1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
Almost every time a heavenly being (angel) speaks to a human, the first words out of their mouths are, "Do not be afraid." Here in Matthew 10, we hear Jesus telling us not to be afraid of anyone on earth, no matter what they may do to us. However we should fear God and serve Him, who is the judge of all. It seems weird to fear God, when 95% of the time we hear, "God loves you. He's our father. Prince of Peace." Those are absolutely true, but God is also all-powerful, mighty, ruler of the universe, and is above all kings. I think of someone appearing before a king in the medieval times. Even before a good king, people would bow out of honor and fear because whatever the king said would happen. That is how we ought to treat God. This is also one of the clearest passages that references being condemned to hell. It describes hell as a place where body and soul are destroyed in judgment. Hell is not a fun concept, but we can't just ignore it. In fact, earlier in the chapter Jesus said that it will be more bearable for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah than those who are judged by God to be condemned (because of their rejection and rebellion) to hell.2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
Even in other places in Scripture we hear God and Jesus say, "Do not be afraid." There are only a few places in the Bible that we see the words "Be afraid..." And as far as I read, they are all talking about God. One of the best examples of that is Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." In Deuteronomy 6, God commands the Israelites to "Fear the Lord your God."
Hell is also mentioned and described in other places in the Bible as well. In fact, Jesus talks about hell more than any other person in the Bible, and he talks about hell more than heaven. Here are a few other references to hell and judgment: Matthew 5:22-30, Matthew 13:36-43, Matthew 23, Mark 9:43, 2 Peter 2:4, Revelation 20. It is described as a place of continual torment, a sort of prison for the devil and demons, but also for those who reject God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. It's not a fun thing, and IN NO WAY am I to play judge over another's destiny. But I believe we as a church are dangerously close to just erasing hell out of the Bible for the sake of tolerance.
3. What does this mean for my life?
This whole chapter is certainly not about hell, but that is just what caught my attention. As a whole, this chapter is about following Jesus. For personal application I was both convicted and encouraged by Matthew 10:18-20. Jesus says that when we go out and are persecuted, don't worry about what we are going to say to witness to the gospel, for the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. I think I have been silent too often when I should have spoken, mostly because I wasn't sure what I should say. We should certainly be wise with our words and quick to listen to others, but we shouldn't be afraid to speak.
4. What questions do I have about this chapter?
I have quite a few questions, actually. Many of Jesus's teachings here are just a little unnerving. Probably the hardest for me is in verses 34-39. He says that he came to turn family members away from others, and to bring a sword not peace. And yet in Matthew 5 he says, "blessed are the peacemakers." I understand that there will be families where someone follows Christ, and they are rejected, or shunned, or at least not understood. My real question I guess is, "What did Jesus mean by this?"
Have a great day following Jesus.
In Christ,
Dan
I think you are right, Dan, that the church as a whole doesn't talk much about hell because it is just "a touchy subject." But we cannot forget that God will judge in the end. And hell is real. I think some people can become a little extreme and talk about hell only and forget about God's grace and mercy and that those who believe in the Son of God will have eternal life. But we cannot miss the fact that there will be people who will be in hell forever. And that is awful.
ReplyDeleteThis passage really made me think about persecuted Christians around the world, especially those being targeted by ISIS and other terrorist groups whose primary focus is attacking Christians. These verses must be verses that are very much on their hearts and minds a lot, especially verses 32-33. This was a good passage for me to be reminded to pray for these persecuted Christians as they are also our brothers and sisters in Christ. I hope others will be moved to pray for them as well.