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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Matthew 10:37 - 10:39
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_10:37-39
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. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."
Mat_10:37 "He who loves. . .more than Me" The key here is radical priority commitment. Discipleship, unlike decision, is a life-long commitment of followship and obedience!
▣ "is not worthy of Me" See Luk_9:62.
Mat_10:38 "take his cross and follow after Me" This is a graphic metaphorical summons to total commitment to Christ for life. Jesus is demanding that possible followers count the cost (cf. Luk_14:25-35).
The cross was a Phoenician method of execution that was taken over by the Romans and developed into an ordeal involving several days of excruciating pain before death. Its purpose was to discourage non-Romans from criminal activity. There was a historical precedent of its use in Palestine:
1. Antiochus IV "Epiphanes" crucified eight hundred Pharisees
2. Varus, a Roman general, put down a revolt and crucified two thousand Jews along the highways of Palestine (cf. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 17:10:10)
3. Herod planned on crucifying many Pharisees at his death so that people would grieve
This metaphor does not refer to some particular problem in your life. It refers to death-death to self (cf. 2Co_5:14-15; Gal_2:20; 1Jn_3:16).
Mat_10:39 "life. . .life" This was the Greek term psuche. This term was often synonymous with "spirit" [pneuma]. In this context, however, it seems to refer to an individual person or self. This statement involved a radical crucifixion of self interest in light of Jesus' interest (cf. Mat_10:39; Mat_16:25; Mar_8:35; Luk_9:24; Luk_17:33; Joh_12:25). Salvation involves far more than a decision or prayer. It demands one's all (possessions, family, reputation, time, and energy)! Nothing less will do!
▣ "lose" See Special Topic: Apollumi at Mat_2:13.