pharisees that He is the Son Of God. He did this right at the start of His ministry to the Jewish people in the synagogue of His home town, by quoting Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah to come, saying ‘in your hearing this has been fulfilled’ (Luke 4:21).
Jesus knew the fear they had and also knew what they would go through in each city and town they were being sent to. He knew they , as He, would be rejected by many, and also threatened in persecution by many in this endeavor.
Jesus did give them powers to heal and to cast out demons from people. He gave them the ability to heal even lepers and to raise people from the dead! These were some serious powers Jesus bestowed on them for their missions to preach the Gospel to the cities and towns in Israel.
However, Jesus also told them that they will have to rely on God for everything. They were denied bringing their own money, no extra cloths, no extras sandals for their journey (a big deal in the sandy region back then!). They could not even bring a staff with them for protection. They will have powers but they would also be vulnerable to an extreme (Matthew 10:9-11). They are being sent out as “sheep among wolves”! I believe what they went through also prepared them for what was to come after Christ ascended and they went out to preach the Gospel.
Jesus explains to them that this is not going to be an easy task, even with the powers He bestows on them. He tells them things that will happen that would give anyone great fear. They will be facing arrest, possible beatings, persecution (even by their own family members and friends). A fear that those being preached to would want to kill them even (Matthew 10:16-23). Jesus explains to them that if the Master is persecuted then so shall they as the disciples preaching the same message that Jesus was preaching to the Jewish people. The Pharisee religious leaders were brutal towards Jesus and so the disciples too are being sent directly into the same kind of situation. After telling them this Jesus encouraged the disciples to not fear these people that will do such to them. Instead FEAR GOD. Trust in God in this task with every fiber of their being.
This is the context of Matthew 10, sending the disciples to preach the Gospel. They were sent to “the house of Israel” and we need to keep that context in focus. At the same time, there is something relative to us today on this side of the cross as well. Telling others about Jesus is not easy. Witnessing can be a fearful endeavor. Even family members are known to turn backs on believers. Even today there is great persecution against Christians in the world. So this whole chapter can apply to believers who choose to be disciples in this way. We may not have all those powers Jesus gave them but we have the complete Word of God today.
This is the context of Matthew 10. In Matthew 10:38-39 we then read,
“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:38-39 KJV)
Some are taking these two verses out of the context for Matthew 10 and making it about our salvation. That would be wrong because Jesus is talking to already saved disciples here. Matthew 10 is all about instructions for service as a disciple. It is not about salvation other then helping others hear the good news of the Gospel to help others believe in Christ for righteousness and salvation.
Some are also saying that Matthew 10 applies to us as well today as believers, fully. Remember that from verses 5 to 10 that the commission here in Matthew 10 is specific to the original Twelve Disciples, not all who came to believe on Jesus at that time. The powerful abilities Christ gave them was for them alone at that time. No one since that time has been given such authority and power. In Matthew 10, this is focused on the disciples alone preaching the truth to the Jewish people of Israel, to the “house of Israel”. That said, once Jesus went to the cross and rose again and then ascended, the Church Age believers too are called to preach the Gospel (See Acts 1:8). So there are points here we too can take to heart.
DISCIPLES: Take The Cross & Follow Jesus
By saying to take the cross and follow Christ, Jesus is telling the disciples they will now have to carry a cross to bear as He has. At this point in time, Jesus has not gone to the cross and so to the disciples, they did not see that cross event. That stated, they certainly knew what the cross bearing meant! It was going against the powerful Roman Authority. The teaching of the Gospel to Israel caused quite a bit of turmoil. The Jewish leaders were in fear of the turmoil Jesus was causing as well. The disciples understood this well. The punishment of death by crucifixion was a very public and painful punishment unto death for anyone convicted and sentenced to face it in those days. Criminals and even those who went against the authority of Rome feared it. Jesus was telling them that they needed to follow Him and preach the Gospel even under the most fearful of all persecutions, even such a horrible death. They did not know it at the time, but Jesus Himself would be crucified and here we see Jesus foreshadowing this event which only those of us on this side of Jesus’ crucifixion see clearly.
DICSIPLES: Lose Your Life For Jesus’ sake And Find Eternal Life
Jesus is encouraging them that even though they are about to face persecution and great fear from some of those who they will proclaim the Gospel truth to, they will be helping others find eternal life and they themselves as well. It is about aligning their lives to God and the Gospel and that means they will forgo living their lives for the worldly.
This is what “making disciples” of others is about. This is sharing the Gospel in face of anything that comes. What the Twelve Disciples did, changed many minds unto salvation for all who believed. And after Christ ascended, look what the Apostles did. Look how they changed people’s minds. Because of what they did, we today know the truth of the Gospel and God continues to bring people around the globe, both Jew and Gentile, to the knowledge of the truth.
Applications Of Matthew 10 For Today, On This Side Of The Cross Of Jesus Christ
A person is saved from the very moment of belief when we TAKE the cross. That is, when we believe the Gospel. This word TAKETH in Strongs Greek Concordance is ‘Lambano’, which means to ‘grab a hold of’. We accept the GIFT of Salvation Jesus paid through the cross of Jesus. God’s hand reaches out to every person and offers the gift of Salvation. It can be accepted and TAKEN or rejected and not taken. When a person takes it and grabs hold of Salvation (Lambano), that person is saved that very moment (John 3:18, Ephesians 1:13-14). This is to be saved by the cross. A person believes by faith and taking the gift is how they receive it.
BEING A DISCIPLE IS THE NEXT STEP OF A BELIEVER
Later, in Matthew 16:24, we notice that Jesus uses a DIFFERENT Greek word, Strongs G142, ‘airo‘. It’s meaning is different that lambano. It is defined as ‘to lift up; by implication, to take up or away; figuratively, to raise ‘:
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and TAKE UP his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:4 KJV)
So Lambano is simply to ‘grab hold of’ and airo is to ‘lift up’. So we are to grab hold of the cross in Salvation and then lift it up. This is what Jesus asks us to do with the cross. Just as the man who helped Jesus carry the cross when He stumbled and fell carrying the cross. The man grabbed the cross of Jesus and lifted it up (see Matthew 27).
So we are to not only make a decision to take hold of the cross in receiving the unmerited gift of Salvation; We are to lift it up on our shoulders and SHARE IN the cross.
WHICH CROSS BEARING SAVES US TODAY?
Jesus bore the suffering and paid for the sins of the whole world on that cross. Only He can do this! Why? Because He is the only one who never sinned! He is God in the flesh who bore our sins on that cross.
Are we without sin? Nope…we have sin right? So Jesus saying we need to ‘take up’ (airo) is not about our cross bearing and being the once for all sacrifice for sins that Jesus is (Hebrews 10:10).
However, by taking and grabbing hold of the cross, we partake in belief. The cross is about one thing to criminals and that is DEATH! Paying for their crimes with their very lives! Before being saved, it must be understood that by believing Salvation by the cross of Christ that we know where it is going to head… to the death of our Spiritual self.
TWO DEATHS ARE REQUIRED FOR OUR SALVATION
In Romans 6:23, Paul tells us that,
“… the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Our self righteous efforts nor good works can save us. These things are not the currency that can pay for our sins committed. In God’s economy, the payment required is death. And looking at the Greek for this word it is actually talking about Spiritual death.
By grabbing hold of what Jesus did on the cross and lifting it up onto our shoulders, we willingly share in losing our life WITH CHRIST as partakers.
“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39 KJV)
Only Jesus paid for our sins. But by belief on Christ Paul tells us that…
“Knowing this, that our old man is CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that IS DEAD is FREED FROM SIN. Now if we be DEAD WITH CHRIST , we believe that we shall also LIVE WITH HIM:” (Romans 6:6-8 KJV)
“Buried WITH HIM in baptism, wherein also ye are risen WITH HIM through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12 KJV)
The real us is our Spirit. You see, by taking hold of the cross in belief that Christ paid for our sins, our old unsaved Spirit of Man (which Paul referred to as our ‘old man’), was placed on the cross WITH CHRIST. Christ’s death paid the penalty required for our sins; Spiritual death. But we too, as believers in Christ had our sins paid in OUR Spiritual death WITH CHRIST. In that moment, an exchanged happened ON THE CROSS.
When Christ died, we died (in the Spirit). When Christ rose, WE ROSE a new being in the Spirit. In foreknowledge of all who will believe on Christ for Salvation, God placed believers, IN CHRIST, on that cross! God took all our sins and imputed them onto Christ. At the same time God imputed Jesus’ righteousness onto us (2 Corinthians 5). Our spirit was placed in Christ and Christ bore the physical and Spiritual punishment and pain on the cross and we BOTH DIED.
The wages of sin was completely satisfied with the Father!
Paul says clearly, in the present tense, right now, as believers in Christ,
“And YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Colossians 2: 10 KJV)
Did we earn that? NO WAY. It was imputed to us by belief on Christ alone. Believers are in Christ, FOREVER. Our body is here on Earth but the real us, The Spirit of God is wherever Christ is, because we are in Christ!
In Ephesians Apostle Paul tells us,
“And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” (Ephesians 2:6 KJV)
We also read this in 1 John 4:
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.” (1 John 4:17 KJV)
The seat is about our position in Christ. Our Spirit resides in our soul and is housed in our body. But our Spirit is now also one with Christ, who is one with the Father and the indwelling Holy Spirit.
BEING A DISCIPLE TODAY IS ABOUT LIVING OUT OUR FAITH, FROM SALVATION
The world is offended by Salvation. In pride, the unsaved person thinks they are a good enough person in self righteous good works, Law following and religious rituals to appease God. “Do good…Get good.” Be good to pay for the bad deeds. Do a ritual and God will forgive. DO, DO, DO….but that is a bunch of “doo doo!’ It simply is not Biblical.
Apostle Paul considered everything the law gained him as “skybalon” which is in the Greek the literal word for “poop”! (Philippians 3:4-8) Pretty graphic and strong words again from Paul. See, this is important for a person’s very Salvation and witness to others!
We read in Luke 14:26-27 KJV,
“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. And whosoever doth not BEAR his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”
Again, in proper context, we see here that Jesus is talking about being a disciple. He is sending the future apostles out to preach the Gospel and He is telling them many will be greatly offended and lash out at them.
The Greek word BEARING OUR CROSS is Strong’s G941, ‘bastazo‘ and means ‘to lift, literally or figuratively (endure, declare, sustain, receive, etc.):—bear, carry, take up.’
This word is about our ‘enduring’ and ‘bearing’ the truth of the cross when sharing it with others. Especially with those living under a performance based belief for righteousness with God, steeped in traditions and Law following with no assurance of Salvation. That is so horrible!
Being a disciple of Christ and the atonement for sin by the cross carries with it persecution and suffering by the unbelieving world in response. Mention GOD and some may disagree and others will say they believe there is a God. Well, try mentioning Jesus is the only way to have our sins forgiven because of the cross and we get a very different response indeed! A major offence resulting is persecution and ridicule. I have been called ‘narrow minded’ many times – but they do not understand GRACE!
WHEN IS A BELIEVER, A DISCIPLE?
At what point do we become a disciple then? Is it when we accept the gift of Salvation by belief on Christ and ‘Lambano‘; grab hold of and take the cross? The prerequisite is believing the Gospel of Salvation through Christ’s finished work. Following Christ and sharing the Gospel with others is where discipleship comes into play.
Being a disciple of Christ means that we are willing to live out who we now are in Christ and it means we will have to endure persecution at times. The enduring is not what keeps us saved. It is just a reality of being a disciple of Christ.
Know who you are in Christ. You are no longer your dead old spirit of man, with a very nature to want to sin all the time. Your old self DIED WITH CHRIST, so why walk in the ways of the flesh (Romans 6:2) ? Deny your old self thoughts in the mind by replacing wrong beliefs with right beliefs. This is what Paul tells us to do. Renew our minds by the truth of the Gospel (Romans 12) and who God made us at our conversion; the very righteousness of God, in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21)
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11 KJV)
