No disciple is above his teacher,
no slave above his master.
In what specific way might disciples of Jesus think themselves to be above their master? They might expect that since Jesus did everything necessary for their salvation that nothing was required of them. They might assume that Jesus suffered so that they could live lives of uninterrupted bliss here on earth. They might want to believe that, although Jesus took up his cross, they need not follow.
It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master.
Instead, Jesus taught that his disciples must become like himself. His life provided an example and created the possibility of a path to follow so that his disciples could learn to become like him, specifically in the way that he loved others. They were in turn called to love others as he first loved them. Only with an absolute apprenticeship to the one who was love itself would they ever become like their teacher. Only as slaves to the one who was the way, the truth, and the life, would they ever become like their master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul,
how much more those of his household!
The opponents of Jesus accused him of doing his works by the power of the devil. So too would they seek to undermine and persecute the disciples of Jesus. Surprisingly, it was those who strove to become the most like Jesus, and who took his call to love others the most seriously, who would be at risk. It was they who would upset and agitate others by speaking what they heard in the darkness from Jesus in the light of the world around them. It was only them who would be able to do it, since others would shrink from it for fear of the consequences. Potential disciples would turn back not only from fear for their lives, but even fear for their comfort, or emotional well-being. But in fearing the power of men over them these would-be disciples had it precisely backwards. They feared people with a temporary power over them while disregarded the one in whose hands were their eternal destinies.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul;
rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy
both soul and body in Gehenna.
The disciples might be accused of being in league with the devil. Their message might not be readily accepted. But they were to trust in the power of truth to win out eventually. Everything that was concealed, even, say, in the academies, by the media, or through government propaganda, would one day be revealed to the world as true. On that day the disciples themselves would then be vindicated for having taken their stand for that truth.
Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin?
Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge.
Even all the hairs of your head are counted.
So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
The disciples might lose their lives in the process of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. But that did not mean that they were not known by God or that he had abandoned them. He knew the blueprint of their bodies with such specificity that he could give them life again through the resurrection on the last day. Moreover, because he cared about them so much, he would do so. Or at least he would for those who expressed their desire for his care and compassion by acknowledging him before others during their mortal lives. These disciples lived in way that acknowledged him, expressing him as the example they strove to emulate, and the goal they desired for themselves and for all.
Everyone who acknowledges me before others
I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.
Acknowledging Jesus as Lord was not simply a trivial affirmation before others who already agreed in advance. It meant willingness to acknowledge him before others who not only did not agree but were hostile to the idea. An unwillingness to take a stand for Jesus implied the idea that a disciple was sufficiently greater than him that he ought to be exempt from the need to demonstrate his love through suffering in the way that Jesus had done. This in turn meant he did not really want to become like Jesus, which must also have ultimately meant that he didn't even really like Jesus, or desire him. And so being denied before the Father was that for which he was implicitly asking.
We tend to think it is going to be easy for us as Christians because in recent history it has. But we need to have this willingness, at least virtually, to suffer for the sake of making his name known. We are worth more to the Father than many sparrows. He wants to give us life again on the last day. But the only life worthy of the word is life grounded in love like that of Jesus. Anything falls short and results in a broken world like the one we already have. May Jesus help us and give us the courage to be like him and make his name known.
Dan Schutte - What You Hear In The Dark
DC Talk - Jesus Freak
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