Jesus frequently took his disciples aside to teach them how to live after he would leave them. The disciples had no idea what was in store for Jesus and how he would die. But Jesus knew and prepared them to build the church after his resurrection.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Jesus continued to say, “and one’s enemies will be those of his household”. Extremely harsh words for someone who proclaimed the Good News to the poor. But Jesus had to prepare his disciples for the future.
Then Jesus begins to put things into perspective. He said:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
These were the conditions of Discipleship that Jesus gave to his disciples. Absolutely nothing could come in between them and God. And they apply to us today just as much as to Jesus’ Disciples in that time.
Jesus was teaching that they had to follow him without any reservations. Nothing in their life could be more important than following him. Jesus knew that they would have doubts and fear for their lives, even to the point of denying that they knew him. But Jesus had to plant the seed, teach the important truths so when the Holy Spirit comes, they would have the knowledge to know what to do and what to teach others.
Jesus was preparing his disciples to understand that people would hate them just as people of that time hated him. But he did not stop with the cost of discipleship. Jesus also taught them the rewards for being a disciple. Jesus said that regardless of which position we serve him; whether a prophet meaning a leader, a righteous person meaning a layperson living a holy life or a person who is providing a drink of cold water to his disciples, they will be rewarded.
The message that Jesus taught in his day was to love God more than anything else; more than family, more than power, more than comfortable lifestyles, more than themselves. This last one, more than themselves, is probably the most difficult value to release to Jesus.
In our consumer materialistic world today, it’s all about me; what I want, what I need and what makes me happy. It’s all about me. Jesus said this in the Gospel: “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
We can find our life in the success of work, material wealth and control over others. We think that we have achieved success with these things and we are in control of our lives, but we have let these things come between us and God. It is only when we have completely surrendered our lives to Christ; when we have made him the most important value for us, even to the point that we are willing to die for our faith in him, that we will find our life in heaven.
Let us pray that Jesus will help us lose our lives to the enticements of this world so we can find our life serving others and sharing Christ’s love with them.
