Fifth Sunday in Easter

Matthew 10:24-33

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

11 Who clings with resolution
To Him whom Satan hates
Must look for persecution
Which never here abates;
Reproaches, griefs and losses
Rain fast upon his head,
A thousand plagues and crosses
Become his daily bread. (ELH #157)

We say sometimes: don’t lose heart. There are times in this life when things get very difficult, and it’s difficult for us to have the courage that we need, or the resolve to follow through with whatever it is we’ve undertaken, without anything stopping us from it. Don’t lose heart is the encouragement someone might give, to weather it, to endure in the struggle. Finally, we have a limit of how much we can take, though, right. Where does that leave us?

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master”—Jesus says in our text. Seems like a pretty obvious truth, doesn’t it? But the path of His superior position is a path of suffering. It’s a path of being the target of peoples’ scorn and hatred. And by His statement He means to say, that those who follow Him won’t escape this difficult path; they’ll walk it behind Him. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul [or Satan], how much more will they malign those of his household—He says. The people who haven’t liked Him also won’t like His disciples, is what He’s saying. He’ll go on to say later, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you (John 15:18).

So, the persecution that their Lord must endure is coming also to them. Jesus discusses how they should respond to it. And it isn’t something they should do as much as something they shouldn’t, namely (they shouldn’t): have [any] fear of [the persecutors] (a pretty tall request when it comes to the inevitability that people will be aiming to hurt them in every conceivable way).

This reminds us that sometimes, we lose heart. Something comes up that really scares us or is so difficult.

We think about the night when Jesus was arrested. While He was with His disciples beforehand, He talked to them about how difficult it was going to be. Peter said to Him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away (Matthew 26:33).”

And we know what happened. After Jesus was arrested, and Peter was in the courtyard of the High Priest, he got scared. He was around people, and someone started accusing Him of being with Jesus (a dangerous thing in that moment—with Jesus across the courtyard being raked over the coals, being lied about by false witnesses). Peter started getting really scared, and he said, I wasn’t with Jesus; I’m not one of His followers. He said it a couple of times. In fact, by the end, Matthew says, Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man (Matthew 26:74).” In his fear he couldn’t put enough distance between himself and Jesus so far as he was concerned.

It’s important that we recognize that as sin. He doesn’t get a pass because he’s scared. Jesus says at the end of our text: everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

That’s what it is to lose heart. Peter had thought he was going to be courageous, he was going to be so faithful to the Lord, never deny Him like that. But when it got very difficult, he did, and afterwards he was so sad about it. It says he went out and wept because he was so sad that he had lost heart like that, and had denied his Savior (Matthew 26:75). Later, after Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples had been so disillusioned, that they were inconsolable, doubting at first the testimony of the women who’d been to the tomb, then only able to be convinced of Jesus’ having risen when they saw his hands and feet, and touched the wound in his side. They’d lost heart there too. And Jesus rebuked them for it.

And of course, we always have to recognize the connection we share with these disciples and with all other sinners. We lose heart. Things get difficult, and we doubt, we despair. We fear the world, and we deny.

Jesus is trying to get His disciples used to the idea that being His followers will make them outlaws in this world. At that moment it hadn’t yet gotten as bad as it was going to get. In their minds it was still something that could happen, but hadn’t yet happened.

It’s the same for you. You’re under the same pressure. Either you’ve dealt with the kind of hostility directly, that Jesus is talking about in our text, or quietly, you’ve dealt with the knowledge that the arrows of the world’s scorn that land on Christ and His followers also belong on you. You deal with the thought that maybe one day you’ll be Peter in the courtyard, with Christ’s enemies calling upon you to say which side you’re on: theirs or His. Can be a terrifying prospect. We think of our failures in the past, and wonder about the strength of our resolve in a time like that.

But you know a couple of things that are important in lifting your spirits (like Christ is doing for His disciples in our text). First of all, there isn’t a trace of your sins in your LORD, who endured the greatest suffering faithfully, never wavering, never having a weakening of His resolve. Fear and discouragement never caused Him to fail in His obedience, in His trust of the heavenly Father.

His unwavering faithfulness in the face of the worst suffering stands as your record before God because yours of faithlessness and disobedience and denial stood as His record, and as the crimes for which He was punished. You are entirely forgiven and stand under God’s grace. So, it isn’t even about the strength of your resolve; it’s His on your behalf.

And there’s another thing. When we talk about the book of Revelation in the Bible, even though there are a lot of details that can be discussed, often we talk about it very simply, not getting bogged down in all of the symbolic language. We summarize it’s overarching message with a simple statement like this: Jesus wins, and we—His followers—win with Him. That’s what the book of Revelation is about.

Jesus is saying sort of the same thing in our text. When He’s talking about covered things being revealed, hidden things being made known, He’s kind of saying, nobody’s getting away with anything here. God is in control of it all. Nobody’s more powerful than He is. Jesus says it in our text like this: do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Jesus is telling His disciples with that statement, God is only one who is capable of really hurting you; so you might as well not be afraid as long as He’s on your side. Those who position themselves against Him can’t win. Even if they kill you in this life you win, not them.

And as an extra encouragement here, Jesus lets us in on something we might never have thought of: God takes care of the birds (and everything else in the creation for that matter). Not even a sparrow falls from the sky without His knowledge. And if that’s on His radar, think about the fact that He knows the number of hairs on your head. How much more important to Him aren’t you, who are made in His own image? His stated desire is that one day you emerge from this world that passes away, to the eternal one that He has prepared for you in heaven.

He has seen to the matter of your sins that had no other solution than the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. He has drawn you to Himself in faith through the waters of Baptism, through the truth of His Word. He nourishes your faith in the Supper.

Christ’s followers are outlaws in this world. But to the end, we who have our limit, and who have fallen short at times acknowledge our Savior Whose limitless resolve earned our forgiveness and salvation, we look at our sufferings as evidences that we are disciples of our Teacher, servants of our Master, who walk behind Him on our way to where our sufferings will end, to where there is only joy at His side.

12 All this I am prepared for,
Yet am I not afraid;
By Thee shall all be cared for,
To whom my vows were paid.
Though life and limb it cost me,
And all the earthly store
Which once so much engrossed me,
I love Thee all the more. (ELH #157)

Amen.